What Is Love?
Photo: Darwin Bell.
Ahhh yes… love is in the air (or is that just the smell of my morning coffee?) Valentines Day - that day you either eagerly await, dread, or are just plain indifferent to - has rolled around again. Personally, I think it is nice to have a day where you do a little bit extra to show your partner how much you love and appreciate them (assuming, of course, that you have a partner).
So what is love? Many a great mind (and probably a few poor ones too) have contemplated this question. I doubt there is any other topic more written about, whether in the form of a story, a poem or a song. So for today’s article I went in search of some of the best quotes on the subject. The following are 10 quotes that each, in my opinion, give a little insight into what love really is:
Love is mysterious
“To live is like love, all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.” - Samuel Butler
Must be given away
“The love we give away is the only love we keep.” - Elbert Hubbard
Is the honey of life
“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” - Victor Hugo
Can overcome obstacles
“Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle.” - Crystal Middlemas
A special connection with someone (Hi Kathryn 
)
“You know you are in love
when you see the world in her eyes,
and her eyes everywhere in the world.” - David Levesque
Should be spread everywhere
“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.” - Mother Theresa
Something we should all experience
“Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.” - Saint Augustine
Is needed for peace
“We look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” - William Gladstone
May not involve finding a perfect person
“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” - Sam Keen
Is all you need
“All you need is love.” - The Beatles
So, what does love mean to you? Or, if you have a favorite quote regarding love please share it below in the comments…
14 Comments
February 13th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Excellent sentiment for this special week. While not explicitly about love - the following poem resonates with me the timeless touch of love upon the human spirt.
Enjoy!
Never Again Would Bird’s Song Be the Same
He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.
Admittedly an eloquence so soft
Could only have had an influence on birds
When call or laughter carried it aloft.
Be that as may be, she was in their song.
Moreover her voice upon their voices crossed
Had now persisted in the woods so long
That probably it never would be lost.
Never again would birds’ song be the same.
And to do that to birds was why she came.
Robert Frost
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February 13th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
When I look at my son, daughter, and husband… I am reminded of love.
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February 13th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
You’ve chosen some great quotes. Especially the one dedicated to Kathryn. A few more I’ve liked:
“Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.” Joan Crawford
“Want to improve your relationships? See love as a verb, rather than as a feeling.” Stephen R. Covey
“Only love can be divided endlessly and still not diminish.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh
For many entertaining quotes on love and other topics, check out the book “Oxymoronica” by Dr. Mardy Grothe.
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February 14th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Great post. Quotes can be so inspiring at times. I keep an entire mediawiki just to collect quotes. My favorite on that list is the one about a special connection with someone.
Unrelated to Valentines Day, my favorite quote of all time is by Walter Bagehot: “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what other people said you cannot do.”
Just thought I’d share that.
Happy Valentine’s Day Peter.
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February 14th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Great post! Sometimes the term ‘love’ can be so hard to sum up. It is so simple yet to hard to put what it means into words. Hope that makes sense!
For me love is when my daughter looks into my eyes, goes dreamy and says ‘I love you, mummy’
I am also reminded of a lyric from a Brian Adams song ‘when you can see your unborn children in her eyes’ from Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman
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February 14th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I’m still as crazy about my husband now as I was when we got married.
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February 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Love stems from a belief in love existing. We are all in love with things, objects, people even. But the honesty of love is the the most powerful and the most dibilitating of all facets of love.
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February 15th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
[…] 2. On a more lighter note and in honor once again of Valentine’s Day. I found this article pretty interesting over at thechangeblog.com. It also has some pretty good classical quotes about love. Check out “What is Love?” […]
February 16th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Love is something that comes from with in, it is something that just is, it is a feeling, a warmth, love is kissing your spouse on the forhead as they sleep and the simple smile they make, love is having you little boy say “DaDa, DaDa” as you pull into the driveway, love is a passion for life and not too many words can really describe it.
http://www.JuiceofChampions.com
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February 24th, 2008 at 6:29 am
I think love is the supreme expression of life. The more love you have for yourself, the more you’ll be able to share your love with others.
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March 27th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Love is doing the right thing, when no one is looking…
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