Quod tres sint amores, ex affectu, ex ratione, ex utroque

Three Loves: Affection, Reason, and Their Union

Bernard distinguishes three kinds of love — born of affection, born of reason, and born of both united with the will — and shows how only the third, which loves what is worthy rather than merely what is sweet, is truly perfect.

So there is a love that comes from affection, when the mind has given itself over to affection; and a love that comes from reason, when the will has joined itself to reason. And a third love can be made from these two, when these three — reason, affection, and will — have come together into one. The first is sweet, but dangerous; the second is harsh, but fruitful; the third is perfect by its own prerogative. The first entices the sense, which lacks sweetness; the second compels through clear reason; in the third, there is taste. Now this last love differs from the first, because although through that first love what ought to be loved is sometimes loved, it is loved more for the sweetness of the affection itself. But this third love is loved not because it is sweet, but because it is worthy of love — and that is why it is sweet.