Love

==Cultural views==
===Ancient Greek===
{{See also|Greek words for love}}
[[File:Eros bow Musei Capitolini MC410.jpg|thumb|Roman copy of a Greek sculpture by [[Lysippus]] depicting [[Eros]], the Greek personification of romantic love]]
[[Greek language|Greek]] distinguishes [[Greek words for love|several different senses]] in which the word "love" is used. Ancient Greeks identified four forms of love: kinship or [[familial love|familiarity]] ({{transliteration|grc|[[storge]]}}), [[friendship]] and/or [[platonic love|platonic desire]] ({{transliteration|grc|[[philia]]}}), sexual and/or [[romance (love)|romantic desire]] ({{transliteration|grc|[[eros (concept)|eros]]}}), and [[Kenosis|self-emptying]] or divine love ({{transliteration|grc|[[agape]]}}).<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|first=C. S.|last=Lewis|title=[[The Four Loves]]|year=1960}}
|2={{cite book |last=Kristeller |first=Paul Oskar |title=Renaissance Thought and the Arts: Collected Essays |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-691-02010-5}} }}</ref> Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love.<ref>[[Stendhal]], in his book ''On Love'' ("De l'amour"; Paris, 1822), distinguished carnal love, passionate love, a kind of uncommitted love that he called "taste-love", and love of vanity. [[Denis de Rougemont]] in his book ''Love in the Western World'' traced the story of passionate love ({{lang|fr|l'amour-passion}}) from its courtly to its romantic forms. [[Benjamin Péret]], in the introduction to his ''Anthology of Sublime Love'' (Paris, 1956), further identified "sublime love", a state of realized idealisation perhaps equatable with the romantic form of passionate love.</ref> However, with Greek (as with many other languages), it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time, the Ancient Greek text of the [[Bible]] has examples of the [[verb]] {{transliteration|grc|agapo}} having the same meaning as {{transliteration|grc|[[phileo]]}}.

;''[[Agapē|Agape]]'' ({{lang|grc|ἀγάπη}} {{transliteration|grc|agápē}})
: ''love'' in modern-day Greek. The term {{transliteration|grk|s'agapo}} means ''I love you'' in Greek. The word {{transliteration|grk|agapo}} is the verb ''I love''. It generally refers to a "pure," [[ideal type]] of love, rather than the physical attraction suggested by {{transliteration|grc|eros}}. However, there are some examples of {{transliteration|grc|agape}} used to mean the same as {{transliteration|grc|eros}}. It has also been translated as "love of the soul."{{r|Nygren}}

;''[[Eros (love)|Eros]]'' ({{lang|grc|ἔρως}} {{transliteration|grc|érōs}})
: (from the Greek deity [[Eros]]) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word {{transliteration|grc|erota}} means ''in love''. [[Plato]] refined his own definition. Although {{transliteration|grc|eros}} is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. {{transliteration|grc|Eros}} helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by {{transliteration|grc|eros}}. Some translations list it as "love of the body".{{r|Nygren}}

;''[[Philia]]'' ({{lang|grc|φιλία}} {{transliteration|grc|philía}})
: dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept addressed and developed by [[Aristotle]] in his [[Nicomachean Ethics]] Book VIII.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/love/|title=Philosophy of Love |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|language=en-US|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829093137/http://www.iep.utm.edu/love/|archive-date=29 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. {{transliteration|grc|Philia}} is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. It can also mean "love of the mind."

;''[[Storge]]'' ({{lang|grc|στοργή}} {{transliteration|grc|storgē}}) 
: natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring

; ''[[Xenia (Greek)|Xenia]]'' ({{lang|grc|ξενία}} {{transliteration|grc|xenía}})
: hospitality, was an extremely important practice in [[ancient Greece]]. It was an almost ritualized friendship formed between a host and his guest, who could previously have been strangers. The host fed and provided quarters for the guest, who was expected to repay only with gratitude. The importance of this can be seen throughout [[Greek mythology]]—in particular, [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]''.

