Thomas Mann Love Quotations

It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death.

We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities.

For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts.

A man's dying is more his survivor's affair than his own.

I love and reverence the Word, the bearer of the spirit, the tool and gleaming ploughshare of progress.

This was love at first sight, love everlasting: a feeling unknown, unhoped for, unexpected--in so far as it could be a matter of conscious awareness; it took entire possession of him, and he understood, with joyous amazement, that this was for life.

Isn't it grand, isn't it good, that language has only one word for everything we associate with love - from utter sanctity to the most fleshly lust? The result is perfect clarity in ambiguity, for love cannot be disembodied even in its most sanctified forms, nor is it without sanctity even at its most fleshly. Love is always simply itself, both as a subtle affirmation of life and as the highest passion; love is our sympathy with organic life.