The Four Loves
by C.S. Lewis
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Read in August, 2008
This was a very sweet, thought-provoking book on the four kinds of love: affection, friendship, eros, and charity. The main premise of the book is that the first three loves cannot stand alone without running the risk of becoming demons. They must be guided by a higher principle, a higher love, in order to fulfill themselves. This higher love is charity, the only love which marks a nearness to God through approach as well as resemblance, for who can deny charity to his fellow mankind who himself...more
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Read in April, 2008
I did not learn as much from this book as I was hoping, but it was an interesting meditation on different types of love.
Poignant Quotes:
"Man, please thy Maker, and be merry,
And give not for this world a cherry."
"It is a bad thing not to be able to take a joke."
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, yo...more
Poignant Quotes:
"Man, please thy Maker, and be merry,
And give not for this world a cherry."
"It is a bad thing not to be able to take a joke."
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, yo...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Everyone
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Read in May, 2008
A short and inspiring read. C.S. Lewis is among my top five favorite authors. I've heard a lot of quotes from this book, but have never read it. The four loves Lewis discusses are Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity.
I enjoyed the section on friendship the most. I gained some startling insights into the "why's" of society. One of my favorite quotes is about prehistoric man among his peers:
"We had to plan the hunt and the battle. when they were over we had to ...more
I enjoyed the section on friendship the most. I gained some startling insights into the "why's" of society. One of my favorite quotes is about prehistoric man among his peers:
"We had to plan the hunt and the battle. when they were over we had to ...more
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Read in April, 2005
'the four loves' [1960:] sau 'cele patru iubiri', pentru norocosii care au prins cartea de la humanitas, aparuta in 1997, impreuna cu 'problema durerii' si 'despre minuni'.
cartea pleaca de la cei patru termeni care definesc dragostea, intilniti in noul testament: storge [afectiunea:], fileo [prietenia:], eros [atractia/dragostea sexuala:] si agape [caritatea sau mila, in trad. romaneasca:]. lewis merge pe ideea ca primele trei iubiri, cele 'naturale' sint complet diferite, rupte de agape, drag...more
cartea pleaca de la cei patru termeni care definesc dragostea, intilniti in noul testament: storge [afectiunea:], fileo [prietenia:], eros [atractia/dragostea sexuala:] si agape [caritatea sau mila, in trad. romaneasca:]. lewis merge pe ideea ca primele trei iubiri, cele 'naturale' sint complet diferite, rupte de agape, drag...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
those looking for love or who think they have found love, in any form.
this is probably my all time favorite book. It encompasses love in all its forms-- our Maker, who is Love, toward us and us toward our Maker, and us toward each other. My favorite chapters--Friendship (phileo) and Charity (agape).
A fav. quote: "...in Friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university over another...the accident of a topic being raised or not r...more
A fav. quote: "...in Friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university over another...the accident of a topic being raised or not r...more
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Read in April, 2008
This is an interesting book. C. L. Lewis describes his four categories of love: affection, friendship, Eros (romantic love) and charity (love of God and selfless love of others). I like his analysis of each kind of love and how affection, friendship and Eros can all have destructive sides to them. I also appreciate that he points out that the first three kinds of love need charity (need God) in order to thrive. However, while I think separating the loves for the purpose of description is us...more
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Read in February, 2008
I talk about how much I dislike Lewis and yet read two of his books in the space of a few days. Hypocritical much? If you enjoy Lewis' continual didacticism, this is the book for you. I found it hard to get through (though I persevered) due to sexist anachronisms (women, as homemakers, cannot understand a man's world or thoughts) and statements with which I vehemently disagree presented as facts (don't get me started). Admittedly, I don't read philosophy or dogma well, and this is both. How...more
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Read in January, 2007
I'm a long-time fan of C.S. Lewis' writings. In this particular volume, he explores the nature of love within four distinct parameters: Affection,Friendship,Eros and Charity. My best friend died suddenly in 2003- and the section on friendship allowed me to resolve so many issues relating to the deep grief I felt when I lost my best friend. I ascertained that this man had both the wisdom and life experience to describe the depth of love we bring to our human associations.
As usual, Lewis bri...more
As usual, Lewis bri...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Erin by:
Ty
Brilliant.
At times it hurt my head a bit, but for the most part I really enjoyed reading this book. I laughed so hard in the chapter of affection. There were a few paragraphs that really described so well how I have at times acted so ridiculous.
