Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.The Art of Loving, p. 27, 1956
Author · 11 quotes
Erich Fromm (1900–1980) was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, and humanistic philosopher. He is known for his influential works on the nature of love, human freedom, and the intersection of psychology and society, including books like "Escape from Freedom" and "The Art of Loving." Fromm's writings often explored the impact of modern capitalism on human behavior and the importance of individual self-realization within societal structures.
1900–1980·lived 79 years
Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.The Art of Loving, p. 27, 1956
The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane.
Man does not suffer so much from poverty today as he suffers from the fact that he has become a cog in a large machine, an automaton, that his life has become empty and lost its meaning.
The more a person realizes the dignity of the soul, the less they find themselves in conflict with others.
Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?The Revolution of Hope, p. 123, 1968
Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.Escape from Freedom, 1941
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics, 2003
Love isn't something natural. Rather it requires discipline, concentration, patience, faith, and the overcoming of narcissism. It isn't a feeling, it is a practice.The Art of Loving, 1956
Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.The Art of Loving, Chapter IV. The Practice of Love, p. 133, 1956
While every human being has a capacity for love, its realization is one of the most difficult achievements.Man for Himself: An Inquiry Into the Psychology of Ethics, Open Road Media, 2013
That’s all 11 quotes by Erich Fromm.