# Does unconditional love really exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 11, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333 "2011-03-11T21:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/81 "2013-05-16T19:35:48Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I think it depends how you interpet love. My interpetation is a sincere desire for the physical, emotional and spritual well being of the other person. I was happily divorced over 23 years ago, yet I have alwasy looked out for the welfare of my ex without getting involved in her life. If I find out she has something wrong physicaly I find myself worrying until the results from the doctor come back. I don’t like being around her or even talking to her for that matter but I still care very deeply. What you are expressing is unconditional love. You help without expecting anything in return. It is the highest form of love. As Jesus said: “There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend.” In those mass shootings that happened some shielded others. Everyone is capable of feeling it. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/82 "2013-05-16T19:39:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do you know who else was a positive thinker? If you read a list of America’s greatest men nine out of ten will be positive thinkers. Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, even Obama. You don’t get anywhere thinking negatively. You go forward on trust and faith or you don’t go at all. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/83 "2013-05-17T11:58:40Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > Positive thinking is the ticked to a happy life. Yeah, I get “ticked” all the time. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/84 "2013-05-17T13:53:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yeah, I get “ticked” all the time. I mean ticket or path. when I was young I lived in a disfunctional family. I was depressed, had anxiety attacks and migraine headaches that were debilitating. I left home as quickly as possible at 18. Life was not easy, but I joined the Naval Reserve and begin to grow up. I now have no problems and doing things I thought impossible when I was young. I gave up the self-pity and took on the self-confidence. I am a very happy person now. Anyone can do it, but not with pills or drugs. You have to decide to do positive things and start doing them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/85 "2013-05-17T14:14:55Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I mean ticket or path. > > when I was young I lived in a disfunctional family. > > I was depressed, had anxiety attacks and migraine headaches that were debilitating. > > I left home as quickly as possible at 18. Life was not easy, but I joined the Naval Reserve and begin to grow up. I now have no problems and doing things I thought > impossible when I was young. I gave up the self-pity and took on the self-confidence. I am a very happy person now. Anyone can do it, but not with pills or drugs. You have to decide to do positive things and start doing them. Remember that post in another thread where I described the “Tommy Syndrome”? ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/86 "2013-05-17T14:19:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Remember that post in another thread where I described the “Tommy Syndrome”? Not really. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/87 "2013-05-17T14:23:33Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > Not really. Basically, you _may_ have found a cure that works for you, but doesn’t necessarily mean that it works equally well for everybody else. One method may work for you, while another method that wouldn’t for you might work for someone else. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/88 "2013-05-17T14:35:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Basically, you _may_ have found a cure that works for you, but doesn’t necessarily mean that it works equally well for everybody else. One method may work for you, while another method that wouldn’t for you might work for someone else. I did some reading on the Internet about it. I don’t think it applies to me. I have helped many people find their way through the path of love. I can understand why you would think that, but the path is not easy and it takes commitment to get better. I know most people don’t want to walk the path of love because they believe in the macho approach to life. The more the macho push the more others push back. It is a path to failure. Well I know it works if you work it. It is the process of giving up bad habits of negativity. It also takes time. But it works. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/89 "2013-05-17T14:47:10Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I did some reading on the Internet about it. I don’t think it applies to me. I have helped many people find their way through the path of love. I can understand why you would think that, but the path is not easy and it takes commitment to get better. I know most people don’t want to walk the path of love because they believe in the macho approach to life. The more the macho push the more others push back. It is a path to failure. Well I know it works if you work it. It is the process of giving up bad habits of negativity. It also takes time. But it works. Nobody ever thinks the Tommy Syndrome applies to _them_. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/90 "2013-05-17T16:11:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nobody ever thinks the Tommy Syndrome applies to _them_. There are all kinds of things like the Tommy Syndrome that keeps people thinking in negative ways. There is a vast difference in being humble and being weak. Humility does not equal weakness or pusillanimity. Usually it is just the opposite. If one develops an attitude of unconditional love there will be humility but not weakness. If I were a weak person I would have gave up here a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/91 "2013-05-17T16:14:20Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > There are all kinds of things like the Tommy Syndrome that keeps people thinking in negative ways. There is a vast difference in being humble and being weak. Humility does not equal weakness or pusillanimity. Usually it is just the opposite. If one develops an attitude of unconditional love there will be humility but not weakness. > > If I were a weak person I would have gave up here a long time ago. You don’t know what the “Tommy Syndrome” is, do you? It has absolutely nothing to do with negativism, humbleness, or weakness. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/92 "2013-05-17T17:08:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You don’t know what the “Tommy Syndrome” is, do you? It has absolutely nothing to do with negativism, humbleness, or weakness. And it has nothing to do unconditional love either. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/93 "2013-05-18T13:21:14Z")
The next step is to examine how to attain unconditional love, but that is another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Moon\_Meyers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Moon\_Meyers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moon_Meyers)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/94 "2013-05-21T15:20:03Z")
I suppose the the good news is: If we can not have “unconditional love” then we can not have unconditional hate(not love). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/95 "2013-05-21T15:27:31Z")
Unconditional love is love without foundation, reason or history. It is based on nothing but whim, and has no strength. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/96 "2013-05-21T16:39:39Z")
> [@Moon\_Meyers](#): > > I suppose the the good news is: > If we can not have “unconditional love” then we can not have unconditional hate(not love). Hate is not the opposite of Love, fear is closer but love has no opposite. It is fear that creates all negative things including hate. Love is the most powerful thing there is, it is the basis of creation. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/97 "2013-05-21T16:46:37Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > Hate is not the opposite of Love, fear is closer but love has no opposite. > > It is fear that creates all negative things including hate. > > Love is the most powerful thing there is, it is the basis of creation. It 's an emotion. Where was love before there was sentient life? ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/98 "2013-05-21T16:53:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It 's an emotion. Where was love before there was sentient life? A lot more than an emotion whatever that is. You might say love created the universe or God is love or love is God. If you understood love. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/99 "2013-05-21T17:04:21Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > A lot more than an emotion whatever that is. Look it up-it’s in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333/100 "2013-05-21T17:32:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Look it up-it’s in the dictionary. When you say something is an emotion you are only saying that it moves. Does not say what it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unconditional-love-really-exist/574333.md?page=6)