Definition of Love

"Love is an idea. For each person, a blank canvas upon which he/she may explore their own creativity with the notion of just what love IS to them, as well as to the larger world."
I like that answer........alot.

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love...

Love has no one definition nor can it be described by one single person..Foreveryone it has a different meaning.

I believe ..We can not buy love because it is a gift given freely. When we are truely embraced in love we know it is because others truely care for us. We are secure because we know others cherish us for who we are.

Love is a feeling of calm, though not passionless, it not need be passionate. Though intimate, it does not need to be always an explicit communication between two people. Each is possed by the other, yet neither is consumed.

A lovers individuality and freedom can be enhanced by the expanison of the spirit that the beloved brings. The sound of the others breathe is indisitnguishable from our own. Hearts beat in unison and spirits join facing the world now not as two but as one.

Love is not jealous, it is not snobbish, Love is never rude..nor is it prone to anger

Love rejoices with the truth not with what is wrong. Love's Forbearance has no boundaries.

Love has a power to endure..and to give pain

Yet with everything love comes with, I know no one would ever give up their chance to have loved someone or to have been loved..

 

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My definition of love is that it is the opposite of apathy. Love is a strong feeling, while apathy is indifference toward another person.

 

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Jpaul:
Hate is a pretty strong feeling. I think that we all agree that sexual attraction can be a *very* strong feeling. Jealousy can be a very strong feeling too. I think that we'd all agree that love isn't any of these things.

Magenta:
That's very poetic, thank you. However, I don't think that it really gets to the underlying reality that Love is. A duck has white feathers, two orange feet, a orange bill, and go squak. But so does a goose. Even still, we could list every physical property of a duck, to distinguish it from every other thing, but we still wouldn't be anywhere near getting to the underlying reality of the duck.

 

Ahhh... we're still defining "Love!"

~~~

tablariddim...

You ain't kiddin' about those pheromones! Chemistry of various kinds can play a huge role in what attracts people, and in what keeps them in a relationship. In that sense I'd agree that it can enhance or detract from the experience of Love, or in the actual initiation of a "love experience," though chemistry, in this sense, generally applies only to romantic/physical love.

Don't know that I, personally, could ever fully equate "attraction" with Love, but there are people who do. They swear by it. And if the chemistry should fail, or a "tolerance" be built up over time, then the once convinced person is often prone to believe they've fallen out of Love.

Some might call this a "Frenchman's" kind of love.

(It has it merits.

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)

~~~

SeekerOfTruth and blonde_cupid...

You've both brought up "Love" as it's defined in many bibles.

To some, yes, these concepts are definitive; totally acceptable. For those who don't accept that a god or gods exist, such assertions hold no water, and I doubt that all 'believers' would claim that Love cannot be encountered, experienced, or understood unless it's viewed/defined in these narrow and vague ways.

As for sacrifices, one definition of a sacrifice is: "Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one thought to have a greater value or claim." And I'd go ahead and say that if pressed for it, this would typically be what most people would offer up as an accurate definition.

For myself, Love does not equal a sacrifice. I see sacrifices as being harmful to both or all parties (or even "things") involved. However, with a few types of people, we might say that a sacrifice is only potentially harmful because people themselves have potential. People can learn and grow.

A "sacrifice" made because there is enough evidence that the other person will grow and learn--as with our children--is not actually a sacrifice unless the child has given blatant evidence that they truly don't deserve such. It requires us to be very tuned in to the person; to really know what they and/or we are about; to be honest and realistic. Part of what makes parenting such a challenge. Sometimes our offspring simply don't value the same ideas or things that we do, and some never never change their minds even after grown. This may be a bitter pill for a parent to swallow, but if they delude themselves and continue to make "sacrifices" in the name of Love... or a love... that are clearly not valued by the child, then this is not a win-win situation. It can, in fact, be very harmful.