===Ancient Roman (Latin)===
The [[Latin|Latin language]] has several verbs corresponding to the English word "love." {{lang|la|[[wikt:amo#Latin|amō]]}} is the basic verb meaning ''I love'', with the infinitive {{lang|la|[[wikt:amare#Italian|amare]]}} ("to love") as it still is in [[Italian language|Italian]] today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come {{lang|la|amans}}—a lover, {{lang|la|amator}}, "professional lover," often with the accessory notion of lechery—and {{lang|la|amica}}, "girlfriend" in the English sense, often being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is {{lang|la|amor}} (the significance of this term for the Romans is well illustrated in the fact, that the name of the city, [[Rome]]—in Latin: {{lang|la|Roma}}—can be viewed as an [[anagram]] for {{lang|la|amor}}, which was used as the secret name of the City in wide circles in ancient times),<ref>{{citation|first=Thomas|last=Köves-Zulauf|title=Reden und Schweigen|location=Munich|publisher=Fink|year=1973}}</ref> which is also used in the plural form to indicate love affairs or sexual adventures. This same root also produces {{lang|la|amicus}}—"friend"—and {{lang|la|amicitia}}, "friendship" (often based to mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to "indebtedness" or "influence"). [[Cicero]] wrote a treatise called ''On Friendship'' ({{lang|la|[[Laelius de Amicitia|de Amicitia]]}}), which discusses the notion at some length. [[Ovid]] wrote a guide to dating called {{lang|la|[[Ars Amatoria]]}} (''The Art of Love''), which addresses, in depth, everything from [[Affair|extramarital affairs]] to overprotective parents.

Latin sometimes uses {{lang|la|amāre}} where English would simply say ''to like''. This notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by the terms {{lang|la|placere}} or {{lang|la|delectāre}}, which are used more colloquially, the latter used frequently in the love poetry of [[Catullus]]. {{lang|la|Diligere}} often implies "to be affectionate for," "to esteem," and rarely if ever is used for romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun {{lang|la|diligentia}}, however, has the meaning of "diligence" or "carefulness," and has little semantic overlap with the verb. {{lang|la|Observare}} is a synonym for {{lang|la|diligere}}; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun, {{lang|la|observantia}}, often denote "esteem" or "affection." {{lang|la|[[Charity (virtue)|Caritas]]}} is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean "charitable love"; this meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan [[Latin literature|Roman literature]]. As it arises from a [[conflation]] with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb.

===Chinese and other Sinic===
[[File:Love-zh.svg|thumb|left|upright|{{lang|zh|愛}} (Mandarin: {{transliteration|cmn|ài}}), the traditional [[Chinese character]] for love, contains a [[heart]] ({{lang|zh|心}}) in the middle.]]

Two philosophical underpinnings of love exist in the Chinese tradition, one from [[Confucianism]] which emphasized actions and duty while the other came from [[Mohism]] which championed a universal love. A core concept to Confucianism is {{lang|zh|{{linktext|仁}}}} ({{transliteration|zh|[[Ren (Confucianism)|Ren]]}}, "benevolent love"), which focuses on duty, action, and attitude in a relationship rather than love itself. In Confucianism, one displays benevolent love by performing actions such as [[filial piety]] from children, kindness from parents, loyalty to the king and so forth.

The concept of {{lang|zh|愛}} (Mandarin: {{transliteration|cmn|ài}}) was developed by the Chinese philosopher [[Mozi]] in {{BCE|the 4th century}} in reaction to Confucianism's benevolent love. Mozi tried to replace what he considered to be the long-entrenched Chinese over-attachment to family and clan structures with the concept of "universal love" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|兼愛}}}}, {{transliteration|zh|jiān'ài}}). In this, he argued directly against Confucians who believed that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, believed people in principle should care for all people equally. Mohism stressed that rather than adopting different attitudes towards different people, love should be unconditional and offered to everyone without regard to reciprocation; not just to friends, family, and other Confucian relations. Later in [[Chinese Buddhism]], the term {{transliteration|zh|Ai}} ({{lang|zh|愛}}) was adopted to refer to a passionate, caring love and was considered a fundamental desire. In Buddhism, {{transliteration|zh|Ai}} was seen as capable of being either selfish or selfless, the latter being a key element towards enlightenment.

