Every one of us has experienced a secret crush at some point in our lives. Here are quotes to help you get through it, or to inspire you to make your move.

Having a crush is strange. And that we all experience crushes doesn’t change that. That’s because we go through our crushes in different ways. However, there is common ground. For example, we all wonder if the object of our crush feels the same way. We wonder whether it’s a “true” crush (or even love at first sight), or merely a passing interest. We search, often in vain, for the right words to express our feelings, when (and if) we’re ready to take the leap. To help you feel better while you work up the nerve, we’ve assembled 60 of the best secret crush quotes.

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You’ll see you’re far from alone in your private longing. Heck, you may even get some ideas for sweet (if not so secret) crush quotes you can share with the object of your affection.

One idea? Simply send this article to them. They’ll pick up on what you’re laying down (“60 Best Secret Crush Quotes” gives it away). And if they’re crushing back? Well, that makes everything a lot easier.

Of course, if they don’t share your feelings, it will certainly be awkward, and even heartbreaking. Love hurts, as they say. But at least you’ll know, and can turn to a few heartbreak quotes for comfort.

What Having a Secret Crush Does to Your Brain

Crush Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels
Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels

Although many might treat a crush as trivial, it’s anything but that. A crush certainly can be a passing feeling, but it can also be the precursor to true love. And you can’t experience love without first having like. So, what is really going on in your brain when you develop a crush on someone?

Let’s get the dictionary definition of “crush” out of the way first. According to Merriam-Webster, it’s “an intense and usually passing infatuation.” However, it’s much deeper than that.

Having a crush often means more dopamine is released in your brain. According to Health Digest, that’s why you have that happy feeling when you think about, or spend time with, your crush. Dopamine is the so-called “feel good” hormone. It’s the same thing you experience when you eat chocolate, hear a funny joke, or snuggle with a puppy.

Interestingly, the brain also tends to release the hormone cortisol when you are confronted with a crush. That’s the stress hormone that might also be released when we face a charging rhino or a swarm of bees. Why would the brain release the stress hormone in response to the object of your crush? Because your brain doesn’t realize that person isn’t a life-or-death challenge, which makes sense, as it may feel that way. Cortisol is why your heart races, your cheeks flush, and your breath grows short when your crush comes near.

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An increase in cortisol levels also means a reduction in serotonin, so your thinking can become somewhat unbalanced, with an inordinate amount of it dedicated to your crush. So it’s not infatuation, it’s your brain.

All of the imbalance to brain hormones can throw off the proper functioning of your amygdala. Your brain perceives your crush differently than it would other people. This “love blindness” can make it difficult for you to see the person’s faults, and easy for you to inflate their good qualities. That’s fine, if you’re crushing on a good person. But watch out, because love (or like) does indeed do funny things to the brain.

Just Met? Here Are Crush Quotes About Love at First Sight

Photo by Rhand McCoy on Unsplash
Photo by Rhand McCoy on Unsplash

“I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Like a desert wanderer afraid of mirages, I gazed at my oasis, but he was real.” – Laura Whitcomb

“The mark of a true crush… is that you fall in love first and grope for reasons afterward.” – Shana Alexander

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“Love isn’t something you find. Love is something that finds you.” – Loretta Young

“I’ve found this new disease, it’s called LOVE. I know it is contagious because you gave it to me.” – Unknown

“I’m not going to make a big deal about a few tummy flutters because… dead people, old people, even furniture would get butterflies if they met this guy.” – Anne Eliot

“She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.” – Voltaire

“Love took me by surprise, love led me to you, and love opened up my eyes.” – Michelle Branch

Crush Quotes for Teens

Teen Crush Photo by Ron Lach from Pexels
Photo by Ron Lach from Pexels

“All sorts of yayness floods my brain. Love is such a drug.” – John Green

“Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable.” – Henry Ward Beecher

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“First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity.” – George Bernard Shaw

“The loss of young first love is so painful that it borders on the ludicrous.” – Maya Angelou

“Love is when you can’t pay attention in class because you are forever writing your first name with his last.” – Unknown

“Teenage crush is like flu. If you find a remedy for it, it lasts for a couple of days. If you don’t, it still lasts for a couple of days.” – Raheel Farooq

“We are teenagers. We don’t have a manual or a written guide that tells us how to fall in love. We don’t even have experience of what love really is, so don’t judge us. We are what we are.” – Unknown

“No, this trick won’t work… How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?” – Albert Einstein

Funny Crush Quotes

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

“I love you. I hate you. I like you. I hate you. I love you. I think you’re stupid. I think you’re a loser. I think you’re wonderful. I want to be with you. I don’t want to be with you. I would never date you. I hate you. I love you… I think the madness started the moment we met and you shook my hand. Did you have a disease or something?” – Shannon L. Adler

