On Love

The third in a series of beautiful pocket gift books compiling renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell’s short reflections on the world-altering force of love, perfect for carrying everywhere, bedside reading, or gifting to someone who has shown you what it means to love. In On Love, Joseph Campbell invites us to explore love as a deep, transformative force that transcends simple affection or idealistic romance. Rooted in Campbell’s exploration of mythology, philosophy, and personal experience, this volume reveals love as a dynamic journey that touches the spiritual, emotional, and existential aspects of being human. Love is a force that calls us to embrace life’s struggles as opportunities to be remade again and again.

True love, Campbell suggests, moves beyond perfectionism or fleeting desires. “The perfect human being is uninteresting,” he writes. “It is the imperfections of life that are lovable.” Love, in this sense, is not an idealized fantasy, but something found in the messy, authentic moments of our shared humanity. It’s through our flaws and vulnerabilities that love becomes real. Campbell also explores love in its most universal form, evoking agape: a selfless, expansive love that calls us to embrace others, even our enemies. The practice of loving our enemies may be the noble choice, but it is also a path to spiritual awakening and personal transformation. This love transcends the ego, allowing us to see the divine in every person, regardless of their faults or differences. Part of the Joseph Campbell Essentials series highlighting recurring motifs in Campbell’s work, On Love offers short, accessible renditions of his timeless teachings. It is sized to be a perfect companion, easily tucked away or gifted as an invitation to the kind of multidimensional love that sustains us for a lifetime.

Author Biography

Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was a renowned American author and scholar of comparative mythology. His groundbreaking work The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) introduced the concept of the “hero’s journey,” a universal pattern found in myths across cultures. Campbell’s theories were influenced by his studies in Europe, the work of Picasso and Joyce, and Freud’s and Jung’s theories about the human psyche, as well as his lifelong interest in Native American cultures and his translation with Swami Nikhilananda of the Upanishads and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. In 1988, the PBS series The Power of Myth brought his ideas to a global audience, solidifying his legacy in the study of mythology.