Love Cycles Quotes

“This theme is found throughout literature — the conflict between our desire to escape the world of other human beings and our desire to dwell within it. Couples the world over experience this conflict. It’s easy to be compassionate and generous when you don’t have to compromise. It’s relatively simple to live peacefully when you’re not regularly challenged by a person who sometimes inconveniences you with her decisions, embarrasses you with her choices, and drives you crazy with her “otherness.” It’s interesting to notice how many of the people we identify as the greatest spiritual teachers are single (and childless as well)!”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“Wholehearted love has a totally different intention and source. It begins with a deep knowledge that I’m enough and can extend myself to you from a grounded place rather than from the often desperate belief that I’m nothing without you and will do whatever it takes to be sure you’ll love me.”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“For the two of us to merely exist as a couple, we don’t have to be open or vulnerable with our partner. But if we want to share a genuine, vibrant emotional connection, we do have to let down our guard and show up as the person we truly are.”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“In the latter part of the twentieth century, much emphasis was placed on finding a soul mate with whom we would share enduring, unconditional love. As a result, many people left “good-enough” marriages in search of the holy grail of romance and intimacy. Like many desperados, they never arrived at their destination but instead found themselves poorer in both pocket and spirit.”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“One wise choice is to practice the Golden Rule, that moral truth honored by people of diverse cultures and faiths. Can I make a commitment to treat my partner as I would like to be treated?”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“Couples who thrive are likely to possess two strong skills: they can see and accept their differences and, paradoxically, because of this ability, they can be generous and collaborate on a happy coexistence.”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“One of the most important ingredients in a happy, long-term relationship is a person’s ability to take responsibility for conflict and learn to apologize and make amends.”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“If we can come to a generous acceptance of our own human limitations, we can begin to find our way back to our partner. A more relaxed standard allows us to forget all the hype and just let ourselves feel just how good good-enough sex can be.”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. — attributed to JALALUDDIN RUMI”
― Linda Carroll, Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love