Quotes by Erich Fromm

"

I am convinced that no one can "save" his neighbor by making a choice for him. All a person could do to help another is to put in advance, with sincerity and love, but without sentimentality and illusions, the existence of an alternative.

"

The ultimate purpose of history is to redeem the tragedy of the existence of men who were destined to die without realizing the essence of their natures.

"

Human history begins with the act of disobedience, which is at the same time the beginning of its liberation and intellectual development.

"

The idea that man was created in the image of God leads not only to the idea of ​​equality between God and man, but even to the idea of ​​independence from God; from it also derives that central conviction for humanism that in each person the whole of humanity is contained.

"

Man's task is to expand the space of his own destiny, to strengthen that which contributes to life, in contradiction to that which leads to death. In speaking of life and death, I have in mind not the biological state, but the ways of life, its mutual relationship with the world.

"

If a person can live without constraint, not mechanically, but spontaneously, then he is aware of himself as an active creative personality and understands that life has only one meaning - life itself.

"

For man, everything is important, except his life and the science of living. He lives for almost everything but himself.

"

Humanistic ethics understand by "good" the confirmation of life, the discovery and development of human potential, and by "virtue" - the responsibility for one's own existence.

"

The main task of man's life is to give life to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important fruit of his efforts is his own personality.

"

The unfortunate fate of many people is the consequence of an unfounded choice. They are neither alive nor dead. life is a burden and useless activity to them, and actions are only the means of protection against the torment of existence in the kingdom of shadows.

"

The awareness of his loneliness and isolation, of his helplessness in the face of the forces of nature and society, turns his isolated existence into an intolerable prison. His posting experience is alarming; moreover, it is the source of all concern. To be detached is to be cut off, without any possibility of using human forces. Therefore, it means to be powerless, unable to actively influence things and people; that means the world can invade me and I'm unable to react.

"

I believe that the fundamental human choice is the choice between life and death. Every action involves this choice.

"

I believe in freedom, in the right of man to be himself, to defend himself and resist all those who try to prevent him from being himself. Freedom, however, is something more than the absence of oppression. This is not just "free from..." but "free to...", namely the freedom to become independent.

"

We cannot understand human personality if we do not examine man in his integrity, including the need to find the answer to the question regarding the meaning of his existence and to find out the norms, according to which he must live.

"

To destroy life is also to go beyond its limits.

"

The progress of psychology does not consist in separating the so-called "natural" sphere from the so-called "spiritual" sphere and focusing attention on the former, but in returning to the sublime tradition of humanist ethics, which considers man in his bodily integrity- spiritual, believing that man's goal is to be himself, provided he achieves his goal - to be a man for himself.

"

From the moment the child comes into this world, he realizes that he is alone, that he represents an essence separate from all others. This isolation from the world overwhelms the powerful and often threatens him and is more dangerous than individual existence, because it leads to a sense of helplessness and anxiety.

"

The concept of "being alive" is not a static but a dynamic concept. Existence is the same as discovering the specific forces of the organism. The actualization of potential forces is the innate property of all organisms. Therefore, the discovery of human potentials, according to the laws of his nature, should be considered as the goal of human life.

"

Modern man has been transformed into a commodity; he experiences his vitality as an investment made possible by his position and the situation of the personality market. He is alienated from himself, his fellow humans and nature. Its main goal is to profitably exchange your expertise, knowledge and self, your "personality set" with others who are equally committed to an honest and profitable exchange. Life has only one goal: to get ahead, one principle: fair exchange, and one joy: consumption.

"

A truly religious person, if he follows the essence of the monotheistic idea, does not beg for anything, does not hope for anything from God; he does not love God as a child loves his father or mother; he has come to the humility to perceive his limitations, to the point of knowing that he knows nothing about God. For him, God is a symbol in which, at an earlier stage of man's development, he summed up everything he aspired to, the realm of the spiritual world, love, truth and fairness.

"

A man loves what he works for, and he works for what he loves.

"

If a person does not have a vision in his life that he can yearn for, that he wants to make come true, then he lacks the driving force to fight with heart and soul.

"

The rich is not the one who has a lot, but the one who gives a lot.

"

The logic of childlike love: I love because they love me. The logic of mature love: They love because I love. Immature love says: I love you because I need you, True love says: I need you because I love you.

"

Loving someone is more than a strong feeling - it's a decision, a judgment and a promise.

"

Love is the only reasonable and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.

"

If I really love a person, I love all people, I love the world, I love life.

"

It takes faith and courage to see life's difficulties, misfortunes and sorrows as a challenge that gives us strength to meet, and not as an unjust punishment that should not have happened to us.

"

Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself.

"

If I can say "I love you" to someone, I must also be able to say: "I love everyone in you, I love the world through you, I also love myself in you".

