About this quote

Love that never disturbs your calm can end up feeling like habit rather than connection. The phrase argues that real love pushes you out of neat routines and asks you to risk looking foolish. Ask yourself what you have held back from saying or doing for someone you care about. If the safe option wins most of the time, pick one small act this week that shows you are willing to be vulnerable.

When to use it

• Before I quit my corporate job to open an art studio, I told my friend, 'When love is not madness, it is not love,' because I had to follow the pull.
• On our tenth anniversary, after months of safe routines, I said to my partner, 'When love is not madness, it is not love,' and handed over the plane tickets I had bought to surprise them.
• At band practice the singer turned to the songwriter and said, 'When love is not madness, it is not love,' then asked for a bolder chorus that would make people feel raw.
• During a late-night study session a classmate said it about their thesis topic they couldn't stop returning to: 'When love is not madness, it is not love,' and went back to rewrite the intro.