Love

[MyFooThurTS]

"Love is a state in which a man sees things most decidedly as they are not."
Nietzsche.

Love is a biological impulse present in monogamous animals which is effective in the maintenance of a bond between the male and female parents until the offspring can care for itself. The nearer the parents come to this event the less resilient their love for each other becomes. This is why couples with a large number of children love each other with a more sincere passion than other couples. You will find amongst older married couples that their connections revolve not so much around love but fear; fear of despair (The final crisis of human development is integrity versus despair; maintaining a relationship enforces integrity and staves off despair).
Love fades.
Love is common.
Love is a product not of the Freudian Ego or Super Ego, but of the Freudian Id.
Still, it can be fun.
And that's my opinion...

 

[SonicKoala]

Love?
"Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate."

This is the kind of thing that people who HAVEN'T been in love say

That's pretty patronising of you. Eating chocolate releases endorphins. So, technically, if one were to consume a TRUCKLOAD of the stuff, it'd be a very similar feeling indeed.

No, that'd probably make you feel physically sick before you actually ate enough to release enough endorphins.

Eating that much of anything would probably make you sick.

It's nice to see that we agree on the subject

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Love is when you can care for someone and still want to help them and be close to them, even if they've done everything in the world to deserve your hatred and anger.

To all of you saying "love is the slowest form of suicide" and "the world would be better off without it"... I pity you to the utmost extreme.

I agree with the sentiment regarding the cynics.

Love is watching her poop and not caring. Seeing her scream in pain as the life you created together tears her flesh and yet you're both excited about it (yes, I am a fairly recent father). It's also knowing that she will be there to hold you, kiss you, make love to you, and to laugh at stupid movies together.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Probably outside the general demographics here.

You don't know what love is until you have children. Watching your little one sleep, for the first time, that's when it hits, like a hammer.

I've got a 4 month old and I know exactly what you mean. You want to do anything and everything for those little poop-factories.

 

[NathLines]

Love is probably my utmost form of respect for a woman. Love is of course never the same for different persons. The love I hold for one person is not the same kind of love I hold for another.

 

[justnotcricket]

Love?
"Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate."

This is the kind of thing that people who HAVEN'T been in love say

That's pretty patronising of you. Eating chocolate releases endorphins. So, technically, if one were to consume a TRUCKLOAD of the stuff, it'd be a very similar feeling indeed.

Right down to the extreme nausea and redecoration of your immediate surroundings in 'hint of stomach contents?' ;-P Actually, if you've never asked someone out before, might not be too far off...? =P

Yes, endorphins are involved. But they're not all there is to love, you can take that from a chemist, who loves =) Even your quote has the qualifier 'Biochemically no different...'. I'm not saying you've never loved - I am just personally of the opinion that it's much nicer to know about things like biochemistry, and then ignore them and just let them do their work, rather than focusing on them and letting them suck the fun out of things. Unless biochemistry doesn't do that for you, in which case carry on, carry on...

 

[ZiggyE]

Love?
"Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate."

This is the kind of thing that people who HAVEN'T been in love say

That's pretty patronising of you. Eating chocolate releases endorphins. So, technically, if one were to consume a TRUCKLOAD of the stuff, it'd be a very similar feeling indeed.

Right down to the extreme nausea and redecoration of your immediate surroundings in 'hint of stomach contents?' ;-P Actually, if you've never asked someone out before, might not be too far off...? =P

Yes, endorphins are involved. But they're not all there is to love, you can take that from a chemist, who loves =) Even your quote has the qualifier 'Biochemically no different...'. I'm not saying you've never loved - I am just personally of the opinion that it's much nicer to know about things like biochemistry, and then ignore them and just let them do their work, rather than focusing on them and letting them suck the fun out of things. Unless biochemistry doesn't do that for you, in which case carry on, carry on...

Not sure if you accidentally quoted me with that, but I wasn't the one who made the original post.

 

[justnotcricket]

Love?
"Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate."

This is the kind of thing that people who HAVEN'T been in love say

That's pretty patronising of you. Eating chocolate releases endorphins. So, technically, if one were to consume a TRUCKLOAD of the stuff, it'd be a very similar feeling indeed.

Right down to the extreme nausea and redecoration of your immediate surroundings in 'hint of stomach contents?' ;-P Actually, if you've never asked someone out before, might not be too far off...? =P

Yes, endorphins are involved. But they're not all there is to love, you can take that from a chemist, who loves =) Even your quote has the qualifier 'Biochemically no different...'. I'm not saying you've never loved - I am just personally of the opinion that it's much nicer to know about things like biochemistry, and then ignore them and just let them do their work, rather than focusing on them and letting them suck the fun out of things. Unless biochemistry doesn't do that for you, in which case carry on, carry on...

Not sure if you accidentally quoted me with that, but I wasn't the one who made the original post.

