Capturing rapture

Pierre examines his check list. He has ordered flowers to be sent to his girlfriend. He has booked a table for dinner at her favourite restaurant. He has bought her a beautiful scarf and some delicious chocolates. He finishes writing out a card: "with all my love..." But then he stops and wonders: what exactly does he mean by love?

Part of the problem is that love takes so many forms. Valentine's Day, of course, is a celebration of romantic love. But there is also the love you feel for your family, your friends, your pets, your home town, your favourite singer or football team - even your school.

Because not everyone is lucky enough to have someone to celebrate Valentine's Day with, alternatives have been invented. One is Galentine's Day, which is a celebration of female friendship. It became popular after a 2010 episode of the TV sitcom Parks and Recreation focused on it.¹

Since love has existed as long as humankind, there is no shortage of definitions of it. Here are 10 of them:

Can love be defined?

Yes: All you have to do is find a copy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, which describes it as follows: "An intense feeling of deep affection or fondness for a person or thing; great liking."

No: You might as well try to catch the wind. It is one of those things that we recognise when we come across it, but can never properly describe to somebody else. If we could, it would be less precious.

Or... There is no need to define it, because everyone knows what it is. But we owe a great deal of wonderful writing to the fact that poets, philosophers and religious leaders keep on trying.