If an individual is able to love productively, he loves himself, too; if he can love only others, he cannot love at… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Love is active penetration of the other person, in which my desire to know is stilled by union. In the act of… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“The only way of full knowledge lies in the act of love; this act transcends thought, it transcends words. It is the… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Love of others and love of ourselves are not alternatives. On the contrary, an attitude of love towards themselves will be found… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Beyond the element of giving, the active characteristic of love becomes evident in the fact that it always implies certain basic elements,… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Most people see the problem of love primarily as that of being loved, rather than that of loving, of one's capacity to… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
People do not see that the main question is not : "Am I loved?" which is to a large extent the question… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Mature love is union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality. Love is an active power in man; a power… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Society must be organized in such a way that man's social, loving nature is not separated from his social existence, but becomes… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. 'Patriotism' is its cult...Just as love for one individual which… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
We have faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, and of mankind because, and only to the degree to which, we… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“The only way in which the world can be grasped ultimately lies, not in thought, but in the act, in the experience… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
The third error leading to the assumption that there is nothing to be learned about love lies in the confusion between the… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
The spirit of a production-centered, commodity-greedy society is such that only the non-conformist can defend himself sufficiently against it. Those who are… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Our whole culture is based on the appetite for buying, on the idea of a mutually favorable exchange. … For the man… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
...in spite of the deep-seated craving for love, almost everything else is considered to be more important than love: success, prestige, money,… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
There is no word in our language which has been so much misused and prostituted as the word love. It has been… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“It is hardly necessary to stress the fact that the ability to love as an act of giving depends on the character… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
The main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one's narcissism. The narcissistic orientation is one in which one… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“The most important sphere of giving, however, is not that of material things, but lies in the specifically human realm. What does… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
In erotic love, two people who were separate become one. In motherly love, two people who were one become separate. The mother… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Only in the love of those who do not serve a purpose, love begins to unfold.” — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
If one is not productive in other spheres, one is not productive in the love either. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the source of all anxiety. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Death is never sweet, not even if it is suffered for the highest ideal. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Love is the active concern for the life and the growth of that which we love. Where this active concern is lacking,… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Erotic love begins with separateness, and ends in oneness. Motherly love begins with oneness, and leads to separateness. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Just as love is an orientation which refers to all objects and is incompatible with the restriction to one object, so is… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Productive work, love and thought are possible only if a person can be, when necessary, quiet and alone. To be able to… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
People have committed suicide because of their failure to realize the passions for love , power , fame , revenge . Cases… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Only when man succeeds in developing his reason and love further than he has done so far, only when he can build a world… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“It is hardly necessary to stress the fact that the ability to love as an act of giving depends on the character development of… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
The pace of science forces the pace of technique. Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Well-being is possible to the degree to which one has overcome one's narcissism; to the degree to which one is open, responsive, sensitive, awake,… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“The wealth of data to be found in social and political life. The belief that people do not want to make sacrifices is notoriously… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
By equality, one once understood equality in the very same sense in which the Bible speaks of equality: that we are all equal, inasmuch… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Human beings had two basic orientations: HAVING and BEING HAVING: seeks to acquire, posses things even people BEING: focuses on the experience; exchanging, engaging,… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
“Most people are not even aware of their need to conform. They live under the illusion that they follow their own ideas and inclinations,… — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
Just as modern mass production requires the standardization of commodities, so the social process requires standardization of man, and this standardization is called equality. — Erich Fromm Copy Share Image
