Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Frommwas a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPsychologist
Date of Birth23 March 1900
CountryUnited States of America
life power men
There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.
love oneness erotic
Erotic love begins with separateness, and ends in oneness. Motherly love begins with oneness, and leads to separateness.
philosophy life-and-death people
People seek a new orientation, a new philosophy, one which is centered on the priorities of life-physically and spiritually-and not on the priorities of death.
faith real pregnancy
Faith is not a weak form of belief or knowledge; it is not faith in this or that; faith is the conviction about the not yet proven, the knowledge of the real possibility, the awareness of pregnancy.
children character parent
The most important influence on a child is the character of its parents, rather than this or that single event.
happiness men thrill
Modern man's happiness consists in the thrill of looking at the shop windows, and in buying all that he can afford to buy, either for cash or on installments.
men saint human-nature
Even the most sadistic and destructive man is human, as human as the saint.
men heaven vision
Modern man, if he dared to be articulate about his concept of heaven, would describe a vision which would look like the biggest department store in the world, showing new things and gadgets, and himself having plenty of money with which to buy them.
sadism instinct sexuality
When blended with sexuality, the death instinct is transformed into more harmless impulses expressed in sadism or masochism.
civilization way becoming
We are not on the way to greater individualism, but are becoming an increasingly manipulated mass civilization.
love-life life-and-death life-is
Mobilizing the love of life is the only force that can defeat the love for the dead.
men fellow-man commodity
Modern man is alienated from himself, from his fellow men, and from nature. He has been transformed into a commodity, experiences his life forces as an investment which must bring him the maximum profit obtainable under existing market conditions.
passion wish drink
I only wish to be the fountain of love from which you drink, every drop promising eternal passion.
moving sadness essence
Love, experienced thus, is a constant challenge; it is not a resting place, but a moving, growing, working together; even whether there is harmony or conflict; joy or sadness, is secondary to the fundamental fact that two people experience themselves from the essence of their existence, that they are only one with each other by being one with themselves, rather than by fleeing from themselves.