The destruction of the world is the last, almost desperate attempt to save myself from being crushed by it Erich Fromm More Quotes by Erich Fromm More Quotes From Erich Fromm While every human being has a capacity for love, its realization is one of the most difficult achievements. Erich Fromm achievementrealizationlove I think if you ask people what their concept of heaven is, they would say, if they are honest, that it is a big department store, with new things every week - all the money to buy them, and maybe a little more than the neighbours. Erich Fromm heavenpeoplethinking It seems that great minds a hundred years ago saw what would happen today or tomorrow, while we to whom it is happening blind ourselves in order not to be disturbed in our daily routine. Erich Fromm destinyorderyears Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person; it is an attitude, an ordination of character which determines the relatedness of the person to the whole world as a whole, not toward one object of love Erich Fromm attitudelovecharacter If it is a virtue to love my neighbor as a human being, it must be a virtue - and not a vice - to love myself, since I am a human being too. Erich Fromm love-myselfvirtuevices We talk a great deal about Russia today, and I'm afraid that in twenty years, we and Russia will be more similar than different. Erich Fromm russiatwentiesyears The only way of full knowledge lies in the act of love; this act transcends thought, it transcends words. It is the daring plunge into the experience of union. To love somebody is not just a strong feeling-it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise. Erich Fromm stronglovelying For [Karl] Marx what counts is man. He is the root of everything;while for capitalism, the aim are things, profit, and man is only a means to gain them. As an authentically religious individual, Marx could not be other than against "religion". Erich Fromm religiousmenmean A person who has not been completely alienated, who has remained sensitive and able to feel, who has not lost the sense of dignity, who is not yet 'for sale', who can still suffer over the suffering of others, who has not acquired fully the having mode of existence - briefly, a person who has remained a person and not become a thing - cannot help feeling lonely, powerless, isolated in present-day society. Erich Fromm suffering-of-otherslonelyfeelings Love is often nothing but a favorable exchange between two people who get the most of what they can expect, considering their value on the personality market. Erich Fromm lovelifetwo Love is the only way of knowledge, which in the act of union answers my quest. In the act of loving, of giving myself, in the act of penetrating the other person, I find myself, I discover myself, I discover us both, I discover man. Erich Fromm love-isgivingmen To take the difficulties, setbacks and sorrows of life as a challenge to overcome makes us stronger, rather than unjust punishment which should not happen to us, requires faith and courage. Erich Fromm punishmentchallengesthinking The application of psychoanalysis to sociology must definitely guard against the mistake of wanting to give psychoanalytic answers where economic, technical, or political facts provide the real and sufficient explanation of sociological questions. On the other hand, the psychoanalyst must emphasize that the subject of sociology, society, in reality consists of individuals, and that it is these human beings, rather than abstract society as such, whose actions, thoughts, and feelings are the object of sociological research. Erich Fromm realmistakehands Also in contemporary Western society the union with the group is the prevalent way of overcoming separateness. It is a union which the individual self disappears to a large extent, and where the aim is to belong to the heard. If I am like everybody else, if I have no feeling or thoughts which make me different, if I conform in custom, dress, ideas, to the pattern of the group, I am saved: saved from the frightening experience of aloneness. Erich Fromm selffeelingsideas The sick individual finds himself at home with all other similarly sick individuals. The whole culture is geared to this kind of pathology. Erich Fromm sickhomeculture The human passions transform man from a mere thing into a hero, into a being that in spite of tremendous handicaps tries to make sense of life. Erich Fromm passionheromen Mother is the home we come from. Erich Fromm oceanmotherhome Love is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. A feeling comes and it may go. How can I judge that it will stay forever, when my act does not involve judgment and decision. Erich Fromm judgingloveromantic Human history began with an act of disobedience and it is not unlikely that it will be terminated by an act of obedience. Erich Fromm unlikelyobediencehumans When people can see a vision and simultaneously recognize what can be done step by step in a concrete way to achieve it, they will begin to feel encouragement and enthusiasm instead of fright. Erich Fromm visionencouragementpeople
