I mean would you rather say ‘I like my parents’ or say ‘I love them?’ Let’s put it simply, like comes before love. For instance you may like many things about a person before you realize you have fallen in love with them. Still not sure? Let’s take a look at some points to elaborate on the difference between love and like; and this is particularly with regards to people or a person.
Conditional vs Unconditional
How many times have you heard someone say that love is unconditional? Well, it’s probably the biggest difference between love and like. When you like someone, it’s a result of a condition or a reason. If someone talks nicely, or dresses well, or is fun to be with then you like them for these qualities. But when it comes to love, there are no conditions attached. It’s not a particular thing about them but them as a complete person. There are absolutely no conditions attached with love.
Conscious vs Subconscious
When you like someone, it is because of a conscious decision you make, whereas you fall in love from the subconscious realm of your mind and of course heart! You choose and find things you like and make a choice to like them. But love finds you and you may not even realize that subconsciously you have found love for that person.
Specific vs Wholesome
To like a person is to like specific things about them. It could be the behaviour, a characteristic or a quality that makes you like them. On the other hand, love is wholesome, it’s not a particular thing, when it comes to the difference between love and like, but its more of a love for the complete person (which includes everything about them).
Emotions vs Feelings
While these two words may seem the same, when talking about ‘love’ and ‘like’ these are very different. Liking a person involves having feelings; they make you happy and you like being around them. Love, on the other hand, evokes emotions. When you love someone, all your emotions are heightened, you experience new emotions of attachment and bliss that you have probably never felt before. You simply cannot describe it as a mere feeling; the difference between love and like is fairly obvious, when you look at it close up.
Part Of Life vs Impact On Life
People you like may make life more enhanced and better for you but don’t necessarily have an impact on you and your life. Loving someone means making them an integral part of your life; everything you do and think about involves them and they have a significant impact on every aspect of your life.
Want vs Need
Wanting to be with someone could be because you like being around them, but when you love someone you need to be with them as that’s how you see life. Again, another main difference between love and like is it’s not a choice about what you want but about what you really and truly need.
Present vs Future
Love is permanent and therefore makes you think of a future with that person. You dream new dreams and imagine life in the coming years with the person you love. Liking someone, on the other hand, is comparatively temporary and you therefore live in the present. You are happy in the now and don’t really look beyond at what lies ahead.
Me vs We
Now this difference between love and like is one’s my favourites. When you are in love, all your ‘me’ instantly turns to ‘we.’ You imagine life and things as one, as having a partner, and you put their needs ahead of your own. The like part, on the other hand, is more about ‘me.’ It’s how you feel, what you want and your feelings. There is a sense of detachment in that sense.
It may sound like a philosophy or a theory but when it happens to you, every word and every difference will make absolute sense. I mean you can’t just marry somebody because you ‘like’ them! And, I’m not saying you can only love one person or fall in love just once, I’m just saying don’t mistake like for love. Love is such a pure emotion that one can’t really describe or define it.
When you are in love and if someone asks you what makes you love your partner, you may be able to give infinite answers. But if you really think, all the answers are mostly things we IKE about our partner. That’s what happens to me at least! I can’t define or state why I love my partner even though I know I like everything about him.
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