These women have done just that – articulating the intricacies, thoughts, and quick beats of the heart that come with being in love. So the next time you struggle to find the right words to say, take some inspiration from these incredible women.

“Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.”

– Amy Bloom

Via Authors Guild

“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”

– Maya Angelou

Via Real Leaders

“The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It’s a choice you make–not just on your wedding day, but over and over again–and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife.”

– Barbara de Angelis

Via barbaradeangelis.com

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

– Oprah Winfrey

By Jordan Strauss/AP

“Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that’s a real treat.”

– Joanne Woodward

Via Wikipedia

“Love doesn’t make the world go round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”

– Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.”

– Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Via historyofliterature.com

“To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow–this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.”

– Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Via howtoacademy.com

“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get–only with what you are expecting to give–which is everything.”

– Katharine Hepburn, Me: Stories of My Life

Via Everett Collection

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

– Emily Brontë

Via carmencitta.me

“The bride and groom–May their joys be as bright as the morning, and their sorrows but shadows that fade in the sunlight of love.”

– Minna Thomas Antrim, A Book of Toasts

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”

– Helen Keller

Via biography.com

“I love being married. It’s so great to find one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.”

– Rita Rudner

“I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They’ve experienced pain and bought jewelry.”

– Rita Rudner

Via reviewjournal.com

“If I get married, I want to be very married.”

– Audrey Hepburn

By Irving Penn

“We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.”

– Ellen Goodman

Via Ellen Goodman

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

– Maya Angelou

Via Book Tribe

“I don’t want the heavens or the shooting stars. I don’t want gemstones or gold. I have those things already. I want… a steady hand. A kind soul.”

– Shana Abe

Via Penguin Random House

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.”

– Zelda Fitzgerald

Via CSU Archives/Everett Collection

“Romance is the glamor which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.”

– Elinor Glyn

Via Paul Tanqueray

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, and always with the same person.”

– Mignon McLaughlin

“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”

– Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

By Goni Riskin