Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most
sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure.[1] An
example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse,
which differs from the love for food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong attraction and
emotional attachment.[2]
Love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing
human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the
good of another"—and its vice representing a human moral flaw akin to vanity, selfishness, amour-
propre, and egotism, potentially leading people into a type of mania, obsessiveness,
or codependency.[3] It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other
humans, oneself, or animals.[4] In its various forms, love acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal
relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes
in the creative arts.[5][6] Love has been postulated to be a function that keeps human beings together
against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.[7]
Ancient Greek philosophers identified six forms of love: familial love (storge), friendly love or platonic
love (philia), romantic love (eros), self-love (philautia), guest love (xenia), and divine or unconditional
love (agape). Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of love: unrequited love, empty
love, companionate love, consummate love, infatuated love, self-love, and courtly love. Numerous
cultures have also
distinguished Ren, Yuanfen, Mamihlapinatapai, Cafuné, Kama, Bhakti, Mettā, Ishq, Chesed, Amore,
Charity, Saudade (and other variants or symbioses of these states), as culturally unique words,
definitions, or expressions of love in regard to specified "moments" currently lacking in the English
language.[8]
The color wheel theory of love defines three primary, three secondary, and nine tertiary love styles,
describing them in terms of the traditional color wheel. The triangular theory of love suggests
intimacy, passion, and commitment are core components of love. Love has additional religious
or spiritual meaning. This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the
feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional
states.
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 concepts for "love" (agape, eros, philia, storge).
[9]
Cultural differences in conceptualizing love make it difficult to establish a universal definition.[10]
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 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".)
Fraternal love (Prehispanic sculpture from 250 to 900 CE,
of Huastec origin). 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 the Middle Ages, although the prior
existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.[11]
The complex and abstract nature [clarification needed] of love often reduces its discourse to a thought-
terminating cliché. Several common proverbs regard love, from Virgil's "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."[12][13] Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of [clarification needed] "absolute value,"
as opposed to relative value.[14] Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the
happiness of another."[15] 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."[16] Biologist Jeremy Griffith defines love as
"unconditional selflessness".[17]
Impersonal
