# Kissing

Kissing is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. It has a variety of cultural uses and connotations, from friendly greeting to expression of passion. The scientific name for kissing is osculation.

## Quotes

* יִשָּׁקֵנִי מִנְּשִׁיקֹות פִּיהוּ כִּי־﻿טֹובִים דֹּדֶיךָ מִיָּיִן.‎
** [Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.]
** Song of Songs 1:2
* And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, “Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.” And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, “Master, master”, and kissed him.
** Mark 14:44-45
* But Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
** Luke 22:48
* Εἴ σε φιλῶν ἀδικῶ καὶ τοῦτο δοκεῖς ὕβριν εἶναι, τὴν αὐτὴν κόλασιν καὶ σὺ φίλει με λαβών.
** [If I do you a wrong by kissing you, and you think this an injury, kiss me too, inflicting the same on me as a punishment.]
** Anthologia Græca, XII.188
* She said out of pity for him, "I shall give you a kiss if you like," but though he once knew, he had long forgotten what kisses are, and he replied, "Thank you," and held out his hand, thinking she had offered to put something into it. This was a great shock to her, but she felt she could not explain without shaming him, so with charming delicacy she gave Peter a thimble which happened to be in her pocket, and pretended that it was a kiss.
** J. M. Barrie, Peter & Wendy (1911), Chapter 6.
* KISS, n. A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for "bliss." It is supposed to signify, in a general way, some kind of rite or ceremony appertaining to a good understanding; but the manner of its performance is unknown to this lexicographer.
** Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic's Dictionary (1906); republished as The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
* It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it.
** Christian Nestell Bovee, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought (1862), Volume I, p. 240.
* Four sweet lips, two pure souls, and one undying affection,—these are love's pretty ingredients for a kiss.
** Christian Nestell Bovee, reported in Maturin M. Ballou, Pearls of Thought (1882), p. 142.
* With a Kiss I'd pass the Key.
** Kate Bush, singing as Houdini's widow; "Houdini", The Dreaming (1982).
* When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past— For years fleet away with the wings of the dove— The dearest remembrance will still be the last, Our sweetest memorial the first kiss of love.
** Lord Byron, The First Kiss of Love, stanza 7 (1806).
* Well, I'm already going to Hell for kissing you, so I may as well take the scenic route.
** Aaron Davis, Latter Days.
* Pain is the kiss of Christ.
** Catherine Doherty, Dearly Beloved, Vol. III.
* True love cannot be changed, Though delight from desert Be estranged. Farewell, farewell But yet or ere I part (O cruel), Kiss me sweet, kiss me sweet my jewel.
** John Dowland, "Wilt thou unkind thus reave me of my heart", line 25, The First Book of Songs (1597).
* Come again: sweet love doth now invite, Thy graces that refrain, To do me due delight, To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die, With thee again in sweetest sympathy.
** John Dowland, "Come again", line 1, The First Book of Songs.
* It was thy kiss, Love, that made me immortal.
** Margaret Fuller, Dryad Song (1900).
* A kiss is a contact, a union, an exchange. It is unknown to certain races and tribes, while others know it and consider it with disgust. They all suffer a loss. A kiss can be a cold formula, or a token of familial relationship or a prelude to the act of love. It can also be a revelation in an unspoken, secret language of feelings that have never been expressed in words.
** Harry Harrison, Plague from Space (1965), Chapter 9
* Kiss girls all you want to — it beats the hell out of card games.
** Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land.
* What is a kiss? Why this, as some approve: The sure, sweet cement, glue, and lime of love.
** Robert Herrick, Hesperides (1648), "A Kiss".
* Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score; Then to that twenty, add a hundred more: A thousand to that hundred: so kiss on, To make that thousand up a million. Treble that million, and when that is done, Let's kiss afresh, as when we first begun.
** Robert Herrick, Hesperides (1648), "To Anthea: Ah, My Anthea!"
* Rhett Butler: Open your eyes and look at me. No, I don't think I will kiss you — although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.
** Sidney Howard, Gone with the Wind (1939), based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell.
* The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a deal longer.
** Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Professor at the Breakfast Table (1859), Chapter XI, first published in The Atlantic Monthly (May 1859)
* You must remember this A kiss is just a kiss A sigh is just a sigh The fundamental things apply As time goes by.
** Herman Hupfeld, "As Time Goes By", song from the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody's Welcome; most famous for use as a leitmotif in the 1942 film Casablanca.
* You are always new. The last of your kisses was ever the sweetest; the last smile the brightest; the last movement the gracefullest.
** John Keats, letter to Fanny Brawne (March 1820).
* A slice of pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.
** Stephen King, Firestarter.
* What was our parting ?—one wild kiss, How wild I may not say, One long and breathless clasp, and then As life were past away.
** Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The London Literary Gazette (29th March 1823), 'Song - What was our parting ?—one wild kiss,'
* A kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true.
** Steve Martin, as Harris K. Telemacher in L.A. Story (1991).
* I’ve touched some sentences and have kissed some words.
** Suman Pokhrel, in While Parting
* Kissing is disgusting, but in a nice way, like bleu cheese or brandy.
** the character Zorya Polunochnaya, the Midnight Star, in the speculative fiction television series American Gods (first season, 2017)
* Thy tender kiss hath memory we are kings For all our wanderings. Thy shining eyes already see the after In hidden light and laughter.
** George William Russell, The Divine Vision.
* "Upon thy cheek I lay this zealous kiss, as seal to the indenture of my love
** William Shakespeare, King John, Act ii, scene 1.
* I can express no kinder sign of love, than this kind kiss.
** William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Act i, scene 1.
* I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.
** William Shakespeare, Othello, Act V, scene ii.
* This time, she silenced me not by speaking, but by pressing her lips against my mouth.
** Sanu Sharma, Pari
* When I saw you, I was afraid of meeting you. When I met you, I was afraid of kissing you. When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you. Now that I love you, I'm afraid of losing you.
** Silard Somorjay, in "The Voice Of Love" on The Streets of Beijing movie soundtrack, Video Art Beijing.
* Leonard: Hello Leslie. Leslie: Hi Leonard. Leonard: I'd like to propose an experiment… Leslie: Goggles, Leonard. Leonard: Right. I would like to propose an experiment. Leslie: Hang on. I'm trying to see how long it takes a 500-kilowatt oxygen iodine laser to heat up my Cup o' Noodles. Leonard: I've done it. About two seconds, 2.6 for minestrone. Anyway, I was thinking more of a bio-social exploration with a neuro-chemical overlay. Leslie: Wait, are you asking me out? Leonard: I was going to characterize it as the modification of our colleague-slash-friendship paradigm with the addition of a date-like component, but we don't need to quibble over terminology. Leslie: What sort of experiment? Leonard: There's a generally accepted pattern in this area. I would pick you up. Take you to a restaurant. Then we would see a movie, probably a romantic comedy featuring the talents of Hugh Grant or Sandra Bullock. Leslie: Interesting. And would you agree that the primary way we would evaluate either the success or failure of the date would be based on the biochemical reaction during the good night kiss? Leonard: Heart rate, pheromones, et cetera. Yes. Leslie: Why don't we just stipulate that the date goes well and move to the key variable? Leonard: You mean kiss you now? Leslie: Yes. Leonard: Can you define the parameters of the kiss? Leslie: Closed-mouth but romantic. Mint?
** The Big Bang Theory, "The Fuzzy Boots Corollary" [1.03].
* Time found our tired love sleeping, And kissed away his breath; But what should we do weeping, Though light love sleep to death? We have drained his lips at leisure, Till there's not left to drain A single sob of pleasure, A single pulse of pain.
** Algernon Charles Swinburne, Poems and Ballads (1866-89), "Rococo", lines 17-24.
* Sweet, can I sing you the song of your kisses? How soft is this one, how subtle this is, How fluttering swift as a bird's kiss that is, As a bird that taps at a leafy lattice; How this one clings and how that uncloses From bud to flower in the way of roses.
** Arthur Symons, Kisses.
* For tho' I know he loves me, To-night my heart is sad; His kiss was not so wonderful As all the dreams I had.
** Sara Teasdale, The Kiss.
* Marcia: Doug! I think I just felt your tongue in my mouth. Doug: It's called a French kiss. Marcia: But I thought you were from Nebraska!
