The 30 Best Celebrity Relationship Quotes

These A-listers break down the reality of romance in the spotlight.

Whether you've been together for a week or married for a decade (or more!), there's no denying that relationships can be hard work. Unsurprisingly, that work is ever harder when your relationship is being scrutinized by tabloids, paparazzi, and fans. However, despite rampant public trials and tribulations, some A-listers have come clean about what it really takes to make a relationship worthwhile. From how to know your partner's the one to what keeps a marriage going after kids enter the mix, these celebrity quotes about relationships and romance are all-too-relatable. And if you want to ensure your own union will stand the test of time, be sure you've memorized the 50 Best Marriage Tips of All Time.

1
Chrissy Teigen

chrissy teigen and john legend

Chrissy Teigen wasn't about to try to convince her now-husband, John Legend, to settle down immediately. "The worst thing you can do is try to lock someone like that down early on, then have them think, There's so much more out there. I played it cool for a long time. Never once did I ask, 'What are we?' Marriage was never my goal, because I've never been very traditional. I was just happy to be with him," the supermodel told Cosmopolitan. And for more unconventional matrimonial approaches, check out The Millennial Marriage Strategy That Could Save Your Relationship.

2
Tom Hanks

Tom hanks, dream job

Tom Hanks' marriage to Rita Wilson has lasted nearly 30 years, practically a lifetime by Hollywood standards. While the actor was married once before, he says that it wasn't until he met his now-wife that he realized what he wanted from a relationship. "I must say that when I met Rita, I thought, 'Oh, this is what it's supposed to be like when you are married to someone. It's supposed to be this carefree and easy and, you know, oddly enough, weighty," Hanks told Piers Morgan.

3
Anna Faris

Chris Pratt and Anna Faris
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Anna Faris was candid with a fan about what makes a relationship worthwhile, following the announcement of her divorce from Chris Pratt. "Life is too short for you to be in relationships where you are not feeling like this isn't fully right or somebody doesn't have your back, or somebody doesn't fully value you in every way," she said to a caller on her Unqualified podcast. "Don't be afraid to feel your independence if things aren't right."

4
Brad Pitt

brad pitt, dream job
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Brad Pitt's marriage to Angelina Jolie may have been short-lived, but the star had glowing things to say about long-term romance at AFI Fest in 2015. "I think, for me, it's just that the road is long, and it's worth fighting for. The dividends worth fighting for instead of jumping ship [are] more profound than any beginning, any kind of new romance."

5
Tina Fey

Tina Fey, inspiring quotes
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Tina Fey didn't mince words about how to decide what makes someone worth sleeping with in her book, Bossypants: "When choosing sexual partners, remember: Talent is not sexually transmittable."

6
Barack Obama

President Obama, race
Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock

Former president Barack Obama revealed that the thing he relished most about his marriage was how different it felt from his career. "What I value most about my marriage is that it is separate and apart from a lot of the silliness of Washington," he told The New York Times Magazine in 2009. "And Michelle is not part of that silliness."

7
Kristen Bell

Kristen bell and dax sheperd

Kristen Bell has been open about the ups and downs in her marriage to actor Dax Shepard. "It is not easy to work around another human being, but if you commit to it, you can pretty much permanently respect that person," the actress told Us Weekly. "Then it doesn't really matter if you disagree because you still respect that person. But on a daily basis, he just makes me laugh all the time." For more on this lovely couple, don't miss Kristen Bell and Dax Shepherd's Secrets to Marital Bliss.

8
David Beckham

actors david beckham

David Beckham admits that a strong friendship is at the core of his marriage. "We know each other better than anybody. People have talked about, 'Do we stay together because it's a brand?' Of course not. We stay together because we love each other, because we have four amazing children," Beckham revealed to BBC 4's Desert Island Discs. "Do you go through tough times? Of course. That's part of relationships. It's part of marriages. It's part of having children. It's part of having responsibilities."

