Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving

“To have faith requires courage, the ability to take a risk, the readiness even to accept pain and disappointment. Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner. To be loved, and to love, need courage, the courage to judge certain values as of ultimate concern – and to take the jump and to stake everything on these values.”

Erich Fromm’s book The Art of Loving was recommended to me by my good friend Joe. Fromm explores love as an art form and says love needs to be tackled in two parts: theory and practice, just like any other art form. This is a book that can be read in 3 hours or less and has some really interesting thoughts on how to focus on loving, rather than being loved. I did not love this book because it made some pretty large leaps using gender stereotypes and there were not many facts to back up the claims, however the concepts definitely made me think about the complexities of lasting love.