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That's just what the last survey of Quebeckers would lead you to believe, because 41% of respondents believe that it is possible to be completely happy without the love of a woman (or man). Only 25%, however, feel that happiness is possible without a network of friends providing support.

Love doesn't appear to hold much more importance than sex in achieving complete happiness, since these two factors share 10th place. It could also be that people tie them closely together. It really doesn't matter much because people think that many other factors are more important to attaining happiness than love and sex.

Despite the "demotion" of love and its relative importance (from 5th to 10th place), the media constantly encourage to pursue this emotion and convey the message that the quest for love is the only thing that really matters.

Is it love's intensity that makes it so attractive? Or perhaps love's somewhat illusory aspects and inaccessibility? Do the years bleach the vibrancy out of love? That's an attractive hypothesis because, the older we get, the less love appears to be an essential component of complete happiness. It's almost like love's force dwindles, giving way to a particular kind of closeness. Love might be a concept that resonates loudest in young people who, as a group, tend to be naive and inexperienced. After all, the years teach us what the days do not know.