Then, said Socrates, he desires that what he has at present may be
preserved to him in the future, which is equivalent to saying that he
desires something which is non-existent to him, and which as yet he has not
got:

Very true, he said.

Then he and every one who desires, desires that which he has not already,
and which is future and not present, and which he has not, and is not, and
of which he is in want;--these are the sort of things which love and desire
seek?

Very true, he said.

Then now, said Socrates, let us recapitulate the argument. First, is not
love of something, and of something too which is wanting to a man?

Yes, he replied.

Remember further what you said in your speech, or if you do not remember I
will remind you: you said that the love of the beautiful set in order the
empire of the gods, for that of deformed things there is no love--did you
not say something of that kind?

Yes, said Agathon.

Yes, my friend, and the remark was a just one. And if this is true, Love
is the love of beauty and not of deformity?

He assented.