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51st out of 1,897 books
—
1,836 voters
The Four Loves
by
C.S. Lewis
The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of human love--affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. Masterful without being magisterial, this book's wise, gentle, candid reflections on the virtues and dangers of love draw on sources from Jane Austen to St. Augustine. The chapter on charity (love of God) may be the best thing Lewis ever wrote about Christianity. Co...more
Paperback, 170 pages
Published
June 5th 2002
by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
(first published 1943)
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Overall a fascinating read, though a bit more "high-brow" than my usual fare. Having a background in the classics, as in OLD classics, would help to make more of it understandable. And sometimes I got a little lost in his logic. However, the points of view on the different types of love were very useful to me, in reflecting on my own life and relationships. If I were to sum up the effect on me in one word, it would be "clarifying."
I am an incurable romantic; nevertheless through the years I hav...more
I am an incurable romantic; nevertheless through the years I hav...more
Read this in college when most of it went over my head...then life happens. After a life full of joy and tragedy and senseless loss at times...this work sits in my nightstand drawer so I can be renewed, reawakened and reminded of higher purposes when the world is too much with me.
'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, dragostea p...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, dragostea p...more
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.
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. However,...more
I hadn't read any CS Lewis in years, and I remember not being especially impressed the first time I read this book; it didn't seem to have a cohesive thesis. However, I ran across a used copy at a flea market in NYC (irresistible) and couldn't put it down on the airplane home. I can see why I thought Lewis was tangential, and I assume I overlooked the genius because at the time I was too naive of love (& it's pitfalls) to understand his meditations. No doubt the book will be even more meanin...more
With clarity C.S. Lewis outlines the four loves as he understands them. As I read I recognized the roles these loves play, and have played, in my life and in the lives of those I know. People and possible motives for their actions became apparent to me. It is a book that captures reflections to share with the reader and allow them to create more of the same. Below is an excerpt that I wished to share.
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart...more
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart...more
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 useful,...more
I loved this book. The first read through, was confusing because he would often refer to the other loves without having explained it. But the second time through, I understood how Lewis was piecing together his categories of love.
The greatest point I think this book makes is that all other loves are unsustainable unless they are consumed and supported by Charity. Without Charity, a divine love, all other loves with "go bad" on us, because we are human. But our ability to love God and His love f...more
The greatest point I think this book makes is that all other loves are unsustainable unless they are consumed and supported by Charity. Without Charity, a divine love, all other loves with "go bad" on us, because we are human. But our ability to love God and His love f...more
This book induced many a nap and was often over my head, but there were some parts that blew me away. It is a book very much about human psychology I think and behavior. The four kinds of love: friendship, affection, eros, and charity. In friendship we stand together in a common cause or activity, in affection we treat someone kindly that we've known for a long time and been through things with, eros is love with our beloved, and charity; godlike love. Definitely a book worth rereading to unders...more
I found this book on the shelf of a friend of mine at a time when I was getting over a breakup of a long-term relationship. I thought maybe this will help give me some answers and help me with healing. It really didn't help with the break up, but it did give me some insights to different kinds of love.
What are the four loves? Lewis describes them as the Greek terms of: storge, phileo, eros, and agape. As with much of Lewis' Christian essays this one has some deep thoughts. He admits in is prefac...more
What are the four loves? Lewis describes them as the Greek terms of: storge, phileo, eros, and agape. As with much of Lewis' Christian essays this one has some deep thoughts. He admits in is prefac...more
Love. That’s all you need, or so the Beatles said. God is love, or so John the Apostle said. Love seems to be the driving force behind a tremendous amount of human activity and whether it really is all that we need or whether it is the substance of God, it is remarkably hard to classify, and all the more important for it. C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves tackles love from a Christian perspective. Whether Christian, agnostic, or a believer of some other sort, this work has highly relevant insights on...more
This book was a special treat for me, as I was able to listen to an original audio recording by C. S. Lewis himself.
