Seven Break Up Quotes to Get You Through when Love Really Stinks

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Break-ups often feel like the loneliest experiences we, as humans, must suffer through. This, however, is not true. Break-ups and the accompanying mental anguish are some of the most relatable and universal of human emotional tumults. Everyone experiences the heartbreak that comes at the end of a relationship. To help you in your own struggle, here are seven aching love quotes from some of our time’s most famous and influential individuals.

The True Nature of Risk in Love

"And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk more." - Erica Jong Best known for her fiction and poetry, Erica Jong is the American author of the famous 1973 novel, "Fear of Flying." In this quote, she is stating something that can be applied to all endeavors in life, but most prominently to love. In the wake of a break-up, one can berate oneself, stating “I shouldn't have been so dumb as to date him / her in the first place!” It’s easy to find retrospective 'signs' as to why this is true everywhere you look. However, it's true what Jong says. Life is risk, and you risk much more if you do not risk anything at all. Nobody is perfect.

Don’t Settle for a Lukewarm Relationship

"I would rather a romantic relationship turn into contempt than turn into apathy. The passion in the extremities make it appear as though it once meant something. We grow from hot or cold, but lukewarm is the biggest insult."- Criss Jami

Christopher James Gilbert, better known by his pseudonym Criss Jami, is an American essayist, poet, and existential philosopher. Probably the most obscure individual to be quoted, his statement is one of the truest. Many feel marginalized and hated by an angry ex-lover in the wake of a break-up. However, this does not always mean that they are being honest or trying to point at your flaws. Undoubtedly, each one of you made your own mistakes during the relationship, but a venomous ex is simply expressing their love for you as a form of anger and hate because they have nowhere else to put it. All their love for you becomes twisted and full of desperate anguish. It spills over, and when it does, they try to hand it off to you to relieve what they perceive to be their lonesome burden.

If You Love Someone, Set Them Free

"To love someone enough to let them go, you had to let them go forever or you did not love them that much." - Diana Wynne Jones

It's true that true love demands an ability to relinquish. In a break-up, it's often the case that one lover is left with more of a broken heart than the other, usually due to the split having been premeditated on the part of their former partner. It's natural to grasp at any remaining straws right off the bat, but in the end, it is selfish to attempt to convince a lover back into their lives. As painful as it is, a true lover will understand and respect their partner’s decision to leave.

’tis Better to Have Loved and Lost…

"Just because a relationship ends, it doesn't mean it's not worth having." - Sarah Mlynowski

Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Absolutely. Everything in life is endlessly fluctuating, and each experience (whether it be success or failure) is worth the time and effort expended. You will learn and absorb lessons from failed relationships that you will not only take into future endeavors of the heart, but also into other facets of your life. Even the worst experience is infinitely valuable; but do not become jaded. To become jaded is to assume everyone is the same, when each person, although sharing in common a certain blanket of humanity, is radically different. How one relationship ends should not have influence on how the others will start.

Don’t Be Afraid to Feel

"Pain or love or danger makes you real again..." - Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac, so-called 'king of the beatniks,' had a way with words that pierced the very subliminal depths of the soul. In this quote, he is stating that many fall into an almost-surreal monotony within everyday experience until one of three things happens: physical or emotional pain, a potential danger, or, most poignantly, love. Each of these experiences provides a shattering reminder as to the very fact of your being alive. Do not shy away from love, as it is one of the most profound and enlivening experiences one can ever have.

Know That You Deserve Love

"To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception; it is an eternal loss for which there is no reparation, either in time or in eternity." - Soren Kierkegaard

The so-called 'father of existentialism,' Soren Kierkegaard knew well how sour love could be. Having once been engaged to Regine Olsen, he quickly realized he could not reconcile his eternal devotion to writing with his desire to be a husband. He broke the engagement (to his later regret) and watched helplessly as the love of his life eventually married another man. His above quote seems to reflect this regret, as Regine became the main influence for much of his writings from then on in. The quote in itself reflects a very key point: to convince yourself that you do not or cannot love someone, or that someone cannot love you, is not only false; it is a consideration that, if acted upon, will irrevocably cheat you out of life.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer." - Albert Camus

Albert Camus, prominent existentialist and the first proponent of an existential spin-off philosophy known as 'absurdism,' states very precisely a truth that is inherent to us all. Regardless of our darkest and most painful experiences in life, within each of us resides a great potential for happiness that will always renew its balance in one way or another.

Love can be fickle. Love can hurt. But everyone survives heartbreak, as painful as it can be. Remember to love like you've never been hurt, because a bad ending doesn't mean it was a bad relationship. You will find someone new and amazing in your life, but do not rush it. Life is like music - you do not wait for it to be over, you enjoy it as it plays. This goes just as much for love.