Declarations of love are sweet, romantic, and yes, even a little cheesy at times. But nevertheless, they still manage to melt our hearts, put a smile on our lips, and bring tears to our eyes. Over the years, I have read many quotes declaring love and adoration for their hearts desire.

These are my favorite 20 love quotes, not only because they express feelings of love so beautifully, but because I can relate to each and every one of these quotes.

My 20 Favorite Love Quotes

Love is a friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfections and makes allowances for human weakness. - Ann Landers

I realized I was thinking of you, and I began to wonder how long you'd been on my mind. Then it occurred to me: Since I met you, you never left. - Unknown

Thinking of you keeps me awake. Dreaming of you keeps me asleep. Being with you keeps me alive. - Unknown

I wish I could turn back the clock. I'd find you sooner and love you longer. - Unknown

I hope you know that every time I tell you to get home safe, stay warm, have a good day, or sleep well what I am really saying is I love you. I love you so damn much that it is starting to steal other words' meanings. " — Open-365

I want you. All of you. Your flaws. Your mistakes. Your imperfections. I want you, and only you. - Unknown

As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once. - John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment. - Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

Distance means nothing, when someone means everything. - Unknown

Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it. - Nicholas Sparks, A Walk To Remember

The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space. - Marilyn Monroe

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. - Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

You are, and always have been, my dream. - Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you. - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

We loved with a love that was more than love. - Edgar Allen Poe

When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew. - William Shakespeare

Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell. - Joan Crawford

It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight. - Vladimir Nobokov, Lolita

They say when you are missing someone that they are probably feeling the same, but I don't think it's possible for you to miss me as much as I'm missing you right now. - Edna St. Vincent Millay

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close - Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

Not everyone is a romantic, or goes in for the mushy stuff, but you cannot tell me that if you heard these words coming from the mouth of someone you were romantically interested in, that you wouldn't be incredibly moved. Perhaps even swept off your feet.

I think many of us crave that story book romance on some level. We do not necessarily want some man taking care of us, but I think that even the most independent, realistic version of ourselves will appreciate the whispering of sweet nothings in our ear.

What's your favorite love quote? Please share!