"

Love is active concern for the life and development of the person or thing we love.

"

There is scarcely another activity, another enterprise, which begins with such bloody hopes and prospects, and yet fails so regularly as love.

"

Love is the only way of knowing that satisfies my curiosity in the act of union. While I love, while I give myself, while I penetrate the other person, I find myself, I discover myself, I discover both of us, I discover the person.

"

Neighborly love is love between equals: except that even as equals we are not always in an equal position; being human, we all need help. Today me, tomorrow you. But this does not mean that one person is powerless and the other is vigorous. Powerlessness is a transient state; on the other hand, it is our constant and shared ability to get up and stand on our own feet.

"

A person's happiness today consists of "having fun". His entertainment is the satisfaction he finds in consuming and "harvesting" goods, sights, food, drinks, cigarettes, people, lectures, books, movies, everything he consumes and swallows. The whole world is the only great object of our appetite: a large apple, a large bottle, a large breast; we are the eternal baubles, the eternal expectants, the hopeful - and the eternal disappointed. We can do nothing but buy and receive, exchange and consume; everything, both material and spiritual objects, became an object of sale and consumption.

"

Believing in another person means that we are sure of his basic qualities, the core of his personality, the reliability and constancy of his love. I do not mean that one cannot change one's views, but that one's basic motives remain the same; that, for example, his respect for life and human dignity is not subject to change, because it is part of his being. We believe in ourselves in the same sense. We are aware that there is a self, a core within our personality, which is unchanging and which endures to the end of our lives in spite of changing circumstances, changing views and feelings. This core is the reality behind the word "I" and is the foundation of our secure sense of identity.

"

To be loved and to be loved requires courage, the courage to consider certain values ​​above all else - and to take the risk and place everything on these values.

"

To love is to entrust oneself to someone unconditionally, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will create love in the loved one as well.

"

We have to realize that loving is an art, just like living is an art; learning how to love is the same as learning any other art or craft.

"

A person is not bored or boring only when fully awake - and indeed, not being bored and not being bored is one of the main conditions for loving. To be active in thought and feeling, with eyes and ears, at all times of the day, to avoid all forms of inner laziness, be it passivity, hoarding, simple wasting of time: this is an essential condition if we want to practice the art of love.

"

What they don't take into account is the motive for the activity. Take, for example, a person who is constantly driven to work by feeling profoundly insecure; or another driven by ambition or money. In all these cases the person is addicted to a passion; it is driven by compulsion, so its activity is actually inertness; it forms and does not form. On the other hand, if one sits in silence and meditates, with no intention or purpose other than to test himself and become one with the world, such a person is considered "idle" because he is not "doing" anything. In fact, this attitude of concentrated contemplation is the highest activity possible only in a state of inner freedom and independence.

"

In life, every person ultimately has to choose between two things: create or destroy, love or hate.

"

We can only know something certain about the past - about the future only that we will die.

"

When two people who were strangers - like all of them - suddenly tear down the wall between them and feel a close proximity, feel as one, this moment of unity is one of the most electrifying and inspiring experiences of life. It is extraordinary and wonderful for people who until then lived alone, isolated and without love.

"

Life is a continuous rebirth. For most of us, the real tragedy is that we die before we are truly born.

"

Love is not primarily a relationship with a specific person; the behavior of love, the disposition of the character, which determines the person's personal relationship, not to a certain "object" of love, but to the world as a whole.

"

Most people see the essence of love in being loved, and not in being loved.

"

From the point of view of love, what matters is that a person believes in his own love, in the ability to awaken love in others.

"

Responsibility can easily degenerate into domination and possession, if the reason is not the third component of love, respect.

"

The present is the point where the past and the future meet, a border station in time, but qualitatively it is nothing more than the two areas that it connects.

"

Who am I when I am what I have but lose what I have?

"

Only a person who trusts himself can be loyal to others.

"

People think that loving is easy; it's just hard to find the right object for our love or affection. (…) Love is an activity, not a passive emotion; we do not fall into it, but stand in it. In the most general way, the active nature of love can be described as loving is primarily giving, not receiving. (…) Looking at the art of love, this means that whoever wants to be a master of it must first practice discipline, concentration and patience in every phase of his life.

"

In love, the paradox is realized that two living beings become one and yet remain two.

"

What does one person give to another? Yourself, your most precious thing, your life.

"

Despite the deep desire for love, almost everything else is considered more important than love: success, authority, money, power - almost all our energy is used to learn to achieve these goals, and almost nothing to learn the art of love.

"

One must be active in order to overcome one's doubts and feelings of helplessness (...). This rush of action is not the result of fortitude and self-confidence; it is a desperate escape from anxiety.

"

A mother's love is unconditional... a mother's love is salvation, peace, you don't have to earn it, you don't have to earn it.