It's a challenging read to say the least, but one I could suggest everyone attempt.  The book was originally published in 1956 so at that time being gay was considered a deviation.  That was just one of very few outmoded concepts expressed in this work.  However, more than this, the thought provoking ideas and concepts expressed in this deceptively small work are far reaching and thought provoking still in 2006.   Is loving an Art?  How many different types of love are they and which are we practicing now?  But one thing is so very clear, that “love is the answer to the problemof Human Existence”.  And of course the rub here is how we go about getting or giving it that can present anyone with the challenges of why we are here.  Great book.

The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the source of all anxiety.

We have faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, and of mankind because, and only to the degree to which, we have experienced the growth of our own potentialities, the reality of growth in ourselves, the strength of our own power of reason and love.