One of the best kept secrets in life is that there are five loves and that each love has its own modality. "The Fifth Love" describes how our dysfunctional loving is the result of employing the wrong love and that the object of life is not to love one thing exclusively, nor is it to love many things indiscriminately, but to love the highest thing. The Five Loves Affectionate-love: to be loved, the beloved must be lovable. Fond-love: to be loved, the beloved must be useful. Aesthetic-love: to be loved, the beloved must be beautiful. Selfless-love: to be loved, the lover must love first. Covenant-love: to be loved, love as one is loved. The fifth love reveals the terms on which we love the people, possessions, activities, and ideas in our lives and answers the questions "Why do good people love badly?" and "How do good loves go bad?"