Do You Really Know What Love Is?

[Mighty Mouse]

Love is the first bite into a chocolate coated magnum ice cream.

[bbigman21]

I thought it was quite obvious -

Love is when you lose all reason or common sense, refuse to listen to the advice of others and generally behave like a moron dosed up on Prozac.

That sounds like lust

[Neeranam]

Love is indeed a powerful force. it can take us to great heights and leaves us light and airy. Yet, it has been the most abused and misused force. Many degraded things pass for love.

There is a popular song by the beatles which states, "all you need is love". What the world actually needs is an accurate and correct understanding of love. True love is based on understanding, mutual trust and respect, not simply on emations.

Love is being in balance, that is, in harmony with the self, God, and our fellow man. Love is selflessness. Love is not an emotional state confined to whims and fancies, but a transcendent state of consciousness which goes beyond the bodily forms. Love has nothing to do with bodies - love dwells in the soul. We must allow this love to flow out and around us. By allowing this love to flow, we become moistened and remain forever fresh, attractive and healthy.

Without love, all of life's treasures are locked away from our vision and experiences, for indeed "Love is the Key"

[Donz]

love is dangerous

[BKK90210]

Love…. is attention without judgement

Love…. doesn't need reason. It speaks from the irrational wisdom of the heart

Love…. is like water. If it doesn't flow, it stagnates

Love…. makes your heart grow and you Surrender to love as a guiding force.

We can only identify true love and know when we have found it.

Edited April 6, 2006 by BKK90210

[Soju]

Sometimes there seems to be as many different definitions of love as there are people in this world. IMHO, the love that most people have is little more than a strong version of like, perhaps combined with some nice warm fuzzy feeling caused by the release of some chemicals in their brain.

For me, real love is when the person you love is more important than yourself. Some say that the greatest love is to love yourself. I couldn't disagree more with them. For me, that is absolutely totally the opposite of love. Love is to die to yourself and to live for the one(s) you love. That doesn't mean that you hate yourself or that you lose all confidence in yourself. In order to love someone you still need to take care of yourself. It means that you are willing to give up anything in your life for the one you love. That you love without any expectation in return. That you love without regard to what others think. Of course, this type of love can be very destructive to one's self if the person they love doesn't love them back the same way and is out to take advantage of them.

A pure love is also given freely of one's own will and not something one gives out of obligation or duty. Some people exhibit most of the qualities of love for their parents, children, or their country, even to the point of sacrificing their life and be wiling to die for what they love. I certainly admire them for their level of sacrifice, but I think sometimes they are motivated to their actions more based on pride, honor, and/or duty than on real love. They want others to see what a good parent/son/daughter/citizen they are, or don't want to dishonor their family or country. So in a way they are doing it for somewhat selfish reasons.

I know my definition of love is extremely idealistic and don't mean to imply that I can even come close to achieving 100% this sort of pure and complete love. But it's my goal to try.

[Neeranam]

love is dangerous

Why?

[Donz]

love is dangerous

Why?

Not sure, just heard it on TV once.

But my mate was driving and he broke up with his gf, she was so upset she grabbed the wheel and tries to crash it into a telegraph post. she had obsessive love

[Neeranam]

I'vew heard the same too Donz. We've all heard stories about ducks too.

[thebear]

Love - Accepting that what's mine is hers, what's hers is her own

[Patsycat]

I love love...

[Ausladyinpatong]

Someone emailed this to me a while ago and it always makes me smile...

What does Love mean?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group

of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could

have imagined. See what you think:

When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and

paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the

time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is

different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving

Cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - age 5

Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your

French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy -age

6

Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a

sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny -

age

7

Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of

kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and

Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop

opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a

friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on

this planet)

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears

it everyday." Noelle - age 7

Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are

still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I

looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy age 8

My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else

kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6

Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

Elaine-age 5

Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says

he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him

alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4

I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her

old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Lauren - age 4

When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and

little

stars

come out of you." (what an imagination) Karen - age 7

Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't

think

it's

gross." Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But

if

you

mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once

talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was

to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child

whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost

his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old

gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother

asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Personally, love for me means that a bad time can be good if he is there and a good time is not so great if he isn't.

[Soju]

Ausladyinpatong,

Those were some nice thoughts, but somehow I have trouble believing that 4 to 8 year-olds wrote them. Maybe they mentioned some things and an adult took the liberty to embellish them. Take for instance this one...

Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are

still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

When have you ever heard a six year-old refer to an old couple as "a little old woman and a little old man"? To someone that age and size, all adults are big regardless of how tall they are. I doubt many children of the ages stated could construct such good, gramatically correct sentences. I think there's someone out there who just makes up these feel-good types of emails all day and sends them out, without there ever being any truth about who the real author was.

Not complaining at all about your post, just doubting the authenticity of the original author's claim.

Edited April 6, 2006 by Soju

[Patsycat]

Don't be so synical. They are lovely quotes and a few of them brought a tear to my eye.

[seonai]

W aste of space IMHO. (Not love, this topic).

[Cpt_M0ney_Sh0t]

For me... Love is the will and pleasure.. the driving desire, the daily goal to LIVE for somone or a Ideal.

So quickly pepole will say that they are ready to Die for someone, or something.

How often have you heard someone say they are ready to die for their cause or their belifes.

This is weak in my opinion... how easy is death? How quickly can a martyer find his dark demise by ending his life for his so called love?

But to the contrary, to LIVE, to live your entire life for a cause or for a relationship, the magickal union that is man and woman united in soul and body, The life long love and devotion of a good mother to her children... These are the true definitions of Love.

Love is; Devotion of your life to that wich you love for no other reason than to be close to the object of your Love.

[meemiathai]

Sometimes there seems to be as many different definitions of love as there are people in this world. IMHO, the love that most people have is little more than a strong version of like, perhaps combined with some nice warm fuzzy feeling caused by the release of some chemicals in their brain.

For me, real love is when the person you love is more important than yourself. Some say that the greatest love is to love yourself. I couldn't disagree more with them. For me, that is absolutely totally the opposite of love. Love is to die to yourself and to live for the one(s) you love. That doesn't mean that you hate yourself or that you lose all confidence in yourself. In order to love someone you still need to take care of yourself. It means that you are willing to give up anything in your life for the one you love. That you love without any expectation in return. That you love without regard to what others think. Of course, this type of love can be very destructive to one's self if the person they love doesn't love them back the same way and is out to take advantage of them.

A pure love is also given freely of one's own will and not something one gives out of obligation or duty. Some people exhibit most of the qualities of love for their parents, children, or their country, even to the point of sacrificing their life and be wiling to die for what they love. I certainly admire them for their level of sacrifice, but I think sometimes they are motivated to their actions more based on pride, honor, and/or duty than on real love. They want others to see what a good parent/son/daughter/citizen they are, or don't want to dishonor their family or country. So in a way they are doing it for somewhat selfish reasons.

I know my definition of love is extremely idealistic and don't mean to imply that I can even come close to achieving 100% this sort of pure and complete love. But it's my goal to try.

Nice post.

[jonik]

if you know what love is you don't ask others what it is , but if you don't ........well you better wait and see.

Love is not a thing it's not likely that two people share the same kind of love. It could be your first cold beer after a long hot working day or it could be after you have saved all mankind from a holocaust disaster.

So................

[Tomissan]

The meaning of love is very simple - it's just a stronger version of "like" (as someone has already stated above). It's no more complicated than that is it?

The quote below and subsequent link are words from someone I knew many years ago who literaly changed the course & quality of my life.

"What is Love"

"It is unfortunate that we have to ask this question. In the natural course of things everybody would know what love is. But I understand that nobody knows - or only very rarely - what love is. Love has become one of the rarest experiences. Yes, it is talked about, filmed, stories are written about it, songs are composed about it. Films are made, on the TV you will see it, on the radio, in the magazines - a great industry continuously goes on supplying you with the idea of what love is. Many people are continuously involved in it, helping people understand what love is. Poets, authors, novelists - they all go on."

.....more... http://www.barnett.sk/software/sos/osho/as...ho/askosh28.htm

[Totster]

I reckon I found out what love means to me... and I just can't put it into words..

totster

[richard10365]

A year ago I was riding my motorcycle down a little country road and came across a stray cat in the moutians. I decided to take it home.

My wife and I fed the cat, cleaned it, let it sleep in our bed, and gave it lots of love. It returned love to us constantly over and over. We both love the cat very much. To us, it was like our little baby.

Yesterday, my wifes father came home after a night of drinking in the village. No one was home when he got home and he laid on the floor and passed out.

He forgot to shut the door. The famililies 4 big dogs came inside and ripped our little cat apart.

Our hearts are broken and the love we once felt for the cat has now turned to hate for her father and her dogs. We are moving out as soon as we are finished packing.

Love dosen't have to be only for a person. It can be for an animal as well. But when another person destroys the love you had for something else, the only thing left to fill the void is hate and grief for the person who destroyed the love.

[Totster]

A year ago I was riding my motorcycle down a little country road and came across a stray cat in the moutians. I decided to take it home.

My wife and I fed the cat, cleaned it, let it sleep in our bed, and gave it lots of love. It returned love to us constantly over and over. We both love the cat very much. To us, it was like our little baby.

Yesterday, my wifes father came home after a night of drinking in the village. No one was home when he got home and he laid on the floor and passed out.

He forgot to shut the door. The famililies 4 big dogs came inside and ripped our little cat apart.

Our hearts are broken and the love we once felt for the cat has now turned to hate for her father and her dogs. We are moving out as soon as we are finished packing.

Love dosen't have to be only for a person. It can be for an animal as well. But when another person destroys the love you had for something else, the only thing left to fill the void is hate and grief for the person who destroyed the love.

Nice post..

However... the poll did specify romantic/sexual love

totster

[jdinasia]

I LOVE spending 600 baht a day on food And having enough cash not to cry about other people having more

[bino]

I thought I was in love once, but it turned out to be a case of jock itch.

Edited April 12, 2006 by bino