Thus, the ultimate choice for a man, inasmuch as he is driven to transcend himself, is to create or to destroy, to love or to hate. Erich Fromm More Quotes by Erich Fromm More Quotes From Erich Fromm There is a creative pleasure, which, for instance, the artisan in the Middle Ages, or in a country like Mexico, still today has - namely the pleasure of creating something. You find quite a few skilled workers who still have that pleasure: maybe in a steel mill; maybe a worker who works with a complicated machine - he has a sense that he is creating something. Erich Fromm creatingcreativecountry From my personal experience I can conclude that many dreams are clearly written but there are some in which one meets distortions to decipher. And it is really in knowing when one must prefer the one or the other approach, or a combination of the two, that remains one of the important elements of the art of dream interpretation. Erich Fromm dreamtwoart We are terribly imaginative, as far as technique in science is concerned. As far as changes in social arrangements are concerned, we lack utterly in imagination. Erich Fromm techniqueimaginationsocial What is for me socialism is exactly the opposite of a bureaucratically-managed culture. Erich Fromm socialismoppositesculture I feel worried, deeply worried, only about one thing - the possibility that we fall... that we cannot avoid an atomic war. Erich Fromm worriedwarfall I think the Russians might do away with the terror in twenty or thirty or years, when they are richer, and when they don't need these repressive methods so much. Erich Fromm twentiesyearsthinking The Russians have succeeded in one thing: they have sold the world the idea that they represent socialism and the ideas of Marx,and we have done the greatest service to their propaganda by agreeing that that's what it is. Erich Fromm doneworldideas In fact, there are very important writings of Marx which are not even translated into English. Erich Fromm importantwritingfacts What we have in common is a mass men, a mass bureaucracy, and a manipulation of everyone to act smoothly, but with the illusion that he follows his own decisions and opinions. Erich Fromm manipulationdecisionmen I want to mention that Marx shares something, if you don't mind the comparison, with the Old Testament: many people talk about him, but nobody has read him. Erich Fromm mindwantpeople I would consider a socialism a mixture of the minimum of centralization necessary for a modern industrial state, and a maximum of decentralization. Erich Fromm mixturessocialismmodern I see socialism in the direction, of management, of enterprise, by all who work in the enterprise. Erich Fromm socialismenterprisemanagement I would define myself as a Marxian, and that means of course also as a humanist. Erich Fromm courseshumanistmean This Marxian sentence, repeated to the point of boredom, is misinterpreted. In reality [Karl] Marx was a "religious" man. Erich Fromm religiousmenreality I think [Karl] Marx, Pope John XXIII or Rosa Luxemburg [had achieved the mode of existence].But it would be useless to look at a list of illustrious names. Erich Fromm would-benamesthinking The fact is that the culture does not have only positive effects on our intellectual and moral functions but also negative effects. Erich Fromm intellectualdoenegative Ger-mans love the ambiguous word, verbal assonances as ends in themselves,vague concepts. Anglosaxons are more clear. Erich Fromm ambiguousassonanceends In our enthusiasm to dominate nature and to produce more material good - goods - we have transformed means into ends. Erich Fromm endsenthusiasmmean [Sigmund ] Freud assumes that every dream represents the satisfaction of adesire and in the last analysis, of a sexual desire that has its roots in infancy. Erich Fromm rootsdreamdesire I think we got off the track, as many societies do, who follow successfully one aim, and yet are not capable of seeing at what point the pursuit of this aim prevents them from following a more total aim. That is to say, they get into a blind alley. Erich Fromm trackblindthinking
