Motherly Love Quotes

I Am Vertical

But I would rather be horizontal.
I am not a tree with my root in the soil
Sucking up minerals and motherly love
So that each March I may gleam into leaf,
Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed
Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted,
Unknowing I must soon unpetal.
Compared with me, a tree is immortal
And a flower-head not tall, but more startling,
And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.

Tonight, in the infinitesimal light of the stars,
The trees and flowers have been strewing their cool odors.
I walk among them, but none of them are noticing.
Sometimes I think that when I am sleeping
I must most perfectly resemble them--
Thoughts gone dim.
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
The the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.

"I Am Vertical", 28 March 1961 ~ Sylvia Plath

My mother looks at me with love and understanding, and I realize: she knows what my father did. She knows what I want. She knows and even though she would not destroy a tissue sample or love someone who is not her Match, she still loves us, even though we have done those things. ~ Ally Condie

We walk all over the earth but it never complains of being a doormat. So we give it the highest title of love, adoration and family: praising it for mothering every species and the whole of all humanity. ~ Curtis Tyrone Jones

I love you forever, my baby you'll be ~ Robert Munsch

I have these two different images of her etched into my memory: one as this idealized mother, and the other as a sort of pressure weighing down on me - obsessive, feminine love. ~ Banana Yoshimoto

But Mrs. Meany, see, the women went on, leaning forward, despite how her heart was broken, pulled herself together, anyway, to put on a good face for the rest of the family at home. And she went back, Sunday after Sunday, right up until the Sunday before she died. Mrs. Meany put her beautiful love - a mother's love - against the terrible scenes that brewed like sewage in that poor girl's troubled mind. She persevered, she baked her cakes, she hauled herself (the goiter swinging) on and off the ferry, and she sat, brokenhearted, holding her daughter's hand, even as Lucy shouted her terrible words, proving to anyone with eyes to see that a mother's love was a beautiful, light, relentless thing that the devil could not diminish. ~ Alice McDermott

I used to believe in so many things - elves and leprechauns, virgins riding unicorns. I trusted that the world was made up of people who were generally good, though they may have lost their way temporarily. The faith my mother gave me - the words she whispered when she said good night, the idea that gave me hope for the two of us even when we fought bitterly over trivial things, as mothers and daughters do, I guess - was her belief in love, a love so unconditional we could barely scratch at the edges of comprehending it. ~ Elissa Janine Hoole

You retain your health only so long as you are willing to forgive your stresses, shrug off adversity and adapt to new situations. Resistance to change always impedes the workings of your immunity. An old Sanskrit proverb tells us kshama chajanani: the essence of motherly love is forgiveness. Damage to the ahamkara-mother predisposes us to disease by weakening our innate forgiveness. ~ Robert E. Svoboda

Erica's despair has nothing to do with lack of motherly love. She loved Maja fiercely and sincerely. At the same time she felt as if she'd been invaded by an alien parasite that sucked all joy out of her and forced her into a shadow existence that had nothing in common with the life she'd lived before. ~ Camilla Lackberg

You wouldn't understand, of course, but the bond between a mother and child, it's . . . how best to describe it . . . unbreakable. The two of us are linked forever, you see - same blood in my veins that's running through yours. You grew inside me, your teeth and your tongue and your cervix are all made from my cells, my genes. Who knows what little surprises I left growing inside there for you, which codes I set running? Breast cancer? Alzheimer's? You'll just have to wait and see. You were fermenting inside me for all those months, nice and cozy, Eleanor. However hard you try to walk away from that fact, you can't, darling, you simply can't. It isn't possible to destroy a bond that strong. ~ Gail Honeyman

Motherly love is not much use if it expresses itself only as a warm gush of emotion, delicately tinged with pink. It must also be strong, guiding and unselfish. The sweetly sung lullaby; the cool hand on the feverd brow, the Mother's Day smiles and flowers are only a small part of the picture. True mothers have to be made of steel to withstand the difficulties that are sure to beset their children. ~ Rachel Billington

Never Underestimate the Divine Strength of a Mother who appears Broken.....
This phrase, in the most reciprocal form, is powerful. A broken woman is perceived as weak, battered, useless, and incapable, among many other low states of Human life, effortlessly causing her to think it might be best to lie down and die. The thought represents a desperation to escape a pain more powerful than she. There is, but one superseding power, greater than the pain itself. You take this woman, who loves her kids to the highest degree of unselfishness and give her a hint they're suffering. A Divine Strength that can't be seen, perhaps not even felt will ignite a fire within her from miles away. No one in its path will see it coming, not even her. This strength indicates that she will go beyond any limits to protect her offspring even if it means rising to her death. There's no mountain too high, no fire too crucible, nor a fear she won't face, to ensure they are safe, both mentally and physically. The best part is, no matter how broken down she appears, or how robbed she may be, no one can take from her, what they don't know she possesses. Following the exhaustion of all other choices, this strength is activated, only when it's most necessary. It may never be discovered in a lifetime by many, but you can bet it's there when you need it most. It's in every one of us, festering, waiting for what may be the last moments of life or death. ~ L. Yingling

