Love and lust, poles apart

Darian Leader, a psychoanalyst, writes in The Times newspaper of the differences between love and lust.

Some key points:

• Sexual desire can overturn the most basic rules of respect and etiquette
• Lust is dangerous. It is a corrosive force, blind in its insistence and destructive in its power. It breaks up relationships and enslaves us to the most unsuitable partners. But can we ever live without it?
• Lust is moulded by specific forces. A detail like a certain hair colour, a look, an odour, a garment may all precipitate desire. They open the floodgates even if we remain unaware of them at a conscious level.
• Lust allows comparisons between people, love does not.
• Lust aims at possession; love involves the realisation that it is not possible to possess another person totally.

In my opinion, love and lust are always separate in their true nature.

Read the full article: A-Z of relationships: L is for lust