When people ask "what is love?" often the question they are really asking is, how do you know you are in love. If you have become romantically involved with someone and have begun to form a relationship, you may ask this question. This is also an important question to ask before you get married. Often, lust can be confused with love, or infatuation can be confused with love... but these emotions are fleeting. Love is a lasting and stronger emotion.
Knowing that you are in love is different for every person. Some describe it as feeling the happiest when they are with the other person, or missing them a great deal when you are apart. Others describe it as a strong desire to care for the person, such that you would put that other person's needs first, even above your own. For example, many parents report that they would willingly give their lives for their children. This is the deepest sort of love, because they would truly trade their own selves for their child's happiness due to the strong feelings of affection and attachment they have for their child.
