Assuming it exists, what is love?

Love
Always a ... "Verb!"

Firstly that's one BIG assumption!

"Love" is probably one of the most maligned words in the English language;

It is substituted for myriad other words of similar but subtly or flagrantly different meaning - lust, sex, abuse, fond, need, obsess, control, depend, possess, manipulate, ................

The only true synonym, I think, is "respect".

Always a "Verb!"

To ask of anything less, is to question whether that person has ever been in a true "Loving" relationship.

Love is not expressed with words or definitions, but by actions.

Ferrous, I rushed in here to make the very same point. People always talk about love as though it's just a pleasant, sexy feeling. Love is *$%*@!*! hard work! Attraction sure helps you choose whom you're going to love, though, for sure. What I like to see is two older people who have stayed together through thick and thin, obviously like each other, and exchange little smiles quite frequently.

Love is the affinity one person has for another for whom he willingly makes sacrifices without having regrets for what he has given up. I like to think it exists, but I have never had it.

Tartarin
Your flower looks familiar... Am I close?

Ferrous: Are you talking about my flower? Mine doesn't have a little "x" in it.

love exists;
it's what i feel for anastasia, for my father and sister, and for a few of my closest friends; for life, if I'm up to seeing it, for the moments of beauty the world grants us, if we care to look; and for chocolate cake.

;-))

Love Hurts, Love scars, laadaadiilidoo
Isn't that the age old question. "What's Love got to do with it, got to do with it." (hey, i do waaay too many lyrics don't i.) Biochemically its reactions with pheromones, hormones, and the amusing reproductive organs. Emotionally (ignoring the fact that emotions ARE chemical reactions) its the deeply provocative urgings to earn another's respect and loyalty. Fundamentally I think "love" is more a concept than any actually state of being. It's like anyother notion--respect, honor, kinship.--they're projected labels instituted to classify human relations. Love may as well be filed under such things as hate. Love is a polarized factor in understanding the boundaries of the human condition. It's a generalized gray that encompasses a range of human musing.
As far as being "in love" with someone, well that's an extreme rationalization of co-dependance shared by two subjects. It's the realized potential of the human concept for loving someone transformed into a catalytic state of thought processes. "in love" is the kinetic activation of all these benevolent emotional elements, meaning that these feelings are not just passive concepts but are now influences over the entire operations of the body and psyche.
Now let's not confuse Love with the state of Passion. Passion is something that is sometimes mistakenly associated with love, but is actually a "darker" region of emotional concept. Where as Love is overall considered to be good-natured and positive-intentioned, Passion is inherently richer with its severity. Passion often stirs the blood of people with vehemence, urging them strongly to act on whims of fanciful plotting. It's the fire that burns the human soul. You could loosely say the Passion is a fervent side-effect of love.
So, does Love exist? Yes, in the reasoning that such things are given existence through the exposure and culturing of contemplation. We've lingered on the subject for so long and dedicated to pouring so much effort into unlocking its secrets that we have inadvertently given life, substance to this once simple excursion of fancy.
And for the record, I have been in love. Still am I guess. as far as I'm concern Love is powerful force indeed.
Sigh,
John Allen

Comment;
Just thought it might be interesting to note that this subject is probably the one that is given more philosophical discussion, artistic representation, journalistic coverage, and is the centre of most human gossip; but here on this forum, it has recieved a fraction of the space, and contributions that virtually any other subject brings.

Odd that !

I guess "love" is frightening, too personal, too painful, and involves far too much commitment, to comment on.

Love as a Noun.
Yawnnnnnn... Ho Hummmmm.

Why don't we dissect a living heart, to see if we can find it?

Ther you go! Ferrous, you've just defined "love"

It feel's like cutting into the human heart with a dull, rusty knife!

It does indeed! I don't even pretend to understand what or how love is but it bit me a couple of years ago and it hasn't let go yet. I negotiated around it and tried to logic it away but here I am almost 4 years later head over heels and happier than I've ever been in a relationship before. I think its a mixture of all the biology stuff plus a lot of the psychological stuff. I think if you get all the components mixed together right you can end up with that ideal 'til death do we part stuff but I think that is rare.

What is love?

Baby don't hurt me...
Don't hurt me...

No more.

Slappy is a Haddaway fan? Gawd, will wonders never cease?

Romantic love is similar to religious belief. You know when it's there, but have difficulty explaining exactly what it is. It's synonymous with "faith." c.i.

After almost 34 years of marriage, I don't think I could really define love, except that I still know and treasure the feeling.
Over the years, I've also been in dislike, anger, confusion, hurt and "what the hell am I doing in this relationship."
As Tartarin said, it is one hell of a lot of work!! Boy, is it worth it!
Nimh, I have always admired your expressions of love for Anastasia. If anyone comes close to verbalizing love, you are that person.
All I know is that the spark is still there for my husband and me, as well as the comfort of a very old friendship between two people who have been together for more than half a lifetime. I can't imagine life without my husband because I love him, like him, respect him, need him, plus, he turns me on!!