Snow pouted. "I hate roses! They hurt!"
Her mother smiled, her image softening along with the sound of her voice. She seemed so far away. "They can, yes, when you get nicked by a thorn." She plucked a single red rose off the bush. It was petrified from the snow and frozen, but still perfectly preserved and almost crimson in color. Snow peered at it closely. "But you shouldn't be afraid to hold on to something beautiful, even if there are thorns in your path. If you want something, sometimes you have to take risks. And when you do"- she handed Snow the rose- "you reap wonderful rewards. ~ Jen Calonita

In erotic love, two people who were separate become one. In motherly love, two people who were one become separate. The mother must not only tolerate, she must wish and support the child's separation. ~ Erich Fromm

In every form of womanly love something of motherly love also comes to light. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

And by the way, Lanwa, you must stop preaching the sermon of our people's old custom and tradition. This your long story of kinsman and cousin and half-brother connection with my late husband cannot catch me like a deer in a snare! I reserve the right to choose the type of life I want to lead. It could be that of woman deliberately aloof in self-contentment, untouched by the victimisation and oppression of the man; or that of a woman sulking the anger of an injury, protesting humiliations heaped on her, over the years by the man. I may choose to shield off man, permanently in my life, and transfer all affection and devotion to my children, spoiling them every minute with motherly love and care. I may deliberately engage in twenty different odd jobs, from cockcrow to cockroost, not resting and not sparing any moment to talk to men, or even look at any man's face. Not your business Lanwa, how I want to live my life! ~ Bayo Adebowale

The body is a multilingual being. It speaks through its color and its temperature, the flush of recognition, the glow of love, the ash of pain, the heat of arousal, the coldness of nonconviction ... It speaks through the leaping of the heart, the falling of the spirits, the pit at the center, and rising hope. ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

We didn't know much about each other twenty years ago. We were guided by our intuition; you swept me off my feet. It was snowing when we got married at the Ahwahnee. Years passed, kids came, good times, hard times, but never bad times. Our love and respect has endured and grown. We've been through so much together and here we are right back where we started 20 years ago - older, wiser - with wrinkles on our faces and hearts. We now know many of life's joys, sufferings, secrets and wonders and we're still here together. My feet have never returned to the ground. ~ Walter Isaacson

You will not be here
I shall not be here
much longer.'
'Let us not think of time.'
'We have reached Faust's non-plus. We say to every moment "Verweile doch, du bist so schön," and if we are not immediately damned, the stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike. But it is open to us to regret each minute as it passes.'
'We shall be exhausted.'
'And is not that a good state to end in? ~ A.S. Byatt

Only a seer or a lover would know that I'm making a jewelry of words for you -drawn from your essence -to flash and burn with your fire -so you can bedazzle with your own light ... ~ John Geddes

I never needed a Man. I needed a Viking. I needed someone who wasn't afraid of my strengths, or of my needs. I chose wrong... in the past. I thought I had to find someone who could put up with my hunger for life. But I was so damn wrong. I needed a Viking. I needed someone who would admire all the things about me that tepid men were intimidated by. ~ Alfa Holden

The roar of the crowd began to grow. He heard them harmoniously stomping their feet in a rhythm that cried out for battle. Gabe glanced across the arena to several cages that were shielded by large cloaks. Whatever was inside was clearly becoming agitated by the noise of the crowd. The captive creatures began beating against the bars. Random secret shrieks and growls came from their general area. ~ Wendy Owens

No stigma attaches to the love of money in America, and provided it does not exceed the bounds imposed by public order, it is held in honor. The American will describe as noble and estimable ambition that our medieval ancestors would have called base cupidity. ~ Alexis De Tocqueville

If someone asks,
But what is Love?
Answer,
Dissolving the will. ~ Rumi

I love making people laugh and by the way I still do that with the charitable efforts on my part because I believe that people need to laugh. ~ Goldie Hawn

Keep a guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart, and over your lips as the outlet, lest they betray you in a moment of unwariness. Receive, coldly and dispassionately, every attention, till you have ascertained and duly considered the worth of the aspirant; and let your affections be consequent upon approbation alone. First study; then approve; then love. Let your eyes be blind to all external attractions, your ears deaf to all the fascinations of flattery and light discourse. - These are nothing - and worse than nothing - snares and wiles of the tempter, to lure the thoughtless to their own destruction. Principle is the first thing, after all; and next to that, good sense, respectability, and moderate wealth. If you should marry the handsomest, and most accomplished and superficially agreeable man in the world, you little know the misery that would overwhelm you if, after all, you should find him to be a worthless reprobate, or even an impracticable fool. ~ Anne Bronte

