Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Love as a Virtue

Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.

- G. K. Chesterton

3 comments:

Stacy said...

It's always confusing when someone uses the word they're defining to define itself. What is unlovable? Must we love unlovable people? What makes them unlovable? How is this characteristic of a person or thing determined?

Jeff said...

I never noticed that before. Good point. The only way I can make sense of it with that in mind is to look at it not as the definition of love itself, but a characteristic love must have in order to be considered a virtue. Maybe unlovable can be defined as things we hate. If people exhibit hateful qualities it seems the natural response to be hateful right back. I guess the virtuous thing to do would be to love them instead.

Stacy said...

I can't think of anything unlovable. Not one example. Not a person, not a thing...