Expressing Your Love – vol. 18
Couples might be drawn to this quote from Ernest Hemingway because it captures a kind of love that feels deeply lived-in. It’s not about grand romantic gestures or dramatic declarations—it’s about the comfort and safety of home, found in another person. Hemingway speaks to the kind of bond where two people are profoundly attuned to each other’s rhythms, where even solitude can be shared. That is a rare and resonant idea for many couples: to be with someone who makes you feel whole, even in silence, even in the dark.
This quote, as a wedding ceremony reading, symbolizes a partnership built on quiet companionship, mutual understanding, and a deep sense of emotional security. The passage evokes the idea that true love is not necessarily about constant connection, but about presence—knowing the other is there, choosing not to leave. The line “we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together” speaks to the heart of what many couples hope for in a marriage: a relationship that anchors them, calms them, and makes the world feel a little less daunting.
Moreover, Hemingway touches on the rare harmony of being alone together—that emotional self-sufficiency doesn’t have to create distance in a relationship. In fact, for some, the ideal marriage is one where both people retain their individual identities while still forming an unshakeable unit, a “we” that never swallows the “I.” If this sounds like you and your partner, I recommend you include this in your wedding ceremony!
At night, there was the feeling that we had come home, feeling no longer alone, waking in the night to find the other one there, and not gone away; all other things were unreal. We slept when we were tired and if we woke the other one woke too so one was not alone. Often a man wishes to be alone and a woman wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. We were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.