The last chapter was on charity and it was amazing how he tied it all in. I had never thought of charity as a non natural love before and that because it goes against our nature therefore it is extremely higher of a love when you actually m...more
At times it hurt my head a bit, but for the most part I really enjoyed reading this book. I laughed so hard in the chapter of affection. There were a few paragraphs that really described so well how I have at times acted so ridiculous.
The last chapter was on charity and it was amazing how he tied it all in. I had never thought of charity as a non natural love before and that because it goes against our nature therefore it is extremely higher of a love when you actually m...more
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recommends it for:
everyone
I loved this book - - I just remember feeling serene after reading this book. Everyone has different ways of loving and its good to figure out who you are and how you love versus how other people are and how they show love.
I'm so egocentric that I feel rejected or hurt when people dont love me the way I love. But I realzied after reading this book that there are SO MANY different ways to love and I have to step out of my box and realize that they DO love me, just in their own way.
It...more
I'm so egocentric that I feel rejected or hurt when people dont love me the way I love. But I realzied after reading this book that there are SO MANY different ways to love and I have to step out of my box and realize that they DO love me, just in their own way.
It...more
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This book was something I looked forward to reading and then I was totally bored and disgusted with it. What frustrated me the most is how he would take an opinion or outright incorrect statement such as Pagans worship trees (way way way out of context and incorrect) and then use that false statement to support his arguments. That is basic logic 101 class and made most of his arguments invalid. I wanted to like what he was saying but couldnt because he was just down right incorrect in so much...more
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Read in January, 2008
AAAAmazing insights on love - Lewis writes on four "types" of love - affection, friendship, eros and charity. He so describes these that I now can better classify my loves, my relationships. One of my favorite points was in the beginning, when he said that humans who love are near to God - not necessarily because the act of love is sanctifying, but because it reveals that we are made in His image (so when I love people, it is not something to be self-righteous about - it is a part of G...more
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Probably my favorite of Lewis' expositions - including Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, etc. I think the most important concept presented is the juxtaposition of the ideas that "God is Love," but that when "love becomes a god it becomes a demon." Lewis explains how this is true with our natural loves - Affection (Storge), Friendship (Philia), Eros, and claims that all of these will eventually die or become demonic without Charity (Agape) which can infuse and enrich the...more
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Read in January, 2002
A favorite quote:
"But in Friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work.&qu...more
"But in Friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work.&qu...more
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there were several things that i really liked about this book, and, as always, Lewis draws out great reflection and gives a lot of insight. i admit that i did not agree with everything that he had to say, but on the other hand, when was that ever a requirement for good prose?
i was confused at times as well, but that could well be attributed to his speaking to an audience educated well beyond my extent. i think that i will take the advise he gives, and take what i find of value from his work, ...more
i was confused at times as well, but that could well be attributed to his speaking to an audience educated well beyond my extent. i think that i will take the advise he gives, and take what i find of value from his work, ...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
Older teans and adults
This book is much harder than the Chronocles of Narnia and a background in reading other classical authors is helpful. Agape is not listed as one of the loves by name as commonly thought. They are Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity, Charity being the closest to Agape. There are surprises about friendship's trap and the relation within of sex as an incomplete part of eros. I will have to re read the book again to get the true meanings. Once through is not enough. It is slow reading, but...more
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This book is an exposition of the different types of love in classical medieval Christian philosophy and based in Greek thought. As a Muslim I saw many similiarities with the Muslim philosophy of love and aesthetics, notably Ibn Qayyim's Rawdat al-'Ashiqeen, Ibn Hazm's Tawq al-Hamamah, and Dawud al-Dhahiri's Bani 'Udhra.
Agape, the highest type of love (equivalent in Islamic parlance to mahabbat) is the love of God which is manifested through loving and serving one's fellow man.
Agape, the highest type of love (equivalent in Islamic parlance to mahabbat) is the love of God which is manifested through loving and serving one's fellow man.
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Read in January, 1993
I always learn from C.S. Lewis this wonderful idea: the whole that is in my soul is created by god, for god, and can be filled only by god. (Or, totality, or divine self, etc.) What I don't like is how beautifully he has arguments that make sense, make sense, make sense, build upon each other, and then, just when you trust, he slips an idea past you as logic although it may actually be nonsensical, illogical, or untrue. May or may not be, but it feels a bit sly here and again.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Philosophical readers, anthropologists, spiritual readers
By tracing what the ancients used to articulate love, C.S. Lewis enumerates his four brands: affection, friendship, erotica, and divine love. He builds from the first to the last, explaining them in terms of one another, with a thick layer of his own values on which are the most important. Some may to need re-read it a few times to really get it, but not to worry - it's short, and it's nothing you haven't felt before.
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