The Little Book of Love

Book excerpt: The most inspiring, beautiful and though-provoking reflections and declarations of love, all in one place. From Shakespeare's sonnets to the rom coms of modern-day cinema, Enlightenment philosophy to the latest Nicholas Sparks novel, one could say that no other topic has inspired such beauty – in art, literature, poetry or music – than that of love. In The Little Book of Love the words of civil rights activists sit alongside those of movie stars, world leaders and the philosophers of Ancient Greece. In its pages you will find some hard-won lovers' wisdom, a whole host of poignant and inspiring reflections on love, as well as some of the most famous, endearing and enduring declarations of love ever spoken. 'Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken...' William Shakespeare, 'Sonnet 116' 'I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.' Pip, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1860) 'With the whole world crumbling, we pick this time to fall in love.' Ilsa Lund, Casablanca (1942)