Happy Love Day

Every February 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from?

Did you know that nearly 150 million cards are exchanged each Valentine's Day?

Or that more than 40,000 American are employed at chocolate companies?

Authors, poets and playwrights have been trying to capture love in words for thousands of years. Their work speaks to the enduring power of love across the ages of human history.

 

 I have learned not to worry about love;

but to honor its coming with all my heart.
- Alice Walker

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.  -Helen Keller

Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets dealing with love, time, beauty and mortality.

Love does not dominate; it cultivates.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
- Zora Neale Hurston 

Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays.

Clutch it, and it darts away.
- Dorothy Parker

Approximately 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas