Four Loves

In praise of C.S. Lewis

"If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels." —The New Yorker

"Brilliant yet accessible." —U.S. News & World Report

From one our most revered and beloved writesr and thinkers comes this wise and warmly personal book reflecting on the four basic kinds of human love-- affection, friendship, Eros, charity. C.S. Lewis explores the promise and the perils of love between parents and children; the love that builds between true friends through mutual respect; the dedication it takes to fulfill our visions of erotic love and partnership; and the love of and for God that deepens all others. He considers questions of sex, possessiveness, jealousy, pride, sentimentality, good and bad manners, and the need for more laughter. Love's rewards come with risks, he cautions, but we must take them, and remember that we are seeking to be awakened, to find an Appreciative love through which "all things are possible."

"With a love for beauty, wonder, and magic . . . he speaks to us with all the power and life-changing force of a Plato, a Dante, and a Bunyan."—Christianity Today C.S. Lewis gained international renown for an impressive array of works both popular and scholarly: children's literature, fantasy literature, literary criticism, and numerous books on theology. The Four Loves is among his most celebrated achievements, along with The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and Surprised by Joy.

"A rare and memorable book." —Saturday Review "The Four Loves deserves to become a minor classic as a modern mirror of our souls, a mirror of the virtues and failings of human loving." —New York Times Book Review "[Lewis] has never written better. Nearly every page scintillates with observations which are illuminating, provocative and original." —Church Times "What is interesting about these chapters is the extent to which a non-believer can follow the argument and receive enlightenment … Lewis has a keen eye, a large measure of human sympathy, wit, and a command of simple words … By writing so well and so perceptively about ‘natural human conduct, Lewis makes the strongest case for examining his conclusions with respect. He is writing, presumably, for the unconverted as well as for Christians, and whatever the former may believe or disbelieve about God they are persuaded that he could only exist as a culmination in absolute terms of their deepest moral convictions."—Times Literary Supplement

A candid, wise, and warmly personal book in which Lewis explores the possibilities and problems of the four basic kinds of human love- affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. “Immensely worthwhile for its simplicity...a rare and memorable book” (Sydney J. Harris).

"If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels."--The New Yorker   In this candid, wise, and warmly personal book, C.S. Lewis gently reflects on the four basic kinds of human love--affection, friendship, erotic love, charity. He explores the promise and the perils of love between parents and children; love men share with other men and women with other women; love shared between men and women; and the love of and for God that deepens all love. Lewis also considers the questions of 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 cautions, but he recommends taking them, since "the only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."   "The Four Loves deserves to become a minor classic as a modern mirror of our souls, a mirror of the virtues and failings of human loving."--The New York Times Book Review   C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) gained international renown for an impressive array of beloved works both popular and scholarly: literary criticism, children's literature, fantasy literature, and numerous books on theology. The Four Loves is among his most celebrated achievements, as are Out of the Silent Planet, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, and Surprised by Joy.

"We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves."

We hear often that love is patient and kind, not envious or prideful. We hear that human love is a reflection of divine love. We hear that God is love. But how do we understand its work in our lives, its perils and rewards? Here, the incomparable C. S. Lewis examines human love in four forms: affection, the most basic, general, and emotive; friendship, the most rare, least jealous, and, in being freely chosen, perhaps the most profound; Eros, passionate love that can run counter to happiness and poses real danger; charity, the greatest, most spiritual, and least selfish. Proper love is a risk, but to bar oneself from it--to deny love--is a damning choice. Love is a need and a gift; love brings joy and laughter. We must seek to be awakened and so to find an Appreciative love through which "all things are possible."

"The Four Loves deserves to become a minor classic as a modern mirror of our souls, a mirror of the virtues and failings of human loving." —New York Times Book Review

"Lewis has a keen eye, a large measure of human sympathy, wit, and a command of simple words." —Times Literary Supplement

C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis (1898-1963), one of the great writers of the twentieth century, also continues to be one of our most influential Christian thinkers. He wrote more than thirty books, both popular and scholarly, including The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, Mere Christianity, and Surprised by Joy.

C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis (1898-1963), one of the great writers of the twentieth century, also continues to be one of our most influential Christian thinkers. A Fellow and tutor at Oxford until 1954, he spent the rest of his career as Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge. He wrote more than thirty books, both popular and scholarly, inlcuding The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy.