What is Love?

LOVE. Every language has a word for it. Many different signs are used to show love, to express love. We do it so often and so easily that if we look around us, we cannot escape without seeing a heart symbol or without associating our love for some person or object or a memory. We love people, we love things, we love emotions, memories, we love animals, nature, books, fiction, drama, science and so on. But do we ever wonder what love is? I mean sure, we all get the idea, but do we really really know?

Philosophers, authors, scientists and romantics have all wondered and tried to break down love into a basic definition to try to understand it. But these definitions are always somewhat vague and vary depending on the person concerned. It is rightly said that "To each its own". Since I am completely lost in my quest for a meaning for it, I would like to quote a few authors on the definition and their idea of love; quotes that I personally like or appreciate:

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” - Dr. Seuss

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”  - Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 “Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.” - Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

 “There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” - Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” - Lao Tzu

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” - Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

And lastly one of my favorites:

“I'm in love with you," he said quietly.

"Augustus," I said.

"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.” - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

I could go on and on quoting thousands of authors and million different definitions on love, but instead I will just provide you the source from where I copied from: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/love . The sheer amount of quotes will alone tell you how popular a subject like love is in the literature. We are not even venturing into the minds of each and every person who has walked this earth to find out what his/her definition of love is. That would be a tremendous task, but exciting (and of course impossible) nonetheless.

Is love a personal feeling? A mutual bond? A selfish act? A selfless act? I do not know. And I dare not say that I have the answer to this question, knowing that greater men and women have taken up the same task and failed time and again. If you were one those who have recently been in love and came here to seek answers to your questions, I am extremely sorry that I have to disappoint you. I too wonder about the same question, same as you do. In fact, I wrote this article because I too have been in love and failed to grasp its meaning. Sometimes, writing something down might make you feel like you have finally figured it out, even if you haven't. Maybe you could try the same thing and see what happens.

Please let me know if you discover the meaning of love. 😛