Oh, I meant to quote you, in terms of your comment about eating a truckload of chocolate, then my speculation that it would make you ill instead of in love ;-) And then I guess I continued on with regard to the person who originally posted that love = chocolate. Sorry for any confusion! =)

 

[Xixikal]

When love is in the air I put a gas mask on.
That stuff is insidious and twisted, it can drive people to do crazy things.

Compassion, fortitude and pride, however, are much more reasonable concepts. Ones that don't involve obsession, which love is clearly full of.

 

[AroLombardi]

Love is the slowest form of suicide.

What made this especially funny to me is that it was the first thing I saw after the inspirational original post.

 

[Engarde]

What is love? baby don't hurt me (yes, probably done a billion times).

I do not attempt to define it as I felt what I feel is in fact, love, and as such, I don't need to prove that to anyone, and I like to enjoy the feeling.

 

[tzimize]

Love?
"Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate."

I dont know about that, I've never gotten sick of too much love.

 

[Faren22]

Love is one of the fundamental forces of the universe.

And I don't just mean romantic love, here. I mean any kind of love.
The love you have for your your mom or dad, your good friends, your boyfriend or girlfriend, your pet, your work, your fellow humans that you don't know at all.

Love isn't just described by romantic relationships, it's described through... well, just about everything good in the world.

Everyone in this thread, and I mean absolutely everyone, has experienced some form of love. It's impossible not to. Even if they dismiss love as a vile construct or an existential trap, they are most likely speaking only about romantic love, and that's only one aspect of it.

To put it simply, Love is God. Literally. It is many-faceted, immensely complex yet understandable to any living thing.

And yes, I know there are many atheists or agnostics, and I'm not trying to exclude you or make you feel bad or anything. This post is not an attack of any kind on anyone's views; that's not the intention here.

I just saw this thread and took the opportunity to explain my views to people, so that someone might possibly see what makes me such a happy person.

 

[Dogstile]

Love is the slowest form of suicide.

But let me ask you, would you have it any other way?

Course not

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

If we're talking romantic love..

Eh...Hard to describe. You feel happiness deep in your gut just being in their company. And that feeling just gets stronger when you hold them and they hold you.

....Probably something a liiiiitle less dramatic than this:

To me, love is a genuine feeling, the greatest feeling. The feeling that makes just a second with her worth the universe. Love is not scientific or religious to me. Love keeps you warm, love keeps you together no matter how far away you are from each other. Love makes wherever she's staying home to you. Love is simply knowing (even if your close to death) if she's alright, you'll have a smile on your face. It makes the darkest days sunny and the coldest night warm.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

What is love to you?

To me, love is a genuine feeling, the greatest feeling. The feeling that makes just a second with her worth the universe. Love is not scientific or religious to me. Love keeps you warm, love keeps you together no matter how far away you are from each other. Love makes wherever she's staying home to you. Love is simply knowing (even if your close to death) if she's alright, you'll have a smile on your face. It makes the darkest days sunny and the coldest night warm.

Love?

Love is when you put everything on the line (including your very life) for someone, A love of a parent to a child or a Husband to his family.


Love is a very powerful thing.

 

[William Ossiss]

"love" is that feeling of lust that little children get and mistake for love.

Really? "Lust" is the feeling you feel for your mother, father, and siblings?

I'd go look at the Greek definitions of love posted in this thread; they offer a pretty good example of the different types of love people feel.

you assume i care for the mother that stole from me for my entire childhood, and my siblings that are all addicted to drugs. nevermiind my dead beat father that i know nothing about...

hooray for a normal childhood! (not sarcasm)

Edit: and who said i was talking about me anyway?

 

[shadow741]

Love makes it all the more harder to accept death.

 

[infohippie]

Love is knowing intimately the contents of her trash can, and that secluded observation spot across from her window. Love is a telescope with a greater range than the limits of the restraining order. Love is the photo-lined secret room in your attic. Love is counting the days until the legally mandated waiting period is over and you know you can finally make sure nobody can take her from you again.



[sub]Disclaimer - this is meant as humour, not as a serious reply. Please do not assume I need professional help. Wait to accumulate more evidence first.[/sub]

 

[The Gnome King]

"love" is that feeling of lust that little children get and mistake for love.

Really? "Lust" is the feeling you feel for your mother, father, and siblings?

I'd go look at the Greek definitions of love posted in this thread; they offer a pretty good example of the different types of love people feel.

you assume i care for the mother that stole from me for my entire childhood, and my siblings that are all addicted to drugs. nevermiind my dead beat father that i know nothing about...

hooray for a normal childhood! (not sarcasm)

Edit: and who said i was talking about me anyway?

I assume nothing; I don't speak to my own family and I don't have siblings. My grandparents, who raised me, are dead. I simply know that other people with more fortunate lives than our own feel affection towards family members that would hardly be called "lust" - our friend just had a baby; she feels affectionate and protective towards her baby. She says she loves her child and I don't think "lust" figures into the relationship at all.

Well maybe lust had something to do with making the baby but I'm pretty sure it ended there...