I’ve run across the quote “There are only four questions of value in life. What is Sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? and What is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same . . . Only Love.” In my opinion this quote sums love up as best as words can describe within their capacity for expression. I have two question for all of you out there. Do you agree that love is the end all? and If you do you believe that love is the end all, do you have a quote that can beat the one I have presented?
Thanks,
Omega007
P.S. Xerses20 let me know what you think of this quote.
here’s my way of seeing it…
there are 3 types of love, just as there used to be in roman times, there is agope love ( commited, selfless love, perfect love) which is true love to end all love to die for love that you could and would do anything for the one you loved that way, there is eros love (erotic/sexual)the type of love that is lust, erotic love, the love that cures all qualms of loneliness for a short time and is nice while it lasts and then there is filio love (fraternal, platonic, non-sexual) friendly love- it is the kind of love that you love someone as a friend, u would be there for them a shoulder to cry on a body to enjoy the company of and discuss things among. take things as they come and dont look too deep into them cuz u’ll get lost in the confusion, if true love finds u u’ll know it in the beginning and it will be never-ending. otherwise it’s just lust or even a deeper level of filio
take care cuz there are a lot of bad things out there
Hmm, I associate the three types of love more with Greek times than Roman, but I’m not saying you’re wrong, because the two cultures shared a lot and probably shared these distinctions as well. But Eros was not always seen as simply lust. See Plato’s Symposium for a very interesting take on that.
But back to the OP. What do you mean by love? Do you mean what most people think of, the significant other. If so, then that is not even close to the “end all,” though it is definitely a wonderful and, perhaps for many people, necessary part of a fulfilled life. But OTOH, I love nature. I love writing. I love skydiving. I love friendship. I love reading. I love people. I love many things. On that level, then yes, love is all that matters. Specifically, love of life, and all the smaller pieces that that entails. If one doesn’t love life, then what is the point?
If you mean the love of a partner, then I think it is nowhere near the be-all and end-all. I would say that the love of family, friends and others IS, but ‘be-all and end-all’ is a bad phrase to describe it as. That type of love is the most important thing in life, IMO, but there are many other things worth living for, so that type of love is not the be-all and end-all either. Basically life is worth living for.
I don’t think there is a be-all and end-all. Each must fnd their own reasons for being, and love is that for some, but not all. For many it is knowledge, for others it is art. For some, it’s hedonism, and others are devoted to materialism. As opposed to great romance, the love of a parent for a child is the supreme motivation in life. Some folks never find their be-all and end-all, and others find it in a god. We’re too individualistic for any single quote to cover all the bases IMO.
Ya know, in terms of ‘having a partner’ love, it took me a looooong time to realize that this particular type of love is NOT the be-all-end-all; it is mischaracterized, overhyped, cliched, and, most importantly does NOT, by any means, conquer all.
Let me clarify, I’m in a wonderful marriage, have found the perfect life partner for me, and yes, we do love each other. But it takes a hell of a lot more than that to make it work. (respect being right up there on the list—quite different than love, if you ask me)
About the other types of love, well, they’re great, and the source of a lot of the positive actions that make this world a better place. (THAT sounds cliched, doesn’t it) But that’s a good thing.
You betcha, the sheer joy of having somebody who you can share your whole life with. Who you just want to spend all you time with and who when you make love to them makes you feel like your the luckiest man in the world.
Then she changes the rules and rips your heart out.
Ahh, I don’t think love is the end-all-be-all either. If it were there’d be little debate over homosexuality, infidelity, polygamy or monogamy, etc etc. That is, if it really is the greatest thing ever, we’d have gotten it figured out by now (or at least workable).
As most dramas and daytime soaps would happily point out we aren’t there.
However, when one is in love I would agree that its the closest thing to a ubiquitous feeling I’ve ever encountered.
According to this interpretation of the Beneditine rule, life is better lived by moderation in all things. And yet I believe that monastic order, in their lives and work throughout the ages (and I haven’t researched what they did during the Inquisition, but odd or extreme practices were counter to their basic philosophy), also demonstrated a great love of life itself.
And perhaps, if you don’t love life itself (and I’m not talking from the “pro-life” stance here), any other form of love might seem hollow, and a crutch or substitute, which only would work for a short time, to get one through the dreary days.
Disclaimer: I am not promoting Catholicism here (I am agnostic) but I believe that Benedict was moderately (pun intended) wise.
[extreme cynicism]
“True Love” is a fiction perpetuated by the matriarchy for the sole purpose of oppressing and maintaining control of men.
[/extreme cynicism]
To echo what’s already been said, I think that life would be pretty bad without any sort of love at all, but romantic love is not the be all and end all of human existence. I’ve always felt that love between friends is more important and more rewarding than love between romantic partners. I can be quite happy without a romantic partner, but if I had no friends I’d be a sad person indeed.
I think that believing that romantic love is the end all is not only silly but dangerous. The people I know who are the most romantically idealistic, the sort who really would be prepared to die for the one they love, always seem to end up with the worst relationship problems.
Perhaps this thread should be changed to “What weighs more: That which is intangible or that which is imaginary?”
True love exists as a justification for the mistakes we make in the hopes of filling in the gaps in our own lives with the insertion of another being. A complete human has no need for it.
