The Difference Between 'Love Of' and 'Love For'

For when the vibe is amorous, curious, and indulgent.

Love as a noun is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection or a great interest and pleasure in something. As a noun, love can be the subject of a sentence; love is lifts us up where we belong. It can also be, more interestingly, the object of a sentence; you’ve got the love I need. Love is more interesting when it’s possessed by someone. I think the possession makes love more recognizable, more relatable. Who among us has not felt or coveted love’s various refractions? From familial love to romantic love to the love of a pet or a friend, to the obsessive love born of unrequited feelings to the love of your craft or vocation which we call “passion.” Love assumes these faces only after we claim possession of it. Though we can refine and characterize our love in what is probably an infinite number of ways, there is a beautiful nuance to be found in two discrete prepositional phrases – ‘love of’ or ‘love for.’

In Arabic, the preposition ‘of’ is the exclusive means of showing ownership or belonging – work of the house, son of Travis, and so on. So, the love of a good man belongs to the good man. It is his to bestow. You may have it or know it or receive it, but the love of a good man belongs to the good man.

To have love for someone means that you are bestowing love upon them. You are the subject of the love, the love is your object, and the good man is the object of the love. The good man is receiving the love. To think of it another way, the prepositional phrase “for a good man” completes the action of having love. To have love means very little if it is not ‘for’ something, if it is not toward a purpose. You can have love for a good man, but not have the love of a good man.

How lucky a person is to have both.