Be yourself
it's the one thing you can do better than anyone else. ~ Ethel Merman

Most of the problem I see amongst friends and I've experienced amongst myself is when people haven't accommodated the inequality that they want, they haven't understood that their partner wants to give more love and receive less or they haven't understood that their partner wants to receive more, but sort of give less. ~ Stephen Fry

I always have my Laura Mercier foundation and concealer with me, and I love the Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks. My favourite is shade 08, because it's just such a lovely natural colour with just a bit of pink to it. ~ Abbey Clancy

I basically love classical music. I love a lot of musicians playing together and the whole culture of that, whether it's Indian or it's Western. ~ A.R. Rahman

After moving to New York, I started to love vintage shopping. ~ Mark Indelicato

It is utterly forbidden to be half-hearted about gardening. You have got to love your garden whether you like it or not. ~ W.C. Sellar

I love fashion as an art; I love fashion as costume, as a character. I don't like dictates and the phoniness of appearance. ~ Tahar Rahim

I began writing about a woman who disappears. Not Barbara, but a fictional woman. She was a botanist who had vanished, perhaps deliberately, in the Burmese jungle in search of a rare, psychedelic mushroom. I wrote about her because, of course, I wanted to disappear. Often those who write about women who have vanished are men with an impulse to eviscerate women, or women with an impulse to eviscerate themselves. I was interested in a different kind of vanishing: the kind where you disentangle yourself from your life and start fresh. People would miss you. You could miss them. You could live at a peaceful distance, loving them in a way that is simpler than the way you love someone you have to deal with in everyday life. You hadn't abandoned them. You were just gone. Mysterious rather than rejecting. Vanishing was a way to reclaim your life. ~ Laura Smith

In the symphony of love, the lost chord is a small organ lying somewhat north of the vagina. ~ Ruth Herschberger

Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

I'm staring at this girl who I know would break me if I loved her but I can't help it. ~ Brad Land

Everytime he looked at her she felt brighter inside, and she yearned to keep his attention, to hold his gaze. ~ Jessica Khoury

The one thing everybody's looking for is unconditional love. We all need somebody to love us just the way we are ~ Joyce Meyer

There is a stage with people we love when we are no longer separate from them, but so close in sympathy that we live through them as directly as through ourselves ... we push back our hair because theirs is in their eyes. ~ Nan Fairbrother

What do marriage vows show? They show that you may want to separate sometime in the future. If there is love between two people, the thought of taking vows never arises. This is only an indication of the absence of love. People do not marry out of love; they marry out of fear. If there is love on this earth, marriage will become redundant. When love is not, marriage is a must. We make arrangements for that which we cannot do. We make rules for that which we are not sure of. ~ Rajneesh

I love the sound of one hand clapping. ~ Sienna McQuillen

You have to do what you love to do, not get stuck in that comfort zone of a regular job. Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it. ~ Lucinda Bassett

For me, 'Lamb' started out as a further exploration of the phenomenon of faith and the responsibility of a messiah that I touched on in 'Coyote Blue' and 'Island of the Sequined Love Nun,' but it ended up being an exploration of the true meaning of sacrifice, loyalty, and friendship. ~ Christopher Moore

My life is a tsunami of inspirations. Number one [is that] I really do just love my BBQ. I mean it's the sustenance of mankind. You know, the animal rights [of] people, if they had their way, 99% of the human race would parish because we sustain ourselves with dead stuff on the grill. ~ Ted Nugent

Love is the only way on which even the dim-witted reaches certain heights. ~ Honore De Balzac

Do you want a successful career or a close relationship with your family? Both! Do you want a focus on business or have fun and play? Both! Do you want money or meaning in your life? Both! Do you want to earn a fortune or do the work you love? Both! Poor people always choose one, rich people choose both. ~ T. Harv Eker

I don't do relationships because I don't want to love and lose myself. ~ J.C. Reed

There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with't ~ William Shakespeare

Franny gave her sister a tired smile. "Oh, my love," she said. "What do the only children do?"

"We'll never have to know," Caroline said. ~ Ann Patchett

I understand he's not guilty of anything except maybe loving too much. This boy, he is just ... mine. ~ Deb Caletti

I love you deeply and in the future, I may love you more however, that does not occasionally preclude me from plotting your death by shooting you, chopping you up and feeding you to the wolves... ~ Virginia Alison