There are numerous scenarios that can be used to explain this kind of view of (or objection to) making sacrifices. Not all will agree or understand what I'm saying here. No problem.

And the same or similar is true with other relationships. And even when we consider non-human or intangibles. Think of the environmental debates--the pros and cons of saving this species or that. "Sacrifices" are made for ideas, ideals, beliefs because of one's conclusion that they love/value a said 'thing.' Those who do reason that their act was a sacrifice might be better off to step back and review their reasoning. Those who claim their act was in no way a sacrifice, may or may not need to do the same. We always need to be aware of what we do and why when a potential sacrifice is involved. "Love is blind" some might argue. "Unconditional love" is true love, others might insist. But such platitudes are improper in my view.

"Love" is goooooood pure stuff in my book. And as Love pertains to relationships, I think it appropriate that "conditions" be applied to my sharing or offering it.

Sorta in the way Riomacleod described it, I will wish "the good" for others, including many strangers. But in the end, my idea of love is one of a discriminating Love. What I have to share in the way of Love is extremely valuable.


~~~

Hiya Stryder!

I think you've brought up something essential here.

It could be that when a person exudes "overwhelming negativity" that they are actually exhibiting a lack of self-love. By inflicting this negativity on others, especially a child, they are in a variety of ways teaching that child (or the victimized party) to undervalue themselves as well. Bad stuff, imo.

I think it's critical that we love ourselves, and I also think this will be the most individualized Love experience of all. Still, how we value ourselves (or don't) will affect our abilities to not only love anything or anyone else, but our ability to comprehend the multiple meanings of this thing we're calling .... Love.

~~~

Okay, so some will disagree with the above, but that's expected.

~Wishing you all good things~

Counterbalance

 

Love ...

Guess I'm going to have to stick my 2¢ in.

Love is meeting someone whose chemical signals make you feel
good. Usually, it's a person of the opposite sex.

<a href=http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/01/010725.chemosignals.shtml><font color=red>Chemical Signals</font></a>

And could explain why the 'loved one' is the most beautiful person in the world ...

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PS Another link to a review of a book which might be of interest in this area:

<a href=http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/01/011118.emotions.html><font color=red>Upheavals of Thought</font></a>

 

Love is the antithesis of reason.

(But what if one is in love with reason?)

 

My "love" theory

You pose a wonderful question! Alot people express their version of feeling"love" by expressing it with words. We are a socitey that thrives on verbal communication. But I believe humans have come out of their shell and given and or made up their own version. Some say love is expressed through lovemaking, it being the physical side of love. Well to balance that we allow our emotions to close that circle. Nowadays, love is being separated by how a man feels and interpets love and how a woman does. Love cannot be put on a gender or a specific thing, such as another person or animal. How is one to identify love when love has not reached them? So we use our intuition to guide us. I thought I knew the definition of love when I was 18. Yeah I was so wrong. Intead I tried to justify actions that could fall into that "love"category. I discovered that I didn't even know who I was and had no clue that love was this complicated. Then I learned that love is not as complicated and actually truly simple. To love is to want, need and know yourself. As a married woman now, I finally found the secret to love. Here it is: There isnt one. Love is a feeling in your heart and in your mind, not a "thing". It guides you, protects you and allows you to make decisions that will either make you misreable, or simply allow you to relax and enjoy your life. There are alot of people in this world that feel love is highly overated. These kind of people do not allow love to come to them and rescue them from the depths of their misery. It is almost the feeling of winning the lottery: if you choose the cash payout or the yearly check. Frankly, I would rather stretch that love out than have it surround me when I am not ready. Please feel free to contact me anytime!! Michelle poet221877@hotmail.com

 

"I have seen the word "Love" used a great deal in my life and I was wondering what everyone's definition of "Love" is?

To start, here is my definition:

To care about a person (or persons) more than you care about yourself.

I feel this way about my children, parents, and significant other. I care more for them than I do myself and therefor I sacrifice things for myself in order to provide for them.

