What Is Love?Famous De finitions from 400 Years of Literary History

Maria Popova

问世间情为何物，直教人生死相许。爱情“比艺术更加飘渺虚无，比科研更需要心无旁骛，比哲学更加哲学”。作为文学作品永恒的主题，爱情是文学作家乐此不疲的探讨对象。让我们一起看看在那些文学大咖眼中，究竟情为何物吧。

“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get—only with what you are expecting to give—which is everything.”

After those collections of notable de finitions of art,science,and philosophy, what better way to start a new year than with a selection of poetic de finitions of a peculiar phenomenon that is at once more amorphous than art, more single-minded than science,and more philosophical than philosophy itself?1. 爱情是一件比艺术更加飘渺虚无、比科研更需要心无旁骛、比哲学更加哲学的特殊事情。在一系列关于艺术、科学和哲学的著名定义之后，有什么是比精选出关于爱情的诗意定义更好的方法去开启新的一年呢？amorphous:难以名状的，无定形的。Gathered here are some of the most memorable and timeless insights on love, culled from several hundred years of literary history—enjoy.2. memorable: 难忘的，值得纪念的；timeless: 永恒的，永久的；cull: 挑选，精选。

*Kurt Vonnegut, who was in some ways an extremist about love but also had a healthy dose of irreverence about it,inThe Sirens of Titan:3. 库尔特·冯内古特就某些方面而言可说是爱情极端主义者，但他在《泰坦的海妖》中也开出一剂用“玩世不恭”医治爱情的药方。dose:（药的）一服，一剂；irreverence:不敬，不尊重的行为。

库尔特·冯内古特，美国黑色幽默文学代表作家，作品：《泰坦的海妖》。

A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.

*Anas Nin, whose wisdom on love knew no bounds4. know no bounds: 无限，无止境。,inA Literate Passion: Letters of Anas Nin & Henry Miller,1932—1953:

阿娜伊斯·宁，20世纪著名西方女性文学作家，作品：《文学的激情：阿娜伊斯·宁与亨利·米勒1932—1953年书信集》。

What is love but acceptance of the other, whatever he is.5. 爱情就是接受另一半，无论他是什么样的人。

阿娜伊斯·宁与亨利·米勒

*Stendhal in his fantastic 1822 treatise6. treatise: 论文，论著。on love:

司汤达，19世纪法国杰出批判现实主义作家，作品：《论爱情》。

Love is like a fever which comes and goes quite independently of the will... there are no age limits for love.7. 爱情就像发烧，来去皆不以个人的意志为转移……爱没有年龄限制。

*C. S. Lewis, who was a very wise man, inThe Four Loves:

C. S. 刘易斯，20世纪英国著名文学家、批评家，作品：《四种爱》。

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable.Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung8. wring: 绞干水，榨取。and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact9. intact: 完整的，完好无缺的。, 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 cof fin of your sel fishness.10. 小心翼翼地用兴趣和少许享受把心完整地包起来，避免任何纠缠，把它锁进装载自私的容器里。round: 完整的；entanglement:瓜葛，纠缠；casket: 灵柩，骨灰盒；cof fin:棺材。But in that casket—safe,dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.11. 心不会破碎，它会变得牢不可破，无动于衷并且无可救药。impenetrable: 无法穿透的，刀枪不入的；irredeemable: 不可挽回的，不可弥补的。The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation12. damnation: 罚入地狱，遭天谴。. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.13. 天堂之外唯一能够躲避爱情的危险和困扰的地方就是地狱。perturbation: 不安，烦扰。

*Lemony Snicket inHorseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid:

雷蒙·斯尼奇，美国作家及编剧丹尼尔·韩德勒（Daniel Handler）的笔名，作品：《山葵：你躲不开的苦涩真相》。

Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby—awkwardly14. awkwardly: 笨拙地，艰难地。, and often with a great deal of mess.

*Susan Sontag, whose illustrated insights on love were among last year’s most read and shared articles, inAs Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964—1980:

苏珊·桑塔格，美国著名作家、评论家，作品：《意识听命于肉体：1964—1980年日记与笔记》。

Nothing is mysterious, no human relation. Except love.

*Charles Bukowski, who also famously deemed love “a dog from hell,” in this archival15. archival: 档案中的。video interview:

查尔斯·布可夫斯基，德裔美国诗人、小说家。

Love is kind of like when you see a fog in the morning, when you wake up before the sun comes out. It’s just a little while, and then it burns away... Love is a fog that burns with the first daylight of reality.16. 爱情是一场雾，接触到现实的第一缕晨曦就立马烟消云散。

*William Shakespeare inA Midsummer Night’s Dream:

威廉·莎士比亚，欧洲文艺复兴时期杰出作家、戏剧家，作品：《仲夏夜之梦》。

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.

*Ambrose Bierce, with the characteristic wryness ofThe Devil’s Dictionary:

安布罗斯·比尔斯，美国记者、短篇小说作家，作品：《魔鬼词典》。

Love,n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage.17. 爱：名词，暂时性的精神错乱，通过婚姻可治愈。insanity: 疯狂，精神错乱。

*Katharine Hepburn inMe : Stories of My Life:

凯瑟琳·赫本，美国电影女演员，自传：《我：我一生的故事》。

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get—only with what you are expecting to give—which is everything.

*Philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell, he of great wisdom, inThe Conquest of Happiness:

伯特兰·罗素，英国著名哲学家、数学家、历史学家，作品：《幸福之路》。

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

*Fyodor Dostoyevsky puts it even more forcefully inThe Brothers Karamazov:

费奥多尔·陀思妥耶夫斯基，俄国著名作家，作品：《卡拉马佐夫兄弟》。

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

凯瑟琳·赫本

*Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in a letter to his ten-year-old daughter explaining the importance of evidence in science and in life:

理查德·道金斯，英国著名演化生物学家、科普作家。

People sometimes say that you must believe in feelings deep inside, otherwise you’d never be con fident of things like “My wife loves me”. But this is a bad argument. There can be plenty of evidence that somebody loves you. All through the day when you are with somebody who loves you, you see and hear lots of little tidbits of evidence, and they all add up.18. 在和爱你的人相处的日常生活中，你会看见和听见很多小趣闻，所有这些点点滴滴加起来就是证据。tidbit: 珍闻，趣闻；add up: 加起来，积少成多。It isn’t purely inside feeling, like the feeling that priests call revelation.19. priest: 牧师，神父；revelation: 天启，启示。There are outside things to back up the inside feeling: looks in the eye, tender notes in the voice, little favors and kindnesses; this is all real evidence.

理查德·道金斯

*Paulo Coelho inThe Zahir: a Novel of Obsession:

保罗·科埃略，巴西著名作家，作品：《查希尔：关于爱的痴迷》。

Love is an untamed20. untamed: 未驯服的，难以控制的。force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.

*James Baldwin inThe Price of the Ticket: Collected Non-f i ction, 1948—1985:

詹姆斯·鲍德温，美国黑人作家，作品：《票价：1948—1985年纪实文学作品集》。

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

*Haruki Murakami inKafka on the Shore:

村上春树，日本现代小说家，作品：《海边的卡夫卡》。

Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who’s in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It’s like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven’t seen in a long time.

*Antoine de Saint-Exupéry inAirman’s Odyssey: Night Flight / Wind Sand & Stars / Flight to Arras:安东尼·德·圣-埃克苏佩里，法国飞行员、作家，作品：《空军的奥德赛：夜航/风沙星辰/飞向阿拉斯》。

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.21. 爱情不是相互凝视对方，而是一起往同个方向眺望。gaze at: 凝视，端详。

*Honoré de Balzac, who knew a thing or two about all-consuming22. all-consuming: 耗尽心思的，耗费所有精力的。love,inPhysiologie Du Mariage:

奥诺雷·德·巴尔扎克，法国批判现实主义作家，作品：《婚姻生理学》。

The more one judges, the less one loves.

*Louis de Bernières inCorelli’s Mandolin:

路易·德·伯尼埃尔，英国作家，作品：《柯莱利上尉的曼陀林》，又译《战地情人》。

Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.23. 爱是短暂的发疯，像火山一样爆发，然后渐渐平息。erupt: 爆发，喷发；volcano:火山；subside: 减弱，平息。And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.24. 你必须弄清彼此是否已经根缠枝绕，分开根本就是不可想象的事情。entwine: 缠绕，相互交织；inconceivable: 不可思议的。Because this is what love is.Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second

minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body.25. 爱不是无法呼吸，不是激动亢奋，不是许诺永远保持激情，不是每分每秒都想腻在一起，不是晚上躺在床上想象着他亲吻你身上的每一寸肌肤。promulgation:颁布，发布；eternal: 永恒的，永远的；cranny: 裂缝，缝隙。No, don’t blush26. blush: 脸红，羞愧。, I am telling you some truths.That is just being “in love”, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.27. 爱本身是激情消退之后剩下的东西，那是艺术，也是幸运的意外。

E. M. 福斯特

*E. M. Forster inA Room with a View:

E. M. 福斯特，英国著名作家，作品：《看得见风景的房间》。

You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you.28. 你可以改变爱，忽视爱，搅乱爱，但你无法把它从你身上赶走。transmute: 使变形，使变质；muddle: 使糊涂，使混乱。I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.

*English novelist Iris Murdoch, cited by the great Milton Glaser inHow to Think like a Great Graphic Designer:

米尔顿·格拉瑟，美国著名平面设计师，作品：《如何像一个卓越的平面设计师一样思考》。该句引自英国小说家艾丽丝·默多克。

Love is the very dif ficult understanding that something other than yourself is real.

*But perhaps the truest, if humblest, of them all comes from Agatha Christie, who echoes Anas Nin above in her autobiography:29. 但也许最准确而谦逊的评论是源自阿加莎·克里斯蒂，她在其自传中附和了阿娜伊斯·宁的观点。

阿加莎·克里斯蒂，英国侦探小说作家。

It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.30. 爱是个奇怪的念头，但正是当你看着他可笑的样子时，你才意识到自己有多爱他。