Don't ignore him, that DOES hurt people a lot and it's not exactly the most noble or honest of things to do. Just tell him the truth, he has to respect you for that - maybe not immediately, but I'm sure he will understand.
To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love; but then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer, to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love; to be happy then is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy; therefore to be unhappy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down.