The Romantic IQ Test: Can You Name Which Books These Declarations of Love Come From?

“Life is short, Break the Rules.
Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY.
Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret ANYTHING
That makes you smile.”
Mark Twain’s words celebrate the simple pleasures in life—including the sweet nothings we book lovers treasure finding in our favorite books. A gloriously worded declaration of love can remind readers of just how wonderful it is to tell the one you love how you feel. Test your literary love quotient by identifying the source of the ten quotes below. If you get more than five right, you’re ready to be swept off your feet. (Hint: I could have pulled together ten swoonworthy quotes from John Green alone, but I only included one—so enjoy it!)
1. “Nothing makes me happier and nothing makes me sadder than you.”
2. “I wish I knew how to quit you.”
3. “If my last words are not ‘I love you’-ye’ll ken it was because I didna have time.”
4. “You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.”
5. “If your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.”
6. “I like you very much. Just as you are.”
7. “My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
8. “I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there’s a life after that, I’ll love you then.”
9. “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
10. “I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
Answers
1. The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
2. Brokeback Mountain, by Annie Proulx
3. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
4. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
5. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
6. Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding
7. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
8. City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare
9. Wuthering Heights, by Emile Brontë
10. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green