9
Beyoncé

Beyonce and Jay Z
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While both Beyoncé and Jay Z have been candid about their relationship's troubles, she revealed that the couple's bond goes well past the superficial trappings of celebrity culture. "We decide everything," she told Essence. "My word is my word. What Jay and I have is real. It's not about interviews or getting the right photo op. It's real."

10
Ryan Reynolds

Blake lively red carpet

Ryan Reynolds admits that his love for Blake Lively only grew stronger after he watched her give birth to their first daughter, James. "I'm not one for vomiting declarations of sentiment out across the airwaves, but when we had that baby, I fell more in love with my wife than I'd ever been in my entire life. I couldn't even believe it," the Deadpool star told David Letterman.

11
Kim Kardashian

words people over 30 won't get
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The third time was the charm for Kim Kardashian, whose relationship with Kanye West blossomed just as her marriage to Kris Humphries was ending. "I swear from the moment I landed [in Paris], I fell madly in love with him and I thought, 'Oh my God, why didn't I do this sooner?' Like, this is what real life is like—love and fun and real support," she revealed on the Keeping Up With the Kardashians 10th Anniversary Special.

12
Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman made a hilarious PSA for Movemember

Parks and Rec star Nick Offerman says that it was mostly just dumb luck that led to his happy marriage to Will & Grace actress Megan Mullally. "We fell in love, and before long, we could just tell that we wanted to stay together and make a life together. We wanted to declare to each other and our friends and family that we were in it to win it. It's important to note that it was not the result of any planning on either of our parts. In fact, we were both looking rather in the other direction when we ran smack into it," he revealed in a Q+A with The AV Club.

13
Jennifer Garner

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While Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's marriage ended in divorce, the actress had nothing but loving things to say about her ex in a Vanity Fair interview in 2016. "He's the love of my life. What am I going to do about that? He's the most brilliant person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous. He's just a complicated guy. I always say, 'When his sun shines on you, you feel it.' But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it's cold. He can cast quite a shadow." If your own relationship has hit the skids, you may want to check out the 40 Reasons Getting Divorced in Your 40s Isn't So Bad.

14
George Clooney

what we know about meghan markles wedding dress
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Longtime bachelor George Clooney was eager to espouse the virtues of his committed relationship with his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, on CBS This Morning. "[I have] someone who I can talk to about anything, and someone who I care more about than I've cared about anything. It's nice."

15
Jada Pinkett Smith

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith
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While they're not swingers as many tabloid rumors have suggested, Jada Pinkett Smith says her marriage is held together with a simple formula: love and friendship. "Will and I just have amazing chemistry on a lot of different levels. We love to laugh together. We love to learn together and we just love each other. We just have a good time together. I guess that's the secret. We just really like each other," she told a caller on Watch What Happens Live.

16
Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman's passion for wife Deborra-lee Furness hasn't waned a bit in the 21 years they've been married. "Even at the Oscars, I walk out, I put my hand on my heart and I always look to Deb in the audience," he tells People. "Straight afterwards, I will not see anybody in my dressing room until Deb's been in. Because that is my foundation, that is the rock, that is the foundation of our family, and therefore my life."

17
Jessica Biel

Justin Timberlake, Jessica BIel

Jessica Biel told Ellen DeGeneres that marriage completely changed her relationship with Justin Timberlake—in a good way. "[Being married] just feels incredible. It feels like you have this partner who is going to be with you and also change light bulbs and do dishes with you."

18
Matt Damon

Matt Damon passed on classic role
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Matt Damon chalks the success of his marriage to wife Luciana Barroso up to luck. "I got lucky meeting her," Damon tells The Telegraph. "I think marriage is incredibly difficult because it's so hard to have that one partner who is everything. Looking at it objectively, it seems an insane idea. So it's not that I love marriage in general, it's that I love being married to her. And that's the difference. And I just got lucky. I sure did."

