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m'kay, another try...

There's the same kind of difference between the two as in English when applied in affirmative to people:

Я люблю маму/сестру/жену/любовницу - I love my mom/sister/wife/mistress
Мне нравится твоя мама/Опра - I like your mom/Oprah

In negative (especially impersonal) любить may mean that the person is unwelcome, not well-liked:

Его здесь не любят - he's unwelcome/not very well received here

When applied to actions, they're either identical or любить is just stronger. I think it's more or less the same as in English here:

Я люблю/мне нравится плавать - I love to swim/like swimming

When applied to things there's a general vs particular difference...

Я люблю машины/замки - I love/like cars/castles in general
Я люблю суп - I like soup in general

Мне нравятся машины/замки - I like these cars/castles / Cars/castles appeal visually to me
Мне нравится суп - I like this soup/I'm enjoying this soup now

In negative the difference (general vs particular) holds.

When said of animals and plants, любить often has the meaning of needing or even requiring:

Картофель любит песчаный грунт — potatoes require (thrive in) sandy ground
Фиалки любят тень — violets like shade

When expressed in negative (не любить) it may mean that those things (e.g. shade) are actually harmful or deadly for the animal/plant.

Нравиться can also be used with animals and plants, but unlike любить it would express preference, rather than necessity.

Let others correct me or add further explanations and examples.

From:

adenalinka.livejournal.com

Любить = to be in love with
Нравиться = to be loved, to be liked

Любить is much stronger than Нравиться

From:

gailochka.livejournal.com

+1 best explanation

Sometimes in the films when people say "I love it!" - it's translated as "Я люблю это" - but it's wrong - better would be to say "мне очень нравится", "я в восторге".

But when you say "I like strawberries" in Russian we say "Я люблю клубнику" (in general, always) - well, this part

archaicos has already explained.

From:

al-r.livejournal.com

thank you!
that sounds convincing and logic.

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johnnyever.livejournal.com

Is "Мне нравится суп" more like "I like this *kind* of soup" or "I like this very bowl soup right in front of me?" Or would the second need the additional stress of "Мне нравится это суп"?

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Yep, it could be я обожаю, я без ума от, etc etc, stronger and more emotional.

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First of all, "this kind of soup" would be "такой суп" or something similarly more verbal (e.g. суп такого рода/типа) or you could use the soup family name (щи, борщ, мисо, etc) or you could specify it otherwise (суп с гренками/мясом - soup with croutons/meat).

With нравиться it would be the soup in front of you. I wonder if I should have written the English translation using the present continuous/progressive of like, e.g. I'm liking this/the soup. AFAIK, we don't really use like like, right?

Also, in Russian, as you know, we don't have articles. So, суп w/o any further elaboration is either a particular soup (the one you in your bowl) or any soup, soup in general.

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missed a word: we don't really use like like THIS

From:

al-r.livejournal.com

I like your answer =))

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"Любить" ~ to love, to like.
"Нравиться" ~ to be pleased of.

"Мне/тебе/ему нравится что-то." literally means: Something pleases me/you/him.

---
Stuff:

1a) Мне нравятся цветы. = I like flowers in general.
1b) Мне нравится цветок./Мне нравится этот цветок. = I like the flower./I like this flower.
1c) Я люблю цветы. = I like flowers in general.
1d) ~~Я люблю цветок.~~ sounds strange. You can "любить" a person, your car, your house, nature, stars in the sky, to paint, to ski..., but you can't have any strong feelings of such a banal thing as a flower.

2a) Мне нравятся машины. = I like cars in general.
2b) Мне нравится машина./Мне нравится твоя машина. = I like the car./I like your car.
2c) Я люблю машины. = I like cars in general.
2d) Я люблю свою машину. = I like (or love? don't know) my car.

To me 1a=1c and 2a=2c. I feel no difference at all.

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Food:

Such words as "суп" or "сок" mean not only a plate of soup and a cup of juice, but also a kind of soup/juice, or soup/juice in general.

3a) Мне нравятся соки. = I like juice in general.
3b) Мне нравится сок. = I like this juice or I like this kind of juice or I like juice in general.
3c) Я люблю соки. = I like juice in general.
3d) Я люблю сок. = I like juice in general.

If you use plural form, one might think you like all kinds of soups or juices, but personally I see no difference between 3a, 3c, and 3d.

If there is a plate of soup in front of you, you have to be more specific:

Мне нравится этот суп. ~ I like the soup you gave me.
Вообще, мне нравится суп, но этот как-то подозрительно пахнет. = Actually I like soup but this one smells a bit suspiciously.
Мне не нравится этот сок, я люблю только апельсиновый. = I don't like this juice, I like orange juice only.

---
Actions, hobbies:

4a) Мне нравится кататься на лыжах.
4b) Я люблю кататься на лыжах.
~ I like/love to ski.

5a) Мне нравится убивать старушек топором.
5b) Я люблю убивать старушек топором.
~ I like/love to kill old ladies with axe.

6a) Мне нравится астрономия.
6b) Я люблю астрономию.
~ I like/love astronomy.

I'm not sure of english translations, but in this case "любить" expresses more passion than "нравиться."

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Persons:

7a) Мне нравится моя мама. = I like my mum as a person. Maybe she's kind, intelligent, beautiful etc.
7b) Я люблю свою маму. = I love my mum. Just because she's my mum.

8a) Ты мне нравишься. = I like you as a person.
8b) Я тебя люблю. = I love you.

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2b) Мне нравится машина.
You may omit a specification here if you absolutely sure everybody knows which one you talk about. However it´s still safer to specify. "Мне нравится эта машина, я хочу её купить." = I like this car, I want to buy it.

2d) Я люблю свою машину. = I like (or love? don't know) my car.
You should always specify which one you like/love.

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3b) Мне нравится сок. = I like this juice ~~or I like this kind of juice~~ or I like juice in general.
I can't imagine a situation when it would mean a kind of juice. You have to say it explicitly: "Мне нравится томатный сок." = I like tomato juice.

From:

wordchick.livejournal.com

"AFAIK, we don't really use like like this, right?"

Do you mean that 'like' is generally not used in the present continuous? You are correct. However, like and love are occasionally used that way in vernacular speech, e.g. McDonalds' slogan "I'm lovin' it." It does sound a little awkward though.

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Yep. I have even used that same "loving" example in

ru_learnenglish.

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Sentences with "нравиться" might be ever shorter and more general:

- Ну как? Нравится? ~ What do you think about it or how do you feel yourself? Does it please you?/Do you like it?
- Нравится! ~ Yes, it pleases me!./I like it!

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to love - любить and to be liked by smbd - нравиться кому-то.

From:

and there is a difference between HравитЬся и Нравится

НравитЬся - to be liked by (question of a verb is Что делатЬ?)
Hравится - I like him (it) (question of a verb is Что делает (he))

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"Нравится" is just a third-person singular of "нравиться", like "to please" <> "pleases".

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mmm, actually not always, because some verb forms such as "Он мне нравится" we can translate like "He is liked by me" or "I like him" and "Он любит нравитЬся" we can translate like "He enjoys to be liked by smbd" and these are all about 3d person except the "I_Like_Him".... or may be I am wrong, I have got already involved in it )))

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"Он любит нравитЬся" is third-person verb + infinitive.

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