** The Brady Bunch Movie.
* If you can kiss the mistress, never kiss the maid.
** Anonymous proverb, collected in A Hand-book of Proverbs: Comprising an Entire Republication of Ray's Collection of English Proverbs, with His Additions from Foreign Languages (1899) by John Ray, further edited by Henry George Bohn, p. 420.

### Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations

    Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 416-19.
* Blush, happy maiden, when you feel The lips which press love's glowing seal; But as the slow years darklier roll, Grown wiser, the experienced soul Will own as dearer far than they The lips which kiss the tears away.
** Elizabeth Akers Allen, Kisses.
* But is there nothing else, That we may do but only walk? Methinks, Brothers and sisters lawfully may kiss.
** Beaumont and Fletcher, A King and No King (1611; published 1619), Act IV, scene 4.
* Kiss till the cows come home.
** Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady (c. 1613; printed 1616), Act II, scene 2.
* Remember the Viper:—'twas close at your feet, How you started and threw yourself into my arms; Not a strawberry there was so ripe nor so sweet As the lips which I kiss'd to subdue your alarms.
** Robert Bloomfield, Nancy, Stanza 4.
* * * * And when my lips meet thine Thy very soul is wedded unto mine.
** H. H. Boyesen, Thy Gracious Face I Greet with Glad Surprise.
* Thy lips which spake wrong counsel, I kiss close.
** Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Drama of Exile, scene Farther on, etc, line 992.
* I was betrothed that day; I wore a troth kiss on my lips I could not give away.
** Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lay of the Brown Rosary, Part II.
* First time he kiss'd me, he but only kiss'd The fingers of this hand wherewith I write; And ever since it grew more clean and white.
** Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, Sonnet XXXVIII.
* Something made of nothing, tasting very sweet, A most delicious compound, with ingredients complete; But if as on occasion the heart and mind are sour, It has no great significance, it loses half its power.
** Mary E. Buell, The Kiss.
* Comin' through the rye, poor body, Comin' through the rye, She draigl't a' her petticoatie, Comin' through the rye * * * * Gin a body meet a body Comin' through the rye, Gin a body kiss a body Need a body cry?
** Robert Burns; Taken from an old song, The Bobtailed Lass. Found in Ane Pleasant Garden of Sweet-scented Flowers. Also in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, in the British Museum, Volume V, p. 430. Ed. 1787. While it seems evident that the river Rye is referred to, the Editor of the Scottish American decides it is a field of grain that is meant, not the river.
* Jenny, she's aw weet, peer body, Jenny's like to cry; For she hes weet her petticoats In gangin' thro' the rye, Peer body.
** Said to be the joint production of Miss Blamire and Miss Gilpin, before 1794.
* Come, lay thy head upon my breast, And I will kiss thee into rest.
** Lord Byron, The Bride of Abydos (1813), Canto I, Stanza 11.
* A long, long kiss, a kiss of youth, and love.
** Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818-24), Canto II, Stanza 186.
* Kisses kept are wasted; Love is to be tasted. There are some you love, I know; Be not loath to tell them so. Lips go dry and eyes grow wet Waiting to be warmly met, Keep them not in waiting yet; Kisses kept are wasted.
** Edmund Vance Cooke, Kisses Kept Are Wasted.
* If a body meet a body going to the Fair, If a body kiss a body need a body care?
** James C. Cross, written for the pantomime, Harlequin Mariner (1796).
* Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part.
** Michael Drayton, Sonnet.
* Kisses honeyed by oblivion.
** George Eliot, The Spanish Gypsy (1868), Book III, line 251 from the end of the book.
* The kiss you take is paid by that you give: The joy is mutual, and I'm still in debt.
** George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne), Heroic Love, Act V, scene 1.
* Tell me who first did kisses suggest? It was a mouth all glowing and blest; It kissed and it thought of nothing beside. The fair month of May was then in its pride, The flowers were all from the earth fast springing, The sun was laughing, the birds were singing.
** Heinrich Heine, Book of Songs, New Spring, Prologue, No. 25, Stanza 2.
* Then press my lips, where plays a flame of bliss,— A pure and holy love-light,—and forsake The angel for the woman in a kiss, At once I wis, My soul will wake!