This is, in my opinion, the definitive book on the subject. As much as I like the five love languages, this book is a far deeper and more meaningful study of the different types of love out there. Especially the section on Agape is the most profound explanation that I have ever heard. It is the most important part of the book, that binds everything else together, and it can profo...more
This was by far an easier read than the other Lewis books I've read but no less brilliant. I enjoy Lewis's analogies and unique perspective on "common" subjects. I had been interested in reading this book for quite some time having seen some excerpts and quotes here and there. He did not disappoint. I am an analyzer; I like to break things down and "figure them out" when it comes to abstract concepts and such. Lewis does a great job with this very difficult-to-pin-down ideal of love.
He identifie...more
He identifie...more
I love C.S. Lewis. However, in this book, I felt like I was interacting with "Jack" more often than Clives Staples Lewis the philosopher. The book is written with a warm, personal style and is a mixture of deep worldview-shaking insights and light-hearted jocularity.
For me, it was a difficult read at times, and there were many occasions when I could not follow the argument or understand it. But I think that proves the inefficieny of the reader, not the poor quality of the author. However, overa...more
For me, it was a difficult read at times, and there were many occasions when I could not follow the argument or understand it. But I think that proves the inefficieny of the reader, not the poor quality of the author. However, overa...more
"Having finished The Four Loves now gives me a sense of what C.S. Lewis must have been like as a teacher -- I felt like I was back in a college class. I actually listened to the audiobook version read by Lewis himself, which added to this impression. I would have much preferred to be listening live, in hopes that he would have some visual aids to help with the more confusing passages. In truth, I'm still trying to process some of his conclusions.
It was a difficult, but fascinating analysis of lo...more
It was a difficult, but fascinating analysis of lo...more
A good examination of the different types of love that men and women can experience. One of the pleasures of reading Lewis's theological/philosphical books is the beauty and shrewd brilliance of his arguments. His examinations of the promises and pitfalls of affection, friendship, eros, and charity moves so seamlessly that it is hard not to be awed at the mind that is at work behind the pages. There are only two problems with this book, both of which are repeated characteristics of Lewis's nonfi...more
In the introduction to The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis talks about two kinds of love: Gift-love and Need-love. Gift Love, he says is “the love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family which he will die without sharing or seeing.” An example of Need-Love is “that which sends a lonely or frightened child to its mother’s arms.”
" Likings and Loves for the Sub-Human " is the first chapter. The sub-human is anything that may be an object of our love other than the...more
" Likings and Loves for the Sub-Human " is the first chapter. The sub-human is anything that may be an object of our love other than the...more
This was a stimulating but somewhat dry analysis of the different ways we use the word, "love." Lewis discusses four kinds of love: affection, friendship, eros, and charity. Affection refers to the love of parents for children and vice versa. It is expected, and because it is expected it is subject to abuse and manipulation. Friendship love is the love between individuals who share a common interest. The shadow side of friendship love is its possible result in indifference to outside opinion and...more
At his best Lewis can be very good (Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity), but at other times he can be a bit frustrating. He has an excellent mind overstuffed with knowledge of many fine things, he’s often insightful, and he’s able to write engagingly and accessibly while fleshing out a carefully conceived and detailed plan. But when he’s not at his best there can be too much wordplay and other cleverness combined with an over-certain pedagogy, or at least that’s how it comes off for me. It’s p...more
Mar 24, 2013
David Sarkies
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anybody
Recommended to David by:
My Dad, and Plato
Shelves:
philosophy
This is one of those books that every time I have read it (this is the third time I think) I learn something new, so I guess I am going to have to put this book up in the realms of literature. The interesting thing about this book is that when Lewis wrote it he had not been in a relationship (he remained single until he met Joy Davidman, which is actually the subject of a book, a movie, and even a play), so he is not actually writing from experience, however we should note that Eros plays only...more
A short note on this book today. I have started The Four Loves at least four times, and always stopped after the first chapter. Not because I wasn't enjoying the book, but because, well...I tend to have several books on the go at once, and I get distracted. :) So last week, I picked it up again, and started at chapter two - and read the entire book within a day.
