TWO KINDS OF LOVE

There are two kinds of love, divine and human.  And of human love, there is that which  is licit and that which is illicit. 

That is a licit human love by which a wife is held dear; illicit, by which a whore or someone else's wife is held dear. 

Have, then, a love that is licit.  It is human; but, as I said, it is licit.  It is licit, indeed, not only in such a way that it is permitted, but it is licit in such a way that, were it lacking, its absence would be reprehensible. 

It is licit for you with a human love, to love your spouses, to love your children, to love your friends, to love your fellow citizens. 

For all those names have the bond of necessity, and the glue, as it were, of love.  But you see that even the impious that are pagans, the Jews and the heretics are capable of that love.

Augustine 

( 08-30-10)