What is the Opposite of Love?

[Marcie]

I've got a question for all of you.
What would you say that the opposite of Love is?
Is it Hate? Apathy? Or something else entirely?
I know what I think, but what about you?

I know I could make a poll, but I don't want a simple "I think it's Hate" answer. I want a real, thought out answer. An answer with a real argument behind it. Of even simply a couple sentences describing why you believe your answer to be true.

One last request, please don't fight or argue about it, this is merely a place to state your opinions on the matter. If you want to talk to try and refute someone's answer just PM them. :)

Thanks guys!
~Benjmain

[Mortal Coil]

I believe that the opposite of love is apathy/indifference. Hate is merely an extension of love in that you still have strong feelings for the person and care, in a way, what happens to them, how often they're around you, and whether or not they make contact with you. Both love and hate are born or emotional investment.
Indifference, on the other hand, is not caring whether someone lives or dies. Not caring where they are or whether they talk to you. It's much more common to see people say, "I don't give a fuck about Justin Bieber" than it is to see, "I hate Justin Bieber" (though both are common!) and I believe that this is because apathy is more of an insult than hate.

On a side note, why can't people argue and refute? It would be a very interesting debate...

[sliidz]

I know this isn't true but to my experiences the opposite to love... is happiness. Every time I have been in love it leads to terrible pain, suffering, and depression. Another opposite to me would be life.... because love leads to.... :(

[PinkFloyd]

I don't think there is an opposite. Hating someone is still caring for them strongly. I belive love destroys all competition and opposites. (sorry if that sounded fruity...)

[boonsim]

Un-love? :)

Or maybe Freedom?

[Stryker125]

The opposite of love is lust. Love is all about the other person. Lust is all about you. Love says, "what can I do for you?" Lust says "what can you do for me?"

And as for this:
I know this isn't true but to my experiences the opposite to love... is happiness. Every time I have been in love it leads to terrible pain, suffering, and depression. Another opposite to me would be life.... because love leads to.... :(


Lots of people say love hurts, but that isn't true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.

The only way to be happy is to love.

[User Deleted]

It really depends, love is a very variable term, so it's opposite must be as well. Chemically it would be a severe negative chemical reaction triggering hateful emotions. Sexually it would be revolt, disgust, "eew, boner killer" essentially. In terms of how you treat someone the opposite would be treating them with zero tolerance and zero forgiveness, you would begrudge them for everything and begrudge even the smallest mistakes. Like I said love is a very versatile word so there is no black and white opposite.