How about the rest of you? What is your definition of Love?"

I believe your definition is correct and encompasses love, but it is also limited and leaves out something which doesn't seem to have been mentioned-that love exists in a plurality of different forms rather than as a single, definable thing. I'm going to base what I'm going to argue heavily on the philosopher Mortimer Adler's essay "Love" under 'The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon-Volume 1' by Britannica.

The ancients identified three main types of love, for which they used the words 'eros' (sexual love), 'philia' (love of friendship) and 'agape' (charitable love). Sexual love is basically the love one feels when experiencing sexual desires for someone (i.e. wishing to have a physical union with them). The love of friendship is the 'altruistic' and unselfish love one feels for a beloved friend, which doesn't necessarily include sexual love, and charitable love is basically love based on pure acts of charity and giving, with no selfish end desired. In addition to these three kinds of love, we can add what theologians might call 'Love of God.' Love of worldly things and material posessions can also be included, but usually this sort of 'love' is based more on desire to posess rather than a desire for union.

In addition to these four kinds, the findings of modern evolutionary biology seem to indicate many forms of 'love', be it for family, kin, a friend, or even an entire community-have their basis in genetics (i.e. the survival and reproduction of one's genes). Whilst I believe genes and biochemistry are not all there is to love, they do offer powerful insights into the question.

In my view, the four kinds of love identified by Adler seem to cover what I've seen (and to some extent, experienced) as love. In romantic relationships, it seems to me that 'love' is physical, emotional, (and in many relationships) also at a spiritual level. In familial and kin relationships, it seems love is also emotional, spiritual and physical, with a large amount of friend-like altruism thrown in. Friendships and love of God, however, may not necessarily be physical in nature but can still involve very strong feelings of love nevertheless.

So is love an object, an emotion, an idea, a social act, a belief, or just biochemistry in action? I think love occurs in so many diverse ways in forms love can be considered (though perhaps metaphorically, especially if we call love an 'object') as each of these things. Love clearly engages the purely physical, i.e. sexual arousal, floushing skin, beating heart, etc, but it also engages the mind (feelings of union, peace, strife, emptiness, etc that make such great poetry) and the soul (the desire to transcend, to join with something greater than oneself, what some might call God). Love is obviously beautiful but also terrifyingly powerful and risky; it seems though, that as one poet supposedly put it, 'It is better to have loved and lost, than never loved at all.'

 

The defenition of love....really

love is, quite simply.....


"The ACTIVE care and concern for anothers well-being.
The person you choose to love is chosen in accordinance with your deepest convictions and values."

You love someone you value.. and your values are up to you.

it has nothing to do with spirit, or any form of mysticism.

it has to do with values, values that you yourself have chosen(or have had inflicted upon you forcefully)

however, there is a profound difference between:

Love, Sex, friendship,


write that down, and dont forget it.

 

chemical signals

chemical signals have nothing to do with your values.
chemical signals cause the sexual attraction, which in turn has nothing to do with love.


And... giving up your life for someone does not mean anything, other than the fact you are a self sacrificial moron who has been influenced by kant.

 

I think love is when you can not imagine life without the other person and you are both emotionally dependent on each other.

 

squashbuckler- what has kant got to do with it?

 

love is a feeling beyond words; it is complete security. . .

 

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The Word love is a misnomer.

 

what are the profound differences betwen friendship love and sex that you can so accurately keep them apart squashbuckler?

I agree with what you said re chemical signals, and i agree with what you said re values i guess too, although also more than values.


However i think people often go on a journey involving all three of friendship, love and sex and i think that is the best situation for marriage actually. I also think you can get to sex through love, rather than through initial chemoical signals as you get to know your friends.

So what are the profound differences?

