COLUMN: Live to love, and love to live
For many of us, Homecoming is a timely tradition we all look forward to, for it brings the start of a new semester and a new season. The sound of football crowds cheering, the feel of crisp air on your face, the taste of hot chocolate and pumpkin pie, and the colors of red, orange and yellow falling everywhere you glance (other than just the leaves falling, people too, are falling in love).
Amidst the trauma and hardship our country now faces, one thing will bring us together and make us stronger – LOVE. A dear friend once told me there can never be enough love in the world around us. For love is the true essence of life.
So with that in mind, I take this opportunity to share with you some quotes on the very subject that engulfs our hearts and souls, our relationships, and even our television sets.
“The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love.” – W. Somerset Maugham
“Saying I love you is important, but not enough. Remember, love is a verb, an action word. Sometimes, passive because it happens to us, but also active, because we choose to do it.” – Unknown
“A true friend walks in when the whole world walks out.” – Unknown
“If you love somebody, tell them.” – Rod McKuen
“A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.” – Latin proverb
“All you need is love.” – John Lennon
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu
“For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof; the work for which all other work is but preparation.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“I don’t make you feel special, I just remind you that you are special.” – David F. Sims
“I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.” – Forrest Gump
“It is love alone that gives worth to all things.” – Santa Teresa de Jesus
“Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” – Robert Frost
“Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence.” – Vincent Van Gogh
My challenge to each and to all: Take all the love you can possibly muster within you and share just a piece of it with someone near or far. Inspire someone. Share a piece of heaven. Happy Homecoming.
Andrea G. Ekins is the Family Life Senator. Comments can be sent to her at angarner@cc.usu.edu