“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves,” writer Victor Hugo declared, joining the ranks of generations of great thinkers who have espoused the virtues of this all-important emotion. Yet what, exactly, is love?
Trying to define love is no easy task, as it can take many forms, and everyone experiences it differently. Plato said, “‘Love’ is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.” The ancient Greeks even had different words to describe the many expressions of love, including storge, the love or natural affection for family; ludus, the flirtatious, playful love of youth; philia, the platonic love between friends; philautia, the love of self; eros, a sensual and passionate love of romance; pragma, a mature, enduring love; and agape, an unconditional, divine love.
Artists, philosophers, and psychologists from time immemorial have found different ways to describe the experience of love. In writing about her love for actor Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn said, “Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give — which is everything.” But no matter what we call it, love — in all its many forms of expression — is a fundamental human emotion that connects us all and reminds us that we are not alone.
