ומה טוב מאמר אריסטוטלוס האהוב אחד הוא והאוהבים ג' מינים אוהב תועלת אוהב מנוחה ואוהב מעלה אמנם אוהב תועלת כאהבת שני השותפים ואהבת המלך ומחנהו ואמנם אוהב מנוחה הוא ב' מינים אוהב הנאה ואוהב בטחון אמנם אוהב הנאה כאהבת הזכרים לנקבות וכיוצא בהם. ואמנם אוהב בטחון הוא שיהיה לאדם אוהב תבטח נפשו בו לא ישמר ממנו לא במעשה ולא בדבור ויודיעהו כל עניניו הטוב מהם והמגונה מבלתי שירא ממנו שישיגהו בכל זה חסרון לא אצלו ולא זולתו כי כשיגיע לאדם בטחון באיש זה השעור ימצא מנוחה גדולה בדבריו ובאהבתו הרבה. ואוהב מעלה הוא שיהיה תאות שניהם וכונתם לדבר אחד והוא הטוב וירצה כל אחד להעזר בחבירו בהגיע הטוב ההוא לשניהם יחד וזה האוהב אשר צוה לקנותו והוא כאהבת הרב לתלמיד והתלמיד לרב:
2 Answers
And how good is the statement of Aristotle: The beloved is one, but there are three types of friends: a friend for benefit, a friend for enjoyment and a friend for virtue. As for the friend for benefit, this is like the friendship of two [business] partners and the friendship of a king and his retinue. As for the friend for enjoyment, this is of two types - the friend for pleasure and the friend for confidence. Indeed, the friend for pleasure is like the friendship of males and females and similar to it; whereas the friend for confidence is when a man has a friend to whom he can confide his soul. He will not keep [anything] from him - not in action and not in speech. And he will make him know all of his affairs - the good ones and the disgraceful - without fearing from him that any loss will come to him with all of this, not from him and not from another. As when a person has such a level of confidence in a man, he finds great enjoyment in his words and in his great friendship. And a friend for virtue is when the desire of both of them and their intention is for one thing, and that is the good. And each one wants to be helped by his friend in reaching this good for both of them together. And this is the friend which he commanded to acquire; and it is like the love of the master for the student and of the student for the master.
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B"H.
Aristotle said something wise. There is one kind of true love, and there are three kinds of people who love:
Love of Usefulness: This is like the love between two business partners or between a king and his army. They love each other because they are useful to each other.
Love of Comfort: This has two parts:
Love of Pleasure: This is like the love boys and girls have for each other because they enjoy being together.
Love of Security: This is when someone loves another person because they feel safe with them. They trust them completely, share all their secrets, and are not afraid that the person will harm them in any way. This kind of trust brings great comfort and peace.
Love of Virtue: This kind of love is when both people have the same goal, which is something good. Each person wants to help the other achieve this good thing. This is the kind of love Aristotle says we should aim for, like the love between a teacher and a student, where both want to learn and grow together.
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I think when he says וזה האוהב אשר צוה לקנותו he's talking about Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachya, not Aristotle– b aCommented Jul 18 at 19:43