what is love? i mean, i know wut it is 2 me, but like, in ur opinions, wut is love?

Love is putting someone else's feelings and needs ahead of your own. It's about action as much as emotion. Of course, there's alot more to it than that. Unfortunately, I'm no poet though, so I'll leave a better explanation to someone who is. :)

Love is a lot of things.

For one, it's the most amazing thing you will ever feel. As soon as you think you've reached the height of it, you'll discover that you can always love more deeply. Love doesn't have limits.

Love is cruel. As high as it can take you, it can bring you equally low. It can make you physically ill. It can make you do crazy things, things that you never would have done in your right mind. It can bring you to your knees, and cause you the worst suffering of your life. But still, you want more.

Love is hard work. Every relationship has conflict, there's no way around it. Part of being in love with a person means working through those conflicts, compromising, and accepting differences. It means making sacrifices.

Above all, love is worth it. Some people will tell you that love is too much of a hassle, that it causes too much pain to ever be considered a good thing. However, it is the human capacity to love that comprises so much of what is good in the world. Love is one of the few things that is truly worth striving for. It makes the world seem a little brighter, and the burden of life seem a little less heavy. Love is...amazing.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Simple, Love is the bond between people [and their items] and their desires. There are a multitude of types of love.
-There is the usual bond between a man and woman/woman and woman/man and man, which I have grown to call "Affection" to differentiate between this and other types of love.
-There is the bond between parents and their children.
-There is the bond of siblings.
-There is friendship.
-There is a bond between a person and his/her belongings---pets, keepsakes.
-Greed is a type of bond, a bond to belongings; therefore Greed is love.
-Enmity is also a type of love. You'd think hate is the opposite of love, but to hate you must have a desire. Desire is love.

In short love is desire.

Love does not have to include the usual sacrifices, cruelties, triumphs, or any of the usuals believed to be associated with it; they are just add-on.

Well there's my semi-philosophic two-bits on the matter; have fun spending your nights thinking about it.

But if you wanted to hear about "affection" only, then I got nothing.

Well to define what love is to near perfection, lets just say love is what you define it to be for definitions is branded only by those whom defines it.

Fine! I admit! I'm bad at wording.

Generally, I agree with the Biblical definition of love:


1 Corinthians 13:4-9 (New International Version)

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.Of course, it depends on the type of love love (romantic/brotherly/etc).

Generally, I say that love is evident when you put the well-being of the other person ahead of yourself, even especially when some kind of personal sacrifice is involved.

I just want you to know that this post started an argument between me and my girlfriend. I'm not blaming you or anything, i'm just saying... hmm, maybe i am blaming you.

anyway here's my take.

dude, love is a complex emotion that's different for everyone. Defining love would be like defining life, or soul. Yeah you could probably use words to fence in a really vague or general understanding, but it'll never really quite cut the mustard. it's like going up to two veterans from 2 different wars and asking "what's war like?" and expecting the same answer. There is no one true answer, everyone is the star of their own personal drama, and the characters they come across and the scenarios they deal with shape who they are, their belief systems, their emotional IQ and moral structure, what they like, who they like, and how and why they like it. What's important is that you figure out what love means to you. You being 16, i'm sure you have a very naive concept of love, as you mature and your heart gets repeatedly trampled, your idea of love will continue to evolve until you're a bitter jerk like me.

and that's how babys are made... next question!

Love is caring for someone. I put it plain and simple... :p

Still, the question brings to mind that old song, how does it go again...? Oh yeah!
"What is love?" synthy sound "Babe don't hurt me, don't hurt me, alright."

Love is letting her control the remote. :)
Love is leaving a little note for her to find in the morning.
Love is when you feel so much for someone you do everything in your power to make their day.

Love is a lot of things.

This.

