13 Experts Weigh in on Love

13 Experts Weigh in on Love:

Are their words profound truths, poetic hogwash or somewhere in between? You decide.

Love: What is it? Goethe says, "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." Oliver Wendell Holmes declares, "Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness. " Two unknown writers look at it this way: “"Love is friendship set on fire," and, "Love is like war: Easy to begin but hard to end."

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines love as: “1 a (1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (2): attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3): affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests b: an assurance of love 2: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion 3 a: the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration b (1): a beloved person : darling —often used as a term of endearment (2) British —used as an informal term of address for a: unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1): the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2): brotherly concern for others b: a person's adoration of God . . .”

(Note: I’m only listing the top definitions. For more information, check out M-W’s Website.)

Last week I presented 13 quotes about love. That prompted me to embark in a research project. I found that there are hundreds, maybe even millions of comments about love on the Internet. Some are profound. Some are silly and some made me laugh. Others I read and thought, “That makes sense,” and nodded my head.

13 Experts Weigh in on Love

I’m presenting these 13 for you to ponder:

1. “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” ~Mother Teresa

2. “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” ~Albert Einstein

3. “The art of love ... is largely the art of persistence.” ~Albert Ellis

4. “Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that.” ~Michael Leunig

5. “Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.” ~Eric Fromm

6. “Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.” ~Kahlil Gibran

7. “Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.” ~Leo Buscaglia

8. “If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.” ~Ann Landers

9. “Why love if losing hurts so much? We love to know that we are not alone.” ~ C. S. Lewis

10. “When love is not madness, it is not love.” ~Pedro Calderon de la Barca

11. “There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is God's finger on man's shoulder.” ~Charles Morgan

12. “Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame.” ~Henry David Thoreau13. “We can only learn to love by loving.” ~ Iris Murdock

Do any of these statements hit home? Which ones seem true to you? Which ones ring false? Write back and tell me what you think.

Brenda

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