This paper examines love. The Ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles, wrote, "One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life. That word is love." Surely, Sophocles is not alone in his optimistic belief that love, in its purest form, is capable of healing all the world's ills. Others, however, might argue that love itself is responsible for those same ills, and that were it not for love, there would be no reason for hate. Indeed, for every poem, story, or play in which love saves the day, there is a counter perspective in which love manifests itself only as heartache, lament and despair. What is love and is it worth it?