Quotes from book
All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks

All About Love: New Visions is a book by bell hooks published in 2000 that discusses aspects of love in modern society. Hooks combines personal anecdotes as well as psychological and philosophical ideas to develop and strengthen her argument. She focuses on romantic love and believes that in American culture men have been socialized to mistrust the value and power of love while women have been socialized to be loving in most situations – even when their need to receive love goes unmet.

Bell Hooks photo

“But many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone. Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Young people are cynical about love. Ultimately, cynicism is the great mask of the disappointed and betrayed heart.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“When angels speak of love they tell us it is only by loving that we enter an earthly paradise. They tell us paradise is our home and love our true destiny.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Only love can heal the wounds of the past. However, the intensity of our woundedness often leads to a closing of the heart, making it impossible for us to give or receive the love that is given to us.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“If you do not know what you feel, then it is difficult to choose love; it is better to fall. Then you do not have to be responsible for your actions.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Honesty and openness is always the foundation of insightful dialogue.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Choosing to be honest is the first step in the process of love. There is no practitioner of love who deceives. Once the choice has been made to be honest, then the next step on love's path is communication.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Abuse and neglect negate love. Care and affirmation, the opposite of abuse and humiliation, are the foundation of love. No one can rightfully claim to be loving when behaving abusively.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Our hearts connect with lots of folks in a lifetime but most of us will go to our graves with no experience of true love.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Giving generously in romantic relationships, and in all other bonds, means recognizing when the other person needs our attention. Attention is an important resource.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“A generous heart is always open, always ready to receive our going and coming. In the midst of such love we need never fear abandonment. This is the most precious gift true love offers - the experience of knowing we always belong.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“When we face pain in relationships our first response is often to sever bonds rather than to maintain commitment.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“Isolation and loneliness are central causes of depression and despair.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“The practice of love offers no place of safety. We risk loss, hurt, pain. We risk being acted upon by forces outside our control.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Bell Hooks photo

“To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients - care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

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