If writing stuff be the food of love...

January 30, 2008 6:22 AM

Quotefilter: help me find a quote that speaks of both love and writing....

Its our (me and the bf's) three year anniversary on the 5th (yey) I came up with a great idea for a little token gift I can get for him, which is a nice pen with something engraved on it. A pen because he loves to write (creatively, mostly short stories, though hes working on his novel, he also writes reviews and essays.) and its something he can keep and enjoy.

So rather than his name I think a quote might be more interesting, anything that speaks of love, and writing together would be great. Any language considered though he speaks fluent English and French, so they might be more favourable languages.

Secondarily, quotes about love that come from dr who...

posted by Neonshock to writing & language (10 comments total)

"Le verbe aimer est difficile à conjuguer : son passé n'est pas simple, son présent n'est qu'indicatif, et son futur est toujours conditionnel."

which means roughly, "The verb to love is difficult to conjugate: its past is not simple, its present is only indicative and its future is always conditional"

Jean Cocteau
posted by jontyjago at 7:12 AM on January 30, 2008 [6 favorites has favorites]

You're hinting at Shakespeare yourself in your title. His Sonnet 65 springs to mind:

O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?

O, none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

posted by Abiezer at 7:16 AM on January 30, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Bear in mind that this quote is to be engraved on a pen. Keep 'em short.
posted by languagehat at 7:22 AM on January 30, 2008

Good point lh - the final line there should still fit minus the initial "That," "In black ink my love may still shine bright."
posted by Abiezer at 7:27 AM on January 30, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Not a Dr. Who quote about love, but about English: "Mastery of English?" Well, I'd reverse the roles, personally: it's English that has mastered me. - The Doctor, in "...ish"
posted by LN at 7:28 AM on January 30, 2008

More Dr. Who quotes here.
posted by LN at 7:29 AM on January 30, 2008

Per languagehat's reminder, I'm trying to stay exceedingly short for ya (also tossed in a few shorties about writing, but not necessarily love)...

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. - William Wordsworth

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. - James Michener

Be obscure clearly. - E.B. White

Authors and lovers always suffer some infatuation, from which only absence can set them free. - Samuel Johnson

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. - Thomas Mann

No man should ever publish a book until he has first read it to a woman. - Van Wyck Brooks

(btw, congrats)
posted by allkindsoftime at 7:44 AM on January 30, 2008 [5 favorites has favorites]

"I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen..." -Lloyd Dobbler
posted by bonheur at 7:57 AM on January 30, 2008 [5 favorites has favorites]

Abiezer -- since it's a gift, why not leave on the initial 'that' to better express the wish -- [I give you this pen] "that in black ink my love may still shine bright." There's no shame in the subjunctive!
posted by bokane at 8:10 AM on January 30, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

"If you had to choose between writing and women, Dr. Asimov, which would you choose?"

"Well, I can type for 12 hours without getting tired."
posted by RobotHero at 8:13 AM on January 30, 2008