natamoraru: “In the winter of 2011, photographer and furniture designer Ana Kraš flew from her home in Belgrade, Serbia, to Los Angeles, where she’d been sent by a European magazine to photograph artist-musician Devendra Banhart. Within five minutes, he asked her to marry him. Despite her initial impulse to flee, she stayed—and the two have been together ever since.” too cute :)
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natamoraru:

“In the winter of 2011, photographer and furniture designer Ana Kraš flew from her home in Belgrade, Serbia, to Los Angeles, where she’d been sent by a European magazine to photograph artist-musician Devendra Banhart. Within five minutes, he asked her to marry him. Despite her initial impulse to flee, she stayed—and the two have been together ever since.”

too cute :)

Source: jarrodis

Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.
Viktor Frankl on love, from his timeless classic Man’s Search for Meaning.

(via explore-blog)

Searching for love

again, scientifically, about love… this time from a psychologist’s point of view.


Love perhaps best can be seen as a sort of a prism – looking at it in different ways reveals different faces of the same phenomenon. For example, one face of the prism might specify components of love, such as intimacy, passion and commitment; another face might specify the stories of love that give rise to such components, such as stories of fantasy, mystery, theatre, or even horror; yet another face of the prism might show the role of cognitive processes, such as intelligence, creativity and wisdom, in the formation and maintenance of successful loving relationships. This article examines some of the faces of the prism, which I observed in a series of stages over the course of a research career.

My whole life I have been searching for love. At a personal level, after a number of false starts, I have found it. In my research – initiated when a love relationship in my personal life was failing – I have tried to come closer to understanding what love is, how it develops, and why it succeeds or fails.

Sometimes I feel that by not marrying, I made too great a sacrifice to my work….

Nikola Tesla

wiki on N.Tesla

“I have been feeding pigeons, thousands of them for years. But there was one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different. It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me. I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.”

regardless of the great work you do… life is incomplete, purposeless without this weird, unclear feeling…

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

C. S. Lewis

///

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. - Bertrand Russell

What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

and more - What Is Love? Famous Definitions from 200 Years of Literary History - entertaining :)

Source: brainpickings.org

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”


― Bob Marley

I am surprised how difficult for people is to say “I love you”. They only say the three magic words when they are sure they will hear “I love you too” back. C’mon! Spread the energy of love without expecting anything! Cowards are incapable of expressing love; it is the prerogative of the brave

Paulo Coelho

haven’t read a book of his (maybe shame on me, maybe not), anyway… this quote seems plausible :)

What is love? Five theories on the greatest emotion of all

a concise and beautiful article (with opinions)

“What is love” was the most searched phrase on Google in 2012, according to the company. In an attempt to get to the bottom of the question once and for all, the Guardian has gathered writers from the fields of science, psychotherapy, literature, religion and philosophy to give their definition of the much-pondered word.

and by the way, i haven’t contributed to this “most searched phrase” :))

The Rules of Attraction in the Game of Love

science and love. interesting article, compiling several studies.

In the end, lasting love depends at least as much on behavior as biology. But the first moves are made before you’re even born.

Interestingly, brain scans in people who’d recently fallen in love reveal more activity related to love than sex. “Romantic love is one of the most powerful of all human experiences,” says Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University. “It is definitely more powerful than the sex drive.”

and another article here