Also, I think people throw around the term 'love' way too easily these days. It annoys me. I have friends who claim to be "in love" with whatever new guy is walking into their life that month. It just irks me when I hear people babbling, "but I was soooo in love with him/her!" all of the time, ergh. GIVE ME A FRIGGIN' BREAK, PEOPLE! :mad: /pet peeve

what is love? i mean, i know wut it is 2 me, but like, in ur opinions, wut is love?

good spag, pyrox

Love is, merely to me, the faint grip on life.

here's the opener to my take on the subject:

Love & Sex


“...love creates a need where none existed before.” Judith Rossner, “August”

romantic love, with all of its flutters and flushes, its mindlessly desperate, perceived need of one for another, is merely a complex custom-designed, self-excusing disguise for non-productive lust--

camouflage, hiding selfish disregard for the sole purpose of sexual union, birth!
...

the act of sex, no more than the means by which to accomplish the goal of species survival (as with all creatures), then becomes the primary goal, the original primary goal being relegated to secondary status at best, and most often to simply an accidental, all too often unwanted by-product--

a natural evolution of man’s behavioral makeup? or caused/meant to be, all along, for EVIL’s gain?

the rest of this dissertation can be perused here:
http://saysmom.com/maia/content.asp?Writing=77

So far all i've seen listed are "symptoms" of love. No real definitions. Imagine you're explaining the concept of love to a robot/alien who cannot feel it. Explaining love by saying; "Love is saving the last cupcake for my Snooky, even though i really want it." and all that other mushy crap will not help him understand anything. If that alien, in efforts to feel love, left a friggin cupcake for someone named snooky.. Anyway you see what i'm getting at. I need to get back to my RPG.

i think mamma nailed it with...

romantic love, with all of its flutters and flushes, its mindlessly desperate, perceived need of one for another, is merely a complex custom-designed, self-excusing disguise for non-productive lust--

camouflage, hiding selfish disregard for the sole purpose of sexual union, birth!

damn... that essay deals with some pretty controversial ideas there maia. Good stuff.

well, ive got quite the range of answers here, and i agree that mamma has nailed it down pretty good

Just want to add, if there is ever a question with no one "right" answer, this is it.

the only anomoly that flows through and between ritcheous and truthfull manifestations with a positive result or outcome or feeling

just a quick go at getting it right 1 time?

Love in the Chineese Chakra and crystal healing system has colours
Pink/Rose-friendship love(plutonic)
Yellow/Amber-life force energy
Green/Jade-Love for the world and existence
and are the three chest chakras

'I love you' can be written in its simplest form with 4 straight lines

True friendship. True respect. Full support. Trust.

When I love someone, I want for them, not from them.

That's it.

.....The essay just sounds like more "desire" to me.

glad you liked it, folks!

.....The essay just sounds like more "desire" to me.

exactly!... that's the whole point... what's called 'love' between those other than mother and child, or the 'platonic' love for one's fellow creatures, is really just 'lust' in disguise...

Love, hmmm...the big "L"...I can't say what it is, but, I know what it does to me.

Love is that one thing that makes me cringe, because I always fall into it way too hard and sadly, its awesome feeling never lasts forever.
~I can't wait to fall again...:p

glad you liked it, folks!



exactly!... that's the whole point... what's called 'love' between those other than mother and child, or the 'platonic' love for one's fellow creatures, is really just 'lust' in disguise...

Tee hee. I stated that back in post 4 but no one realized it. Glad to know someone with a similar way of thought.

well, i almost wouldve argued against love being lust, but, in all actuality, it is mainly now in this day and age that its more likely to refer to a sexual desire, but in reality, to lust for something (or someone) is just to desire deeply for, so yes, in that sense, love is lust, but the love that one may feel for ones family is far different than the love that one may feel for their romantic relations, aka lover, spouse, and what not, it seems that love between two lovers or romantically involved people, take your pick, share may be a stronger bond than that of one between family members, because, at least in my experience with love, i care more deeply for the one i love than i do those that i love in my family, and when i cant see or talk to her, part of me seems to like, i guess the easiest way to describe it is that a part of me seems to be dying.

A state of mind and nothing more

Love is acceptance of you and the people around you. I view love in a peace and harmony sense. Love is having a good outlook unto yourself and those around you, and generally good natured feeling.

