Love

==Definitions==
The word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Many other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that in English are denoted as "love"; one example is the plurality of [[Greek words for love|Greek concepts for "love"]] ({{transliteration|grc|agape}}, {{transliteration|grc|eros}}, {{transliteration|grc|philia}}, {{transliteration|grc|storge}}).<ref name=Nygren>{{cite book|author-link=Anders Nygren|last=Nygren|first=Anders Theodor Samuel|title=[[Agape and Eros]]|year=1936}}</ref> [[Cultural identity|Cultural differences]] in conceptualizing love make it difficult to establish a universal definition.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kay|first1=Paul|title=What is the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis?|journal=American Anthropologist|series=New Series|volume=86|issue=1|date=March 1984|pages=65–79|doi=10.1525/aa.1984.86.1.02a00050|last2=Kempton|first2=Willett}}</ref>

Although the nature or [[essence]] of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what is ''not'' love (antonyms of "love"). Love, as a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of ''like''), is commonly contrasted with [[hate]] (or neutral [[apathy]]). As a less sexual and more [[Emotional intimacy|emotionally intimate]] form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with [[lust]]. As an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with [[friendship]], although the word ''love'' is often applied to close friendships or platonic love. (Further possible ambiguities come with usages like "girlfriend", "boyfriend" and "just good friends".)

[[File:Columpio Veracruz 059.jpg|thumb|left|Fraternal love (Prehispanic sculpture from {{CE|250 to 900}}, of [[Huastec civilization|Huastec]] origin). [[Museo de Antropología de Xalapa|Museum of Anthropology]] in [[Xalapa]], [[Veracruz]], [[Mexico]]]] Abstractly discussed, ''love'' usually refers to a feeling one person experiences for another person. Love often involves caring for, or identifying with, a person or thing (cf. [[vulnerability and care theory of love]]), including oneself (cf. [[narcissism]]). In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after [[Middle Ages|the Middle Ages]], although the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.TrueOpenLove.org/reference/AncientLovePoetry.html
 |title=Ancient Love Poetry
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930072056/http://www.trueopenlove.org/reference/AncientLovePoetry.html
 |website=TrueOpenLove
 |archive-date=30 September 2007
}}</ref>

The complex and {{clarify|text=abstract nature|reason=seems like the assertion that love has an "abstract" nature is something that needs to be argued for rather than just stated|date=August 2023}} of love often reduces its discourse to a [[thought-terminating cliché]]. Several common [[proverb]]s regard love, from [[Virgil]]'s "[[Amor Vincit Omnia (Caravaggio)|Love conquers all]]" to [[The Beatles]]' "[[All You Need Is Love]]". [[St. Thomas Aquinas]], following [[Aristotle]], defines love as "to will the good of another."<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Aristotle]]|title=[[Nicomachean Ethics]]|at=[https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/aristotle/nicomachean-ethics/f-h-peters/text/book-8#part-8-1 VIII]}}</ref><ref name="newadvent.org">{{cite book |title-link=Summa Theologica|last=Aquinas|first=Thomas|title=Summa Theologiae|year=1485|at=[https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2026.htm#article4 I–II, Q26, Art.4] |publisher=New Advent }}</ref> [[Bertrand Russell]] describes love as {{clarify|text=a condition of|date=August 2023}} "absolute value," as opposed to [[relative value (economics)|relative value]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kirsh |first=Marvin Eli |year=2013 |title=Philosophy, Science and Value |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2250431 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.2250431 |ssrn=2250431 |issn=1556-5068}}</ref> Philosopher [[Gottfried Leibniz]] said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another."<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Confessio_philosophi
|first=Gottfried
|last=Leibniz
|title=Confessio philosophi
|year=1673
|publisher=Wikisource edition
|access-date=25 March 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427115126/http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Confessio_philosophi
|archive-date=27 April 2009
|url-status=live
}}</ref> [[Meher Baba]] stated that in love there is a "feeling of unity" and an "active appreciation of the intrinsic worth of the object of love."<ref>{{cite book | last=Baba | first=Meher | author-link=Meher Baba | title=Discourses | year=1995 | isbn=978-1-880619-09-4 | location=Myrtle Beach |publisher= Sheriar Press | page=113}}</ref> Biologist [[Jeremy Griffith]] defines love as "unconditional selflessness".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.humancondition.com/book-of-answers-what-is-love/|chapter=What is love?|title=The Book of Real Answers to Everything!|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116041234/http://www.worldtransformation.com/what-is-love/ |archive-date=16 January 2013 |last=Griffith|first=Jeremy|year=2011|isbn=978-1-74129-007-3}}</ref> According to [[Ambrose Bierce]], love is a temporary insanity curable by marriage.<ref>[http://dict.org/bin/Dict?Form=Dict2&Database=devil&Query=Love "Love" entry in ''The Devil's Dictionary''] at [[Dict.org]]</ref>