I came across this today on a psychology site, and it stuck with me.
When a person says, "I love you, but I'm not in love with you," they are saying that I *care* about you but I'm not *excited* about you. Care is reflective of concern, but it's different than love. Being excited about someone is a good thing, but it's also different than love (I could be excited to have a friendship with a celebrity, but I don't love them.) When someone says "I love you, but I'm not in love with you," they seem to be making a distinction between 'different loves' in fact, they are expressing their confusion about what love really is.
Just wanted to share so others may gain a little comfort/understanding about the phrase so many of us have heard.
M-31, H-31 T-9, M-7 S-6, s-20mth sep 8/1/11 ILYNILWY 11/29/11 Creating separation papers. Discover H has feelings for BFF, she does too 1/11/12 H moves out 1.20.12