Erich Fromm Quotes

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”

“If I am what I have, and I lose what I have, who then am I?”

“Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve.”

“Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is.”

“Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.”

“The only truly affluent are those who do not want more than they have.”

“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.”

“The more the drive toward life is thwarted, the stronger is the drive toward destruction; the more life is realized, the less is the strength of destructiveness. Destructiveness is the outcome of unlived life.”

“There is nothing inhuman, evil, or irrational which does not give some comfort, provided it is shared by a group.”

“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.”

“Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.”

“Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.”

“The task we must set for ourselves is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity.”