In [[Mandarin Chinese]], {{lang|zh|{{linktext|愛}}}} ({{transliteration|cmn|ài}}) is often used as the equivalent of the Western concept of love. {{lang|zh|{{linktext|愛}}}} ({{transliteration|cmn|ài}}) is used as both a verb (e.g. {{lang|zh|我愛你}}, {{transliteration|cmn|Wǒ ài nǐ}}, or "I love you") and a noun (such as {{lang|zh|{{linktext|愛情}}}} {{transliteration|cmn|àiqíng}}, or "romantic love"). However, due to the influence of Confucian {{lang|zh|{{linktext|仁}}}} ({{transliteration|zh|rén}}), the phrase {{lang|zh|我愛你}} ({{transliteration|cmn|Wǒ ài nǐ}}, I love you) carries with it a very specific sense of responsibility, commitment, and loyalty. Instead of frequently saying "I love you" as in some Western societies, the Chinese are more likely to express feelings of affection in a more casual way. Consequently, "I like you" ({{lang|zh|我喜欢你}}, {{transliteration|cmn|Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ}}) is a more common way of expressing affection in Mandarin; it is more playful and less serious.<ref>{{cite web|first=JFK|last=Miller|date=2009-02-04|url=http://shanghai.urbanatomy.com/index.php/i-ahearts-shanghai/85-i-love-shanghai/429-why-the-chinese-dont-say-qi-love-youq|url-status=dead|title=Why the Chinese Don't Say I Love You|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124202633/http://shanghai.urbanatomy.com/index.php/i-ahearts-shanghai/85-i-love-shanghai/429-why-the-chinese-dont-say-qi-love-youq |archive-date=24 January 2010 }}</ref> This is also true in Japanese ({{transliteration|ja|suki da}}, {{lang|ja|好きだ}}).

===Japanese===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Ohatsu and Tokube statue at Tsuyunoten Shrine.jpg|right|thumb|Ohatsu and Tokubei, characters of ''[[Sonezaki Shinjū]]'']] -->
The [[Japanese language]] uses three words to convey the English equivalent of "love". Because "love" covers a wide range of emotions and behavioral phenomena, there are nuances distinguishing the three terms.<ref name="Ryang2006">{{cite book | last1 = Ryang | first1 = Sonia | title = Love in Modern Japan: Its Estrangement from Self, Sex and Society | year = 2006 | publisher = Routledge | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tkOUAgAAQBAJ | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=tkOUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 13]–14 | isbn = 978-1-135-98863-0 | access-date = 3 February 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160711112044/https://books.google.com/books?id=tkOUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 | archive-date = 11 July 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="About">{{cite web | last1 = Abe | first1 = Namiko | url = https://www.thoughtco.com/japanese-words-for-love-2028042 | title = Japanese Words for "Love": The Difference between "Ai" and "Koi" | publisher = About.com | access-date = 5 November 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141105225936/http://japanese.about.com/od/japanesecultur1/a/The-Japanese-Words-For-Love.htm | archive-date = 5 November 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref> The term {{Nihongo|''ai''|愛}}, which is often associated with maternal love<ref name="Ryang2006"/> or selfless love,<ref name="About"/> originally referred to beauty and was often used in a religious context. Following the [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868, the term became associated with "love" in order to translate Western literature.

Prior to Western influence, the term {{Nihongo|''koi''|恋 or 孤悲}} generally represented romantic love, and was often the subject of the popular [[Man'yōshū]] Japanese poetry collection.<ref name="Ryang2006"/> {{transliteration|ja|Koi}} describes a longing for a member of the opposite sex and is typically interpreted as selfish and wanting.<ref name="About"/> The term's origins come from the concept of lonely solitude as a result of separation from a loved one. Though modern usage of {{transliteration|ja|koi}} focuses on sexual love and infatuation, the Manyō used the term to cover a wider range of situations, including tenderness, benevolence, and material desire.<ref name="Ryang2006"/>

The third term, {{Nihongo|''ren'ai''|恋愛}}, is a more modern construction that combines the [[kanji]] characters for both {{transliteration|ja|ai}} and {{transliteration|ja|koi}}, though its usage more closely resembles that of {{transliteration|ja|koi}} in the form of romantic love.<ref name="Ryang2006"/><ref name="About"/>