 

…Love
Why that damn four-letter burden has been so popular for conversation lately, I don’t know, but it won’t leave me alone. I’ve asked about ten semi-significant people to define it…all answers different. I wonder if there is one way to say it, one way to limit something so rare, so astronomical, to a few single syllables in hopes that you won’t have to explain yourself if you accidentally regurgitate it on your lover’s shoes. Love, sex, marriage, birth, death, insanity, engagement, life…all letters, all random symbols that control us. I never let any of them bother me. I was the one that controlled the words; I was the author, the poet that articulated a person’s deepest feelings, and most forsaken thoughts into something that made sense. Now everything is so blurry, and these lines and circles are now controlling me.
The definition of Love?
Some say it’s elderly couples that still warm each other after 50, long, cold years…some say its something that you cannot live without…others say it merely an addiction, and that you might as well do heroine instead of finding a person…at least the drugs will be there in the end.
Then I sit. And look at this paper, wondering why I’m even contemplating this, and then I question myself-something that I never do.
If love is an addiction, one that you cannot detoxify yourself from, even in old age, then why, every time it is brought up, a certain boy’s name is tacked to the end of the sentence? When I began questioning myself, did others follow?
“Are you in love with him?”
The definition of Love?

…Damn

 

The core of love is knowledge

hello!
I think love is a strong desire or affection for someone who you care for for any reason. And it has different levels. A mother`s love toward her child is different from the one between two lovers. People who believe in God, love Him differently.
But the core of all these is knowledge. The more you know the subject of your love, the better you try to love him/her.
And I do believe it is a divine gift. If you have it, you have it and if you are not gifted with it, you must try to obtain it. It is not something that you can get it without. It is within. You shoudl try to discover it and breed it, like what you do with flowers and greens.
And one important thing: love does not expect but it is a matter of giving without expecting any thing in return.
Mowlavi, the Iranian great poet has something like this:
out of love, the sour becomemes sweet...
out of love, the thorns become flowers...
out of love, the dead becomes alive...
and all these arises from knowledge.... with love and thanks

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I thought I knew what love Was, but what love is another matter. I know what love can do from examples..
Love is a healer, it can make Rainy Days happy ones.
It can Cure the common cold, Fill the empty Stomach, put life back into Sad eyes,
.. Love is a surgeon... it can skillfully remove the Heart, cutting it cleanly from its cavity, no marks, no Blood, yet the scars are etched deeply,
..Love is elusive.. where it goes when its gone, or where it comes from is generally unknown universally, there is a either a lack of, or an abundance of.
..Love is uncontrollable.. Running rampant is many directions, sidestepping those who want it, chasing those who do not.
..Love is undeniable..it can create a hunger for more, Denying the body and Spirit the essentials of existance..
..Love is a master..It can rule a home and fill it with treasures, make it shine with new paint and Laughter.
..Love is Destructive... Lack of it can lay waste to a home, exposing the Barren walls where pictures hung, No longer a home, leaving ghostly patterns of the past.
..Love is Sad.. Leaving Echos of footprints and Laughter, only tears to control the Dust.
..Love is for fools..People pray, dream and chase for it, die for it, die with it, die without it, trading pride for humiliation.
..Love is confusing.. often giving without recieving, recieving and unable to return it, loving one who loves another, who loves another, who loves yet another, a Vicious circle of pent up feelings.

...Love Sucks and blows, fast and slow,
...From simmering embers to active Volcanos..
...Ask anyone in control to define love,
...My answer is ..Heck if I know!
...My advice is take a pill and chill,
...step away from the body a while..
...Attempting to resolve with much ration,
...Often brings a shrug and a smile..
...

 

Hi Slim.
That was fantastic and poetic and had a lot of truth in it. That very well describes romantic love. It makes me feel like being like that again- i know it is mad if that description is true, but there is nevertheless something very enchanting just about being in love, dont you think?

(I think there is also a quieter kind of love than that that is also possible beteen a man and woman. i suspect that is what is behind many lasting happy marriages.)