Voltaire – what love is, and is not

Voltaire writes:

Alas...I too have known love, that ruler of hearts, that soul of our soul: it's never brought me anything except one kiss and twenty kicks in the rump. How could such a beautiful cause produce such an abominable effect on you?”

Love is a powerful force but is it always for good or can love be for bad?  Love can used for good, to build-up, or to tear down; it can be a beautiful thing, the outcome of trust, or it can debased, undermining trust through treachery and turmoil. 

What you must see if not already known is that mankind adulterates love; yes, man uses, misuses and abuses love unlike our creator who made love as pure, a thing of value and worth. 

Ask a young person about love and they will generally see it in the best light and maybe, for some, viewed as a thing of priceless value, worth. Voltaire adds (as somewhat contradictory to his personal experience),

It is love; love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings, love, tender love.  

Perhaps that is what makes the difference regarding love; it much be tender, gentle, caring and compassionate.  

If/as love does not show the traits of tenderness, can it really be love?

In an exchange of some relevance, the following:

“What a pessimist you are!" exclaimed Candide.

"That is because I know what life is," said Martin.”

It is knowing, embracing life courageously, that enables us to experience love of different sorts; the kind that is not tender and is not good—without much of any meaning as to love, tender love. 

Sadly, love is a force for bad; used and abused while cleverly disguised, this mal-form of love not only gives love a bad name but it degrades humanity to that beneath any and all other species.