On this day in 1905 Jean Paul Sartre, philosopher and writer was born.

Sartre’s name is always linked with that of Simone de Beauvoir. Though initially an amorous relationship, the two never lived together and were free to take other lovers; not perhaps the best recipe for success yet they remained a couple for over fifty years. De Beauvoir edited all Sartre’s work, much of which he dedicated to her.

Here is a poem about love by John Donne, Love’s Infiniteness:

If yet I have not all the love,
Dear, I shall never have it all,
I cannot breathe one other sigh, to move,
Nor can entreat one other tear to fall.
All my treasure, which should purchase thee,
Sighs, tears, and oaths, and letters I have spent,
Yet no more can be due to me,
Than at the bargain made was meant.
If then thy gift of love were partial,
That some to me, some should to others fall,
Dear, I shall never have thee all.
…Yet I would not have all yet,
He that hath all can have no more,
And since my love doth every day admit
New growth, thou shouldst have new rewards in store;
Thou canst not every day give me thy heart,
If thou canst give it, then thou never gav’st it;
Love’s riddles are, that though thy heart depart,
It stays at home, and thou with losing sav’st it:
But we will have a way more liberal,
Than changing hearts, to join them, so we shall
Be one, and another’s all.

Today I give thanks that I can know love.