I am admittedly a “mush”. I have been called soft-hearted and a sap. I’m ok with that. I am big on love and happy endings. So in the spirit of my mushy-ness, here are some of my favorite quotes on love. Not so much the love between a man and a woman, but family type love, and love thy neighbor type love.

Here is a quote on “The Essence of Life” that I am very fond of. It is a quote from Gordon B. Hinckley, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is more than the end of the rainbow. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death.”

This quote really touches me. I have seen some of the children who weep for the security of youth and they are always with me. So many of us are lucky enough to take our family and love for granted, and I like this reminder that all are not so lucky. I also really like the part about love being “hope shining” because we all need hope to shine, whether it be through death or something else.

And here is another quote on love that I want to share. This one is by Mother Teresa. “"We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love." I like this one because sometimes it is over-whelming to think about all the sadness and suffering in the world, and it can feel like there is so little that we can do to truly make a difference. I love the reminder that if we do small things with great love, great things can result.

And here is one more from Mother Teresa on love… "There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation than for bread." I like this one because usually when you hear on the news or an infomercial or magazine article about people that are suffering in the world, the focus is on the physical sufferings. Media tends to focus on how people don’t have shelter or food or medical care. It is important to remember that love and appreciation, which is something we can all freely give, is more hungered for and needed than other things.

O.k., last “love quote” (for today). Martin Luther King Jr. said, “"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

Love may not truly be what “makes the world go round”, but I do believe in my heart of hearts, that love is what makes life on this earth worth living. If everyone had a “soul generated by love”, what a different world it would be.

Love is one of those concepts that is universal. Whether you are white or black or any color in between, whether you live in America or Africa or Asia or any where in between, whether you are old or young, or male or female and no matter what language you speak, love is something we all need and something we all desire. Love gives us hope and gives us strength and gives us something bigger than ourselves to worry about. Love is all around us, and love unites as human beings.

See, I told you I was a mush. :)