Falling in love is a feeling so overwhelming that it can’t fully be explained in words. You might fall in love in many different ways throughout your lifetime, but your first love will always be truly special because the territory is uncharted and the sensation is new. When you experience those magical sparks of chemistry, it can feel life-changing. That’s why quotes about first love appear so often in books, movies, and songs — people can’t get enough of remembering that special time.
Even if your first love doesn’t work out for the long haul, you won’t soon forget what it felt like. “You get this imprinted high that you want to keep chasing,” love biologist Dawn Maslar previously explained to Elite Daily. “That’s why you can’t ever forget about them, because you look back on it and you’re like, ‘That felt so great.’” Falling in love causes the dopamine levels in your brain to spike, which is why it can literally feel like taking a drug. “When you think back to that first love, oftentimes it brings back that emotion or the feeling,” Maslar said. Even if you’re no longer in love with that person, your body has a visceral reaction to the memory of them.
If you’re currently in the midst of a first love, or feeling sentimental about a past one (or maybe even hoping for one in the future!), these romantic quotes are sure to make you swoon.
1. "My first love, I'll never forget, and it's such a big part of who I am, and in so many ways, we could never be together, but that doesn't mean that it's not forever. Because it is forever." — Rashida Jones
2. "My daddy used to tell me that the first time you fall in love, it changes your life forever, and no matter how hard you try, the feelin' never goes away." — Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
3. "It's like, magical. There's nothing like it. So I felt that and I just didn't want to let it go." — Justin Bieber
4. “I think a lot of people still fantasize about that first love and what might happen if they rekindled the relationship.” – Sophie Kinsella
5. "First love is ravaging — it just guts you in the most wonderful way, if you can see through it." — Noah Centineo
6. "I remember the exact date, June 11, 2006. It was the day I met my first love. I knew from a friend that he thought I was pretty. He came up to me with a bunch of guy friends and introduced himself. Instantly, I wanted them all to go away just to be with him. He started to shake my hand, and I said, 'I don’t do handshakes, I do hugs.'" — Miley Cyrus, Miles To Go
7. “At times I wonder why I fool with you / But this is new to me, this is new to you / Initially, I didn't wanna fall for you / Gather my attention it was all for you.” — Khalid, “Location”
8. “I don’t think it’s overrated. I think in retrospect you probably see it differently. But at the time it is everything to you. It is the greatest feeling in the world. I think it’s only when you look back on things that you think maybe they were not as real as you believed or weren’t as significant. People get married when they’re 18 and spend their whole lives together. I think their greatest fear is that someone will see it as a fling because they were young and it didn’t mean anything.” — Carey Mulligan
9. “Like an old photograph / Time can make a feeling fade / But the memory of a first love / Never fades away.” — Tim McGraw, “Something Like That”
10. “I remember what it felt like to fall in love for the first time. You think you’ll never love like that again. But you do.” — Jenny Han, Ashes To Ashes
Even when first love is fleeting, it leaves an impact on your life that you'll never completely forget. Years to come, you'll still look back on your fond memories with that person — and how, in that moment, they were everything.
