Summary Of M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled

When one looks at romantic love, one would conclude that it is a social dyad that brings about certain responsibilities between two people in a relationship such as honesty, protection, openness and expressions of love. (William, 2008: 76). Contrasting with

in love is to see the other individual as a special complement to one's existence." Socrates, on

The analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been up for debate since the poem release in 1916. It is known to be one of the most frequently misinterpreted poems of all time, and even Robert Frost himself has said the poem is “tricky” to comprehend (The). When analyzing this poem many readers tend to focus only on the last lines of the poem and get caught in a trap of selective-interpretation. Quite a few people after reading Robert Frost’s poem firmly conclude that this poem is about non-conformity and individualism, however, that is not the case. Robert Frost’s poem is meant to be analyzed line by line for a complete interpretation. Readers can conclude that the poem represents making choices in life, but that is not the

In this global era of evolving civilization, it is increasingly difficult to ignore the fascinating fact about love. Love is a feeling of intimacy, warmth, and attachment. Love is inevitable and it plays a vital role in human life as Janie uses her experience with the pear tree to compare each of her relationships, but it is not until Tea Cake that she finds “a bee to her bloom.” (106).

When one is truly in love, they think less of themselves and more of the one in which

The human idea of love is quite possibly the most misunderstood in today’s society. Love can be between a man and woman, mother/father and their kids, or even really good friends. However, these relationships of love go through many interactions and stages to start and progress. Many psychological events must occur and be worked through in order to be successful. All relationships must endure the five perspectives of human behavior. These perspectives are biological, learning, social and cultural, cognitive, and psychodynamic influences.

Love comes in numerous ways and can be expressed in countless fashions. Love is powerful, has a meaning, and is capable of eclipsing time all due to the human psyche. One can love anything from a family member, to a fictional character in a TV show, or even an inanimate object. The fluidity of love is what makes it so difficult to understand if one is “in love” or has ever experienced love. Experiences often mold a person’s perspective on what love truly is. Love is not an emotion, but rather a condition of the mind that cause one to act in ways that are uncharacteristic. It can be blinding, obsessive, and pure, depending on the reciprocation of the love. Since love is an abstract concept, one simply cannot measure how much love they have received or given alike. Although the human brain can perceive and interpret other’s actions or words as signs of love and care, in which the mind processes this into the mental psyche that is love.

Laura Kipnis’s “Against Love”, and Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” ,brings up the issue of what is the definition of love and is love what we think it is. Love has changed in comparison to what it once was, and we now loosely use the term, but what does it truly mean, and why do we buy in to it. Kipnis’s essay develops the idea that this “mature love” is when someone can love and be loved, and she takes the position that this does not happen. Although Kipnis believes mature love is neither a realistic expectation nor a good thing to have, I claim that the idea of mature love is not bogus, because even though it is rare to find, and may even take a few tries, I believe it is possible for people to have this mature love. Unlike Kipnis too, I believe mature love can take on different forms, and doesn’t have to just be so black and white like Kipnis explains it as.

“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (Miriam-Webster 253). This quote has been used for centuries as both persuasion in favor of loving and also as comfort in times of heartbreak and loss. However, is this statement completely true, or does it offer false hope to anguishing lovers? In fact, are the rules and costs of loving and being loved so great that in fact it is actually better to never have loved at all? When pondering these questions, one must first consider the rules of loving and being loved to determine the physical, emotional, and psychological costs they entail. In order to do so, one could use Andreas Capellanus’ The Art of Courtly Love as a guideline for the rules of love.

While people are often able to identify when they feel the emotion love, love itself seems to defy definition.  In her polemic “Against Love”, Laura Kipnis argues that love cannot exist as traditional expressions of love such as marriage, monogamy, and mutuality.  However, in her argument, she defines love incorrectly by equating love to expressions of love. This definition lacks a component essential to understanding the abstract concept of love: emotion. Recognizing love as emotion helps us realize that, contrary to Kipnis’ argument love by nature transcends all expressions of love. Love is subjective and exists in any and all forms. In her argument that love cannot survive as conventional expressions of love, Kipnis ignores the nature of love as emotion in favor of equating love to different expressions of love. Love is a force which exists above expressions of love; a true understanding of love can only come from an assessment of how individuals, not societies, respond to the emotion.

     Strangers meet, they break down social walls between one another, and they feel close, as one. They supposedly fell in love with one another, to Fromm, falling in love is not love, it’s more infatuation. Fromm describes

Romantic attraction feels rather insane when it happens; from personal experience, I had to physically stop and ask myself, "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU, ALEX?!" What is going on inside my head? People are creatures, enormous idiotic animals. You, me, them, everyone; we are all slaves to the chemicals of our cerebrum - and when we fall in love, it is magical but strangely predictable. Clearly, we make our own decisions, yet, attraction, desire and love are driven by our biological agenda: to locate a good genetic match, reproduce and raise our young; it is what we are programmed to do. In the modern era, there are more social limitations; as a result, the mind is forced to manage our feelings backstage, making less than impressive progress in regard to it. As indicated by natural anthropologist Helen Fisher, "Romantic love is akin to an addiction." We are addicted to the feeling of love. (Fisher “The Laws...”)

Love is inconceivably the most confusing concept ever. Some love, simple, or not love at all, is easily achieved, while true-love is very hard to obtain. It is most certainly, at its best, described in Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice”. One can most likely name a few ways love comes about, that is, “true-love” or the want to truly be with one, financial stability, and social acceptance. It is most desirable to seek “true-love”, but is seldom ever found, and when it is, the path in which comes before it will not be a smooth one. If one desires a smooth path, riches, and rise in social rank, one only needs to look no further than a rich man in need of a wife.

"It is impossible to love, and be wise ... Love is a child of folly. ... Love is ever rewarded either with the reciprocal, or with an inward and secret contempt." It was Bacon in this essay who wrote that for a person to be a "success" in the world, he or she best not ever fall in love.

Love is a strong and lasting affection between spouses or lovers who are in a happy, passionate and fulfilling relationship. It can also be an unbreakable bond sustained through all the ups and downs faced in life, an everlasting feeling. This unconditional form of the feeling is rare and is usually found between parent and child relationships. It is, without a doubt, the most discussed feeling in the world. The feeling has been the source of thoughts for many different poets since the beginning of time and has been portrayed in a variety of ways. Such distinctive portrayals of love consist of; the varying definitions of love; exploration of obsessive love; the depiction of unconditional love.