** Victor Hugo, Come When I Sleep.
* Jenny kissed me when we met, Jumping from the chair she sat in; Time, you thief, who love to get Sweets into your list, put that in. Say I'm weary, say I'm sad, Say that health and wealth have missed me; Say I'm growing old, but add Jenny kissed me.
** Leigh Hunt, Jenny Kissed Me ("Jenny" was Mrs. Carlyle).
* Drink to me only with thine eyes And I'll not ask for wine Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I will pledge with mine.
** Ben Jonson, The Forest, To Celia.
* A soft lip, Would tempt you to eternity of kissing!
** Ben Jonson, Volpone; or, the Fox, Act I, scene 1.
* Favouritism governed kissage, Even as it does in this age.
** Rudyard Kipling, Departmental Ditties, General Summary.
* My lips the sextons are Of thy slain kisses.
** George Eric Lancaster, In Pygmalion in Cyprus (Ed. 1880), p. 18.
* When she kissed me once in play, Rubies were less bright than they; And less bright were those which shone In the palace of the Sun. Will they be as bright again? Not if kiss'd by other men.
** Walter Savage Landor, Rubies.
* What is a kiss? Alacke! at worst, A single Dropp to quenche a Thirst, Tho' oft it prooves, in happie Hour, The first swete Dropp of our long Showre.
** Leland, In the Old Time.
* Says he—"I'd better call agin;" Says she—"Think likely, Mister!" Thet last word pricked him like a pin, An'—Wal, he up an' kist her.
** James Russell Lowell, The Courtin'.
* The kiss, in which he half forgets even such a yoke as yours.
** Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome, Virginia, line 138.
* Why do I not kiss you, Philænis? you are bald. Why do I not kiss you, Philænis? you are carrotty. Why do I not kiss you, Philænis? you are one-eyed. He who kisses you, Philænis, sins against nature.
** Martial, Epigrams (c. 80-104 AD), Book II, Epigram 33.
* I throw a kiss across the sea, I drink the winds as drinking wine, And dream they all are blown from thee, I catch the whisper'd kiss of thine.
** Joaquin Miller, England (1871), Introduction.
* I rest content; I kiss your eyes, I kiss your hair in my delight: I kiss my hand and say "Good-night."
** Joaquin Miller, Songs of the Sun-Lands. Isles of the Amazons, Part V. Introd. St.
* One kiss the maiden gives, one last, Long kiss, which she expires in giving.
** Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh (1817), Paradise and the Peri, line 200.
* Kiss—kiss—thou hast won me, Bright, beautiful sin.
** Motherwell, The Demon Lady.
* How should great Jove himself do else than miss To win the woman he forgets to kiss.
** Coventry Patmore, De Natura Deorum.
* Drink to me with thine eyes alone; or if thou wilt, having put it to thy lips, fill the cup with kisses, and so give it me.
** Philostratus, Epistles, 24.
* A kiss, when all is said, what is it? … a rosy dot Placed on the "i" in loving; 'tis a secret Told to the mouth instead of to the ear.
** Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac.
* Young gentlemen, pray recollect, if you please, Not to make appointments near mulberry trees. Should your mistress be missing, it shows a weak head To be stabbing yourself, till you know she is dead. Young ladies, you should not go strolling about When your ancient mammas don't know you are out; And remember that accidents often befall From kissing young fellows through holes in the wall!
** John Godfrey Saxe, Pyramus and Thisbe.
* Give me kisses! Nay, 'tis true I am just as rich as you; And for every kiss I owe, I can pay you back, you know. Kiss me, then, Every moment—and again.
** John Godfrey Saxe, To Lesbia.
* Thou knowest the maiden who ventures to kiss a sleeping man, wins of him a pair of gloves.
** Walter Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, Chapter V.
* Yet whoop, Jack! kiss Gillian the quicker, Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar!
** Walter Scott, Lady of the Lake (1810), VI. 5.
* Strangers and foes do sunder, and not kiss.
** William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well (1600s), Act II, scene 5, line 91.
* We have kiss'd away Kingdoms and provinces.