19
Amy Poehler

Actress Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler's advice on love? It's the worst, but you should do it anyway. "Being in love is the worst. I mean it's the best, but it's so hard and scary to open your heart to someone. It's much easier to kind of float and not invest and not expose yourself and not open your heart," she told a fan on her Ask Amy web series. "The point is, vulnerability is the key to happiness. Vulnerable people are powerful people. Opening your heart and sharing it means you're going to get so much love in your life."

20
Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul
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Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul sees the dreaminess of his marriage to wife Lauren Parsekian lasting indefinitely. "Let me tell you, my friend, I will be in the honeymoon phase until I leave this planet. Getting married to Lauren was the greatest accomplishment of my life. I will be forever grateful," Paul told People in 2013.

21
Emily Blunt

John krasinski and emily blunt

Emily Blunt says that her marriage to John Krasinski has emboldened her in ways she never imagined possible. "When I feel the support I have from him, I feel invincible. There's someone behind you on your good days, and someone in front of you on your bad days," she tells InStyle.

22
Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum

"It's just the want and the will to just be in it, you know?" Channing Tatum tells TODAY of how he and wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum make their union work. "It's not always perfect, but you gotta still just want to solve the equation."

23
Catherine Zeta-Jones

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones
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Catherine Zeta-Jones' advice for keeping her 17-year marriage to Michael Douglas on track is simple: "Being kind, being nice, having your listening ears," she tells Extra.

23
Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris admits that communication is at the heart of his marriage to David Burtka. "In our relationship, communication is super important. Good friends of ours said, 'You need to talk it out,' and if that means raising your voice, you need to raise your voice," he tells ET. "Know what you're talking about. Know where you're standing as opposed to letting stuff build up."

25
Oprah

Billionaire Oprah Winfrey, inspiring quotes
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While Oprah's long-term partnership with Stedman Graham has long been the subject of media speculation, she says that the key to their happiness is not making things official. "We would not have stayed together, because marriage requires a different way of being in this world," Oprah tells Vogue. "His interpretation of what it means to be a husband and what it would mean for me to be a wife would have been pretty traditional, and I would not have been able to fit into that."

26
Justin Theroux

Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston

The Leftovers star Justin Theroux says that his marriage to Jennifer Aniston has helped put his whole life in perspective. "Marriage makes the small things much smaller and the big things small," Theroux revealed to Rhapsody magazine. "You have an ally. It's good to have someone have your back."

27
Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi
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Ellen DeGeneres says that her love for wife Portia de Rossi is so complete that there's no need to expand the family any further. "We are lucky enough to be so in love, I don't want a baby. I like having all of her, and she likes having all of me," the talk show host told Glamour.

28
Chris Hemsworth

chris hemsworth celebrity workout tips

Thor star Chris Hemsworth may travel around the world for work, but he recommends making time for romance, no matter how exhausted you are. "Make sure you have date night even if it's once in a blue moon, because most of the time you're just too tired and you'd actually prefer to sleep," he told GQ Australia of his relationship with wife Elsa Pataky. "I don't [write love letters], but maybe I should. There's no shortage of how much I tell her I love her."

29
Kelly Ripa

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos

Kelly Ripa's secret to staying married to Mark Consuelos for 21 years? Stick with it, even when your relationship hits its low points. "There's going to be times where you look at each other like 'I can't believe I live with you,'" Ripa tells AOL. "That's what you want in life, to have a good companion, somebody that loves you, that listens to you and is your equal in every way." When your relationship hits a rough patch, be sure to get things back on track by using The Single Best Way to Revitalize Your Marriage.

30
Rob Delaney

Rob Delaney

Catastrophe star Rob Delaney has a clever gauge for how to know that you've found the right person: "It's probably not love if you don't press your face to the toilet seat after they've used it to feel their warmth," the comedian joked to his Twitter followers in 2013. And for more ways to know your beau is the one, learn the 15 Surefire Signs Your Partner Is Marriage Material.

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Sarah Crow
Sarah Crow is a senior editor at Eat This, Not That!, where she focuses on celebrity news and health coverage. Read more
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