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Andreas Maeckler |
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Preface to the Korean edition: The word "love" cannot unmistakably be defined by using related terms and statements. A large. insatiable community therefore, absorbs all comments on the subject of love, in the hope of understanding the true sense of the word. Thrilling novels about love, love stories, love letters, amorous plainitive poetry, philosophies about love, religious books, devotional texts - the enumeration of things that have been published and will be published in the future,could be continued endlessly. There are many expressions used in daily life about whose actual meaning one seldom wastes a thought, so that they have become formulas: God´s love, Christian love, spiritual love (Agape), sensual-physical love (eros), Love for your fellow human being (caritas), love for mother, father, brother, sister, love of art (e.g. as human achievement), even love of money, love of dogs, etc.The list could be continued infinitely, and yet, two panel members would not be able to reduce it to a common denominator. As soon as the discussion narrows down to the basics, opinions about the answer of "what is love?" start to differ. The attempts by the media to answer this question may be credited for their imaginative qualities, but they are basically one-sided. They all build on the human need for attachment and communication. In comparison with the great fictitious deeds and noble characters of the protagonists of books, magazines and films, real people seem like insipid,uninspiring failures, who can hardly live up to a life, sustained and imbued with love. Not only for this reason, opinions differ even about the question, whether love is something positive, something to strive for, or just another possibility to eploit and oppress our fellow men. One example, among others, is the concept of "marital love" - although it may have brought supreme happiness to some, marriage , since the ancients, has been a controversial institution. "Marriage allows just two happy days to the man:/one, when he beds his wife, and the other when he puts her in her grave." (Palladas, approx. 5oo-4oo a. C.) There are other states of dependance based on achievement, which are often veiled with the term ´love´, the relation between master and slave is certainly the most striking example for this pattern. Willingness to make sacrifices, for a certain ideological conviction or task, which largely benefits others, may well be equally be termed "love". The here presented,extensive collection of quotations concentrates on the question "what is love?" The answers, selected from manifold sources, have been classified according to different scopes of life and experience. Fairly soon it becomes apparent that it is impossible to give an overall definition of the term. The question "is there such a thing as love?" has to be excluded in this context. Even if we preclude that the term love has to be filled with meaning, the problem remains complicated enough. In order to facilitate a further pursuit of this subject, all sources that have been used for the collection are listed in the supplement. No claim to completeness can be made - love in the end escapes the grasp of our comprehension. Andreas Maeckler
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