Such a beautiful thing, separated into 4 general parts: agape, philia, eros, and storge.
Storge: the first love we come into contact with
It is the love of a parent to a child; a love from one sibling to another. It can also be a love from a familiar one to another. It's the love of familiarity. The love that transcends all faults, simply it is the love for someone because he/she has always been with you. The closest word that describes it is affection. It is natural and defused; natural because it's not coerced, and neither does it favor lovable features.
Eros: the love between couples (roy and zhao ye!)
Romantic love, sexual love, intimate love, hit by cupid's arrow; these explain eros. No elaboration needed.
Agape: all Christians should know this. If they don't they ought to be shot. The love given by God, the unconditional and altruistic love given by one to another. Also known as caritas. As they say, Deus est Caritas.
Philia: one of the more beautiful loves, the love for a friend. To love the relationship. Thus, it's solid, firm, unbreakable. End point? Complete and total understanding of one another, complete and total acceptance of one another, and many more "complete and total".
Love between one person and another will almost never be placed under only one category. For one, a couple's love will be a mix of eros, philia and storge. Couples married for 50 years and still really love each other have a mix of all 4. Friends: a mix of storge and philia. A love towards a sibling can be both philia and storge.
Love is such an easy thing to experience, such an easy thing to speak of, and such an easy thing to know of. Yet, it's so hard to understand, appreciate, and to give. If the world understood love, how much better will it be?
