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Love is such a huge, amorphous term that I can't imagine defining it as a single thing. I'm surprised nobody's brought up the Greek concepts of eros, philia, agape, and storge. I'm not the right person to expound on them, but I'll take an initial stab and let others elaborate:
I don't remember the exact translations/definitions, but I think they were something like this:
eros: romantic/erotic love
philia: friendly love
agape: "universal" love
storge: familial love
I kind of remember that agape sort of encompasses all the rest - all you classics scholars correct me if I'm wrong - that it is the unconditional love for all of mankind/creation that is at the heart of every being, but that in humans is shielded/forgotten and must be rediscovered. I don't know if it can be translated as "compassion" or something like that. I've heard it described as "Christ-like" love.
I really do believe that there are only two fundamental emotional states, each with nuances of course, but at base they are the foundation for everything: love and fear. One can't be where the other is. I suppose one could rationalize and say that really, all there is is love, it just takes different manifestations. I find it hard to believe, though, that things like murder or rape or abuse could in any way be derived from love.
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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
- Anatole France
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