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“No more, no less. I’m an idiot. I really need to let this crush go.” – Pittacus Lore

“It was so easy to get excited about someone I didn’t know, so easy to play ‘crush’ from afar, just like with a fictional character. As long as I never talked to Cute Boy, he was going to be perfect, a good reason to wake up tomorrow.” – Gaia B. Amman

“My insides still turn over when he looks at me that certain way.” – Judy Blume

“Infatuation is like a drug that gives you the best high yet gives you the worst headache after.” – Luke Blaise Pereira

“I’ll never get over the stupid feeling I get every time you sign on. The one where I think maybe, just maybe… you’ll talk to me first.” – Unknown

Best Crush Quotes

“Just thinking about you brings a smile to face, a twinkle to my eye, and a skipped beat to my heart.” – Ash Sweeney

“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.” – William Shakespeare

“It’s amazing how crazy I feel when my phone vibrates and I’m begging it to be you.” – Anonymous

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“Isn’t it funny how just one little phone call or text can make your bad day suddenly wonderful!” – Nishan Panwar

“An encounter with you is what I pray for before I start my day. Maybe, just maybe, God will be kind enough to grant this silly little wish.” – Unknown

“It’s nice to have a crush on someone. It feels like you’re alive, you know?” – Scarlett Johansson

”Some crushes just never went away. They built, instead, into something permanent, obsessive and all-consuming.” – Maya Banks

“If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.” – Oscar Wilde

“Love is like a friendship caught on fire.” – Bruce Lee

Secret Crush Quotes for Him

Photo by Andres Ayrton on Pexels

“I like her because she smiles at me and means it.” – Terri Guillemets

“I’m afraid to lose you and you’re not even mine.” – Drake

“I can’t say hello to you and risk another goodbye.” – Taylor Swift

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“What she had realized was that love was that moment when your heart was about to burst.” – Steig Larsson

“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“When I find myself thinking of you, it is all the good memories that we had that bring a smile to my face.” – Catherine Pulsifer

“And when you love someone, you don’t always see them realistically.” – P.C. Cast

“I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay

“You are the last person I thought I would fall for and at the same time, falling for you makes all the sense in the world to me.” – Unknown

“I fervently wish every night for you and me to end up together… it’s the same as wishing for the moon to shine on a bright and clear morning sky.” – Anonymous

“I really liked him, and when you really like someone, not everything is simple to understand.” – Kyle Labe

“Theoretical crushes could remain perfect and flawless, because you never actually had to find out what that person was really like or deal with the weird way they chewed or anything.” – Morgan Matson

“Love is a friendship set to music.” – Joseph Campbell

“I just needed to be closer to you any way I could. Since then, you’ve distracted me every day, whether you’re near me or not.” – Dylan McNair

“It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone… but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.” – Khalil Gibran

Secret Crush Quotes for Her

Photo by Jed Villejo on Unsplash

“To be your friend was all I ever wanted; to be your lover was all I ever dreamed.” – Valerie Lombardo

“My heart had a crush on him from the moment we met, but it was faint, and the rest of me stubbornly refused to play along.” – Jennifer Harrison

“My heart stops when you look at me.” – Katy Perry

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“Whatever our souls are made out of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Bronte

“It’s like I’m 13 again and he’s my crush. All I’m aware of in this entire roomful of people is him. Where he is, what he’s doing, who he’s talking to.” – Sophie Kinsella

“If you could see that I’m the one that understands you, been here all along so why can’t you see you belong with me.” – Taylor Swift

“You get crushes on people. You have to see them every day in that week. They’re a fantastic person, and it could be a man or a woman.” – Jennifer Saunders

“There are so many other things I should be doing with my life right now but instead, I am stuck here crushing on you.” – Unknown

“I have a crush on your mind. I fell for your personality. Your looks are just a bonus.” – Nicolas Sparks

“When I am with you, I feel as if I were in a dream garden walking with my fairy tale prince and my happily ever after coming true.” – Unknown

“I just can’t get you out of my head, boy, your love is all I think about; I just can’t get you out of my head, boy, it’s more than I dare to think about.” – Kylie Minogue

“Love’s gift cannot be given. It waits to be accepted.” – Rabindranath Tagore

“I wasn’t used to guys making me blush, and I wasn’t sure why he even was making me blush.” – Holly Hood

“If I had a single flower for every time I think of you, I could walk forever in my garden.” – Claudia Adrienne Grandi

“She is admired from afar. These admirers court her in secret, in the safety of their dreams.” – Whitney Otto

KEEP READING:

Questions to Ask Your Crush