Love's Vocabulary By Diane Ackerman

Ask someone what love is and several things will come to their mind.The truth is, love is the white light of emotion. It includes many feelings such as pain, anger,and happiness.There is no right or wrong meaning of love. As Diane Ackerman stated in Love’s Vocabulary, “Love is the great intangible.” This means that love is a broad emotion and therefore has multiple aspects. One of these aspects is passion. Passion is an aspect of love because it is unassailable, uncontrollable, and a positive force.

First off, one aspect of love is passion because it is unassailable. In Love’s Vocabulary, the author says that “Love, like truth, is the unassailable defense”. This means love is invincible and can conquer all. It is known all around the world

as a motive for crime and even murder is forgiven in some countries if it was a “crime of passion.” Passion is a strong emotion, and like love, it can drive people to do crazy things. It has calmed monsters, glorified the humble, driven strong women mad, and seemingly done the impossible. Simply put, love cannot be defeated.
Additionally, passion is an aspect of love because it is uncontrollable. As Diane Ackerman notes, “Common as childbirth, love seems rare nonetheless, always catches one by surprise, and cannot be taught.” Love and passion are both natural emotions, feelings that are unable to be suppressed. Passion does not always have to do with romance. It can something as simple as someone’s love for the game of football or something as deep as a mother’s unconditional adoration for her children. Regardless, passion is an uncontrollable feeling.
Lastly, an aspect of love is passion because it is a positive force. When a friend confesses that they are in love, we congratulate them. Why? Because it is something universally recognized as great feeling. The author states,” Love is a desire older than civilization.” Everyone wants to experience love because although it can bring heartbreak, it can also bring pure happiness. Passion is an aspect of love because it is a force that drives joy into the lives impacted by it.
To conclude, one cannot answer a question that asks what is love, but they can answer a question that asks what does love mean to them. Love is abstract so it has several meanings.In Diane Ackerman’s essay Love’s Vocabulary, she makes it clear that one of these meanings is passion. The reasons behind this are that passion, like love is unassailable, uncontrollable, and a positive force.