The Four Loves

A lucid, direct essay, full of examples, about an eternal reality of human life.

In this book, C. S. Lewis reflects on the four basic types of human love – affection, friendship, eros, and charity. The author explores the promise and peril of love between parents and children; the love that men share with other men and women with other women; the love between man and woman; and the love of and for God that enhances all love. Lewis also considers questions about sex, possessiveness, jealousy, pride, false sentimentality, good and bad manners in loving, and the need for more laughter between lovers. There are risks that accompany the rewards of love, the author warns us, but he advises us to accept them, since "the only place outside Heaven where one can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and disturbances of love is Hell."