Whether it is a mother’s nurturing love （慈爱）for her child, a son’s loyal love for his father, the love between husband and wife, or the love between friends, love is a universal （广泛存在的）emotion that expresses itself in every culture. To love is to be human（人性的）. To need love is also to be human. Children, for example, need loving care in order to be emotionally healthy.

Love is a deep feeling of fondness（喜爱）, affection（情感） and friendship that grows between two people. Romantic love usually begins as passion（激情） and evolves with time to a more lasting sense of attachment（依恋）. Many of the famous romantic love stories in various cultures end in the tragedies（悲剧） of death or betrayal（背叛）. The loss of love is a favorite musical theme（主题） and the subject of countless stories, operas, songs, and ballads（民谣）.

The verb “like” is not as strong as the verb “love” and generally does not imply（隐含）deep emotions. “Like” means to find pleasure or satisfaction in something or someone: I like eating at the restaurant; My son likes his teacher. In English, the word “love” is often used informally instead of “like” in an intensified（增强的）sense: He loves music; Children love ice-cream; She loves her new job. However, “love” and “like” are not totally interchangeable.（可互换的） It is often the context that indicates the strength of the word “love”. The verb “love” should not be used in the first person, when speaking to another person, except in romantic situations (I love you). When in doubt as to which verb to use, it is better to use “like” with an adverb: I like your dress a lot; I really like my professor; His boss liked his proposal immensely.

Love in many different languages and cultures

The Chinese philosopher Mozi developed ai in reaction to Confucian(孔子) lian(恋). "Ai" is universal love towards all beings, not just towards friends or family, without regard to reciprocation(回报). Although Mozi was influential, the Confucian lian is how most modern Chinese conceive of love.

Gănqíng(感情), the feeling of a relationship. A person will express love by building good gănqíng, accomplished through helping or working for another. It also means “emotional attachment toward another person”.

In Confucianism, lian is a virtuous（有德行的） benevolent（仁慈的） love. Lian should be pursued by all human beings, and reflects a moral life.

Yuanfen (缘份), a connection of bound destinies. A meaningful relationship is dependent on there being strong yuanfen.

The Latin language has several different verbs corresponding to the English word 'love'.

Amare(爱慕) is the basic word for 'to love', as it still is in Italian today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense, as well as in a Romantic or sexual sense. The corresponding noun is 'amor', which is also used in the plural form to indicate 'love affairs' or 'sexual adventures'. This same root also produces 'amicus'(friend) and 'amicitia'(friendship). Cicero(Marcus Tullius Cicero——西赛罗，古罗马政治家、雄辩家、作家) wrote 'On Friendship' (de Amicitia) which discusses friendship at some length.

中国古代的墨子所说的“爱”是指对所有人、物、事的广义上的不求回报、朴实无华的爱，而孔子所说的“恋”指仁善的德爱，也是现在大部分中国人概念中的爱。中文中的“感情”是指人与人之间的依恋感，要恋爱必须要先建立感情；而“缘分”指注定的命运，有缘是情感关系的基础。

拉丁语中与love对应的词是amare。意大利语至今还使用这个词。罗马人用此词表示精神上和肉体上的爱。相应的名词amor可以用来指爱情和桃色事件；另外一个派生名词amicus可以用来指朋友。拉丁语中amare涵盖很广，也可以用来指英语中的like。

（推荐: http://www.links2love.com/i_love_you_languages.htm如何用一百种语言说“我爱你”）