Lewis always seems to have words which serve to clarify my own wandering and sparking thoughts. I read a sentence, and think, 'Ah!'; a p...more
Lewis always seems to have words which serve to clarify my own wandering and sparking thoughts. I read a sentence, and think, 'Ah!'; a p...more
Having finished The Four Loves now gives me a sense of what C.S. Lewis must have been like as a teacher -- I felt like I was back in a college class. I actually listened to the audiobook version read by Lewis himself, which added to this impression. I would have much preferred to be listening live, in hopes that he would have some visual aids to help with the more confusing passages. In truth, I'm still trying to process some of his conclusions.
It was a difficult, but fascinating analysis of lov...more
It was a difficult, but fascinating analysis of lov...more
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Even for C. S. Lewis, this is deep. His use of allegory, metaphor and sheer verbiage alone make it a pretty intense brain-stretching reading experience. The basic loves he describes are affection, friendship, eros, and charity; and the common pitfalls we humans face in our ability to feel and express in each category. I definitely saw my own weaknesses through many of his explanations. Worthwhile, but it's not casual reading!
I read it years ago ... and now, again. Sometimes this reader just needs a dose of 'Jack' ... He believed in friendship perhaps as deeply as he believed in his God. Two philosophers who understood how *necessary* friendship is: Aristotle and C.S. Lewis. In my life, there's been no other form of relation that is so abundant with constancy, kindness, and reciprocal loving presence ... Deep friendship is robust, merciful, and *safe* to the heart ... A quote:
"To the ancients, friendship seemed the h...more
"To the ancients, friendship seemed the h...more
I read this book about once a year to remind myself of the basics: to Whom I am accountable, what true love entails and endows, and why I wake up every day.
My favorite quote: "...in the act of love we are not merely ourselves. We are also representatives. It is here no impoverishment but an enrichment to be aware that forces older and less personal than we work through us..."
Amen.
My favorite quote: "...in the act of love we are not merely ourselves. We are also representatives. It is here no impoverishment but an enrichment to be aware that forces older and less personal than we work through us..."
Amen.
Apr 10, 2009
Ron
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Christians, seekers
Shelves:
religion-philosophy,
christian_life
Re-reading Four Loves several years after my first reading I find a depth that I missed before. This last apologetic by Lewis is less polemic and more analytic.
Going beyond the usual division of loves into gift-loves and need-loves, Lewis delved into how any affection can raise us bring us closer to divine source of love or move us farther away.
Not light reading.
Going beyond the usual division of loves into gift-loves and need-loves, Lewis delved into how any affection can raise us bring us closer to divine source of love or move us farther away.
Not light reading.
This is a theoretical examinations of the four loves we experience as humans: affection, friendship, eros, and charity. I thought there will be more practical steps in how to become a better friend or why we experience some feelings more than others, but Lewis writes more about the ideas and origins. I found the chapter about friendship the most interesting, because he has some good insights. I liked how he described Christian friendship as opposed to friendship in general. "We think we have cho...more
The Four Loves was a fabulous read - I underlined probably 25% of the book. For me, Lewis has yet to disappoint, but this one was very applicable and insightful. Love is something that is ever talked about in our culture - so many wrong perspectives of it, so many manipulations of it. It is interesting to see how Lewis pegged many things that are applicable to us today, though written many decades ago. It helped me identify ways to view different relationships in my life, and how to peace at pea...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infographic for a Quote in the Book | 1 | 4 | 8 de May 02:11 | |
| The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of human love--affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God | 1 | 74 | 11 de Oct 10:09 |
CLIVE STAPLES LEWIS (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more th...more
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“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...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. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.”
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“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, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”
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