** William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (1600s), Act III, scene 10, line 5.
* And his kissing is as full of sanctity as the touch of holy bread.
** William Shakespeare, As You Like It (c.1599-1600), Act III, scene 4, line 17.
* O, a kiss, Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge! Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss I carried from thee, dear.
** William Shakespeare, Coriolanus (c. 1607-08), Act V, scene 3, line 44.
* Or ere I could Give him that parting kiss, which I had set Betwixt two charming words, comes in my father And like the tyrannous breathing of the north Shakes all our buds from growing.
** William Shakespeare, Cymbeline (1611), Act I, scene 3, line 33.
* I understand thy kisses, and thou mine, And that's a feeling disputation.
** William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I (c. 1597), Act III, scene 1, line 205.
* It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married.
** William Shakespeare, Henry V (c. 1599), Act V, scene 2, line 286.
* Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss, As seal to this indenture of my love.
** William Shakespeare, King John (1598), Act II, scene 1, line 19.
* Take, O take those lips away, That so sweetly were foresworn; And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn; But my kisses bring again, Seals of love, but sealed in vain.
** William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1603), Act IV, scene 1, line 1. This stanza, with an additional one, is found in Beaumont and Fletcher's Rollo, Act V. 2. Possibly a ballad current in Shakespeare's time. Malone and other editors claim it is by Shakespeare.
* But, thou know'st this, 'Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.
** William Shakespeare, Pericles, Prince of Tyre (c. 1607-08), Act I, scene 2, line 78.
* Teach not thy lips such scorn; for they were made For kissing, lady, not for such contempt.
** William Shakespeare, Richard III (c. 1591), Act I, scene 2, line 172.
* Their lips were four red roses on a stalk, Which in their summer beauty kiss'd each other.
** William Shakespeare, Richard III (c. 1591), Act IV, scene 3, line 12.
* And steal immortal blessing from her lips; Who, even in pure and vestal modesty, Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin.
** William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597), Act III, scene 3, line 36.
* This done, he took the bride about the neck And kiss'd her lips with such a clamorous smack That at the parting, all the church did echo.
** William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1593-94), Act III, scene 2, line 179.
* I'll take that winter from your lips.
** William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida (c. 1602), Act IV, scene 5, line 23.
* Why, then we'll make exchange; here, take you this, And seal the bargain with a holy kiss.
** William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1590s), Act II, scene 2, line 6.
* Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career Of laughter with a sigh?
** William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (c. 1610-11), Act I, scene 2, line 287.
* Kiss me, so long but as a kiss may live; And in my heartless breast and burning brain That word, that kiss shall all thoughts else survive, With food of saddest memory kept alive.
** Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais, Stanza 26.
* As in the soft and sweet eclipse, When soul meets soul on lover's lips.
** Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound.
* My lips till then had only known The kiss of mother and of sister, But somehow, full upon her own Sweet, rosy, darling mouth,—I kissed her.
** Edmund Clarence Stedman, The Door-Step.
* My love and I for kisses played; She would keep stakes: I was content; But when I won she would be paid; This made me ask her what she meant. Pray, since I see (quoth she) "your wrangling vain, Take your own kisses; give me mine again."
** Dr. William Strode, verses in Gentleman's Magazine, July, 1823. "Wrangling vayne," or "wrangle in vane." Also found in Dryden, Miscellany, poems published in 1716, with three lines added by Dryden.
* Lord! I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing.
** Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation, Dialogue II.
* Once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul thro' My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
** Alfred Tennyson, Fatima, Stanza 3.
* And our spirits rushed together at the touching of the lips.
** Alfred Tennyson, Locksley Hall (1835, published 1842), Stanza 19.
* Girl, when he gives you kisses twain, Use one, and let the other stay; And hoard it, for moons may die, red fades, And you may need a kiss—some day.
** Ridgely Torrence, House of a Hundred Lights.
* A kiss from my mother made me a painter.
** Benjamin West.
* Your kiss locates me and brings me to love, serving, praising, worshiping, glorifying, singing joy, rejoicing, do God's will and having Jesus Christ's Spirit, soul and strength.
** Phemelo Maise

## See also

* Stolen kisses