My purpose here is to distill its insights and consider its relevance to the transcultural Mayasite theme. While this abstract does not dwell on the developmental and evolutionary aspects of love, Fromm does address them on pages 8 and 9 and elsewhere. These, in turn, can engender feelings of separation, helplessness, and despair. Love overcomes these feelings and gives a meaning to life transcending death. However, there is more agreement on love s importance than love s nature.
Love is an art.
As such it requires dedication, knowledge, and skill. People who believe that love is an art place their effort into being more loving . To love, one must develop one s total personality to develop a productive orientation, the capacity to love one s neighbor, true humility, courage, and faith. Love is not, as most people think, a pleasant sensation that one naturally and effortlessly falls into . People who believe that love is a sentiment place their effort into finding the right love object.