The earliest recorded I love you is from 1477. A phrase spoken rarely, privately, often tantamount to a proposal in marriage. Napoleon wrote it obsessively to Joséphine; Oscar Wilde turned it into cheeky joke ("I love you, but I love myself slightly more") Centuries later, the words remain unchanged , still the simplest, bravest sentence in any language. Engraved in gold on crisp white card for saying the one thing that always matters.