The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

Chapter 1 of Part 2 states that self-discipline and personal growth require love. Peck defines love as the will to extend yourself “for the purpose of nurturing [your] own or another’s spiritual growth” (81). Practicing and experiencing real love requires you to be aware of love’s circularity, to love yourself, and to exert effort. Studying love in its various forms can help you love in more genuine, expansive ways.

Chapter 2 warns that while falling in love is exciting and all-consuming, it is not real love. Falling in love is related to sexual motivation and desire and is therefore defined by lust and infatuation. While this is part of the human experience, it doesn’t encapsulate lasting love. This “honeymoon phase” cannot last because it requires letting go of ego boundaries, which is “an act of regression” (87). These boundaries will naturally return when two people fall out of love, as humans are not meant to be fully immersed in and dependent on each other. Therefore, be aware of when you fall in and out of love, and don’t hold love to this impossible standard. Instead, let your love evolve.

In Chapter 3, Peck argues that romantic love is a sociocultural myth that is designed to lead people into marriage and child-rearing.