Love is being able to be completely comfortable with a person, and simply enjoying their presence.

Love...lust... I think they are words that are barely definable - and for the most part, can only be defined via our own personal experiences, which is why almost everyone that you ask has a different answer.

Personally, even in romantic relationships, I believe that the two 'beasts' have different natures entirely, though they can exist in unison - sometimes harmoniously, sometimes not.

They differ from each pair of people to the next, and even from moment to moment between the same pair of people. So why would anyone expect either term to be keenly definable.

However, I don't feel that the presence of lust in a love relationship invalidates the love. There is no disgrace in two people taking pleasure in one another's bodies and appreciating each other. Whether it passes or changes doesn't mean it's not real.

If you mistake lust for love you'll have an unhappy marrage, if you mistake love for lust you'll miss out on life, so sometimes you've got to follow your first instinct on what you think it is and go with it.

They differ from each pair of people to the next, and even from moment to moment between the same pair of people. So why would anyone expect either term to be keenly definable.

However, I don't feel that the presence of lust in a love relationship invalidates the love. There is no disgrace in two people taking pleasure in one another's bodies and appreciating each other. Whether it passes or changes doesn't mean it's not real.

That is so well said...and actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Love and lust, both are very real and once that moment finds you...nothing is ever the same again...even if the feelings do pass. :)

They differ from each pair of people to the next, and even from moment to moment between the same pair of people. So why would anyone expect either term to be keenly definable.

However, I don't feel that the presence of lust in a love relationship invalidates the love. There is no disgrace in two people taking pleasure in one another's bodies and appreciating each other. Whether it passes or changes doesn't mean it's not real.

Totally right.

Also, there's a big difference between the lust/infatuation that characterizes a young relationship, and the mature love that develops between a couple that has been through a lot together.

There's no timeline for this. You can't say, "Oh, we've been together for 15 years, so it must be love." Longterm marriages break up all the time. In contrast, some couples reach this maturity much sooner than others. How does that song go?

"Time makes lovers feel like they've got something real/
But you and me, we know they've got nothing but time."

The other thing I was thinking about is the difference between this kind of love, and the unconditional love you're supposed to have for your family and your children. I mean, you can't choose your kids, and you can't choose the family you're born into. So...wouldn't the relationship between you and your spouse be more valuable, since you choose it?

Yeah, don't mind me, guys. Just thinking out loud.

like, i mean, i have no way of describing love, because, well, first of all, i am currently with the only love that ive ever had, but i can tell you that i know i am in love, its just that any words that i could ever use to describe the feeling are either going to be so vague, or they will just never be worthy of the feeling, for love is infinite and eternal, and love is different for everyone, so one trying to explain it could never find the right, true words, that everyone could agree with whole heartedly. but, from what ive read of everyone's posts about the topic, i can say that, in a sense, we are all right in what we believe, because it is what we feel and have experienced. for me, i know i love my girlfriend because we care about eachother deeply, we understand eachother well, and accept eachother. we are comfortable more with eachother than we have ever been with anyone else. whenever we are together, it seems like the whole world could be ending around us, but as long as we are there together, we are happier than we could ever be apart. we desire to see and be and talk with eachother very deeply, and when we cannot, we are both in pain (not physical) that only can be cured by hearing eachother's voices, or just with one sight of eachother. i know that i would die for her in an instant, and i would die for her without any second thoughts, just because i love her so much that i would want nothing bad to happen to her. we make eachother stronger, and better people, and we may be almost complete opposites in some situations, but we make eachother whole. and all it takes for me to know how much she loves and cares about me, all it takes, is simply a look in her eyes, or the way she smiles at the sound of my voice, or how her own tone in her voice seems to convey her feelings, and she knows that i love her from the same way, though i also express it with all the poems i ever write for her. now, this next part may have nothing to do with how i describe love, but we are devoted to eachother to the point that everything that we are planning to do after highschool involves eachother, college, housing, everything


i love her with every fibre of my being, every ounce of my heart and soul, and without her, i can assure you, i wouldnt be able to survive