{{Nihongo|''Amae''|甘え}}, referring to the desire to be loved and cared for by an authority figure, is another important aspect of Japan's cultural perspective on love, and has been analysed in detail in Takeo Doi's ''[[The Anatomy of Dependence]]''<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Electronic Journal of Sociology |year=2000 |url=https://sociology.org/content/vol005.001/smith-nomi.html |title=Is ''amae'' the Key to Understanding Japanese Culture? |first1=Herman W.|last1= Smith |first2= Takako |last2=Nomi |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220062826/http://www.sociology.org/content/vol005.001/smith-nomi.html |archivedate=2014-02-20 }}</ref>

===Indian===
[[File:Radha Madhavam.jpg|thumb|left|The love stories of the Hindu deities [[Krishna]] and [[Radha]] have influenced the Indian culture and arts. Above: Radha Madhavam by [[Raja Ravi Varma]].]]
In contemporary literature, the [[Sanskrit]] words for love is {{transliteration|sa|sneha}}. Other terms include {{transliteration|sa|priya}} which refers to innocent love, {{transliteration|sa|prema}} refers to spiritual love, and {{transliteration|sa|[[kama]]}} refers usually to sexual desire.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|first=Monier |last=Monier-Williams|url=https://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0300/mw__0304.html|chapter=काम, kāma|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019211540/http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0300/mw__0304.html |archive-date=19 October 2017 |title= Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=271}}
|2={{cite book|first=James|last=Lochtefeld|year=2002|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism|volume=1|publisher=Rosen Publishing|location=New York|isbn=0-8239-2287-1|page=340}} }}</ref> However, the term also refers to any sensory enjoyment, emotional attraction and aesthetic pleasure such as from arts, dance, music, painting, sculpture and nature.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book | last=Morris | first=Kate | title=The Illustrated Dictionary of History | publisher=Lotus Press | year=2011 | isbn=978-81-89093-37-2 | page=124 }}
|2={{cite book | last=Van Voorst | first=Robert E. | title=RELG: World | publisher=Cengage Learning | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-111-72620-1 | page=78}}
|3={{cite book | last=Prasad | first=Rajendra | title=A Conceptual-analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals | series=History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization | volume=12 | publisher=Concept Publishing Company | year=2008 | isbn=978-81-8069-544-5 | pages=249–270}} }}</ref>

The concept of {{transliteration|sa|kama}} is found in some of the earliest known verses in [[Veda]]s. For example, Book 10 of [[Rig Veda]] describes the creation of the universe from nothing by the great heat. In hymn 129, it states:
{{Blockquote|
1=<poem>
कामस्तदग्रे समवर्तताधि मनसो रेतः परथमं यदासीत |
सतो बन्धुमसति निरविन्दन हर्दि परतीष्याकवयो मनीषा ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv10129.htm|title=Rig Veda|at=Book 10, Hymn 129, Verse 4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216052950/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv10129.htm |archive-date=16 February 2018 }}</ref>

Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire the primal seed and germ of Spirit,
Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.
</poem>
|2=[[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]|3=~ {{BCE|15th century}}<ref>{{cite book|translator-first=Ralph T.H.|translator-last=Griffith|year=1897|url=https://archive.org/stream/hymnsrigveda00unkngoog|title=The Hymns of the Rigveda|volume=2|location=Benares|publisher=E.J. Lazarus and Co.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410225127/https://archive.org/stream/hymnsrigveda00unkngoog#page/n580/mode/2up |archive-date=10 April 2016|at=[https://archive.org/stream/hymnsrigveda00unkngoog#page/n580/mode/2up Book X, Hymn CXXIX, Verse 4, p. 575]}}</ref>}}
{{clear}}

===Persian===
{{citation needed section|date=January 2012}}
{{quote box|author=[[Saadi (poet)|Sa'di]]|salign=right|source=''[[Gulistan (book)|Gulistan]]''{{space|3}}
|quote=<poem>The children of Adam are limbs of one body
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time afflicts one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others
You are not worthy to be called by the name of "man".</poem>}}

[[Rumi]], [[Hafiz Shirazi|Hafiz]], and [[Saadi (poet)|Sa'di]] are icons of the passion and love that the [[Culture of Iran|Persian culture]] and language present. The Persian word for love is {{transliteration|fa|[[Ishq]]}}, which is derived from [[Arabic]]; however, it is considered by most to be too stalwart a term for interpersonal love and is more commonly substituted with "{{transliteration|fa|doost dashtan}}" ("liking"). In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life.