I choose to be Captain America.....that dude is awesome and you get to carry a bad azz shield around.

well we can respect without love too...thats where our humanity comes in and what manners we have been taught while we were young takes place. i will appreciate respect anytime above love because it is always a good sign that a person can love in the right and best possible way.

you are centpercent correct

Pbbbbfffffttttt. Unacceptable choice as well as a silly and ultimately pointless question. I'd never accept one without the other and it's never a choice anyone has to face.

There is no such thing as a black or white choice.


Shades Of Gray

how many shades oh great swami?

Multiply the wrinkles on your azz by pi.

so True my dear!!

women abusers love but don't show respect! so one can love but have no respect. for some people it is mutually exclusive.

love is life and happy life can be made through respect.

Unfortunately love is not a controllable emotion, there CAN be love without respect.. Because not so great people can still love and still hurt and disrespect you.

In my humble opinion and through careful observation I'd say:

There's love without respect

But

There's not respect without love (or kinship at least)

I'd imagine the love soon flickers out though.

for me I would want respect, from the romantic relationship that is. Every piece has its place.

Excellent responses...thank you all !!
I'm a knife maker so I got to get this in here somewhere.
A knife blade is comprised of two aspects: STRENGTH and TOUGHNESS. If a blade is designed for strength (hardness)it holds an edge very well but is brittle, breaks easily and can't take much abuse in hard use situations.
If a blade is designed for toughness, it excels under hard use but the edge easily deteriorates because it lacks the high hardness it needs to maintain a rigid cutting edge.

A love relationship is the same way. Love is the Strength, and respect is the Toughness. Love is the strength to endure and maintain integrity in a relationship just as hardness will maintain a sharp cutting edge on a blade... and respect holds the relationship together through the storms of life just as toughness will keep a blade together under hard use.
So can you have one without the other...Yes, I suppose it's possible, but one without the other will seriously weaken any relationship to the point of failure as it is with a knife blade.
It is interesting that a man by himself can be very strong but can also be easily broken by a hard situation. But give that man a good woman and the respect she has for her man will give him the toughness to endure most anything. In other words, her toughness (respect) supports his strength (and visa versa) and there is almost nothing they can't do together. The two together become virtually unstoppable in anything they set out to do and that's the beauty of a relationship that is based on a solid biblical foundation.

without love there is not respect

I'd say that I'd have to have both. You can respect someone w/o loving them and you love someone and not respect them ( I'm sure many people can attest to that - ie. someone in a bad relationship or marriage)

For me, if a man doesn't respect me I find it hard to love them. You can have both at the same time
so why settle for less!

The two can be independant, but in a romantic relationship they must co-exist; neither can hold it together alone.

it doesn't take very long either...

In grade 10 English we had a nationwide test, in which we were required to answer the question as posted. Almost every one in this thread would have failed.

Loved.

You can respect someone you don't love, but can you love someone you don't respect?