> Introspection is good. But what introspective observation led you to conclude that love = "a second-rate life" and "pathetic"? If you arrived at this conclusion by "paying attention to your own feelings", this should logically be applicable to yourself, and the specific circumstance.

My confidence about love's failures comes from not only my own feelings, but also observing others.

> You in another decade may feel differently, and any other person will of course have different value judgements and desires.

I'm yet to come across someone who have demonstrated that love works ... and by "work" I mean it being an one-hundred percent fun way to go about life.