647 Quotes by Erich Fromm

Man is the only animal who does not feel at home in nature, who can feel evicted from paradise, the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem that he has to solve and from which he cannot escape. He cannot go back to the prehuman state of harmony with nature, and he does not know where he will arrive if he goes forward. Man's existential contradiction results in a state of constant disequilibrium. This disequilibrium distinguishes him from the animal, which lives, as it were, in harmony with nature.

Socialism is the abolition of human self-alienation, the return of man as a real human being.

Understanding a person does not mean condoning; it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were God or a judge placed above him.

What is it that distinguishes man from animals? It is not his upright posture.

Infantile love follows the principle: ""I love because I am loved."" Mature love follows the principle: ""I am loved because I love."" Immature love says: ""I love you because I need you."" Mature love says: ""I need you because I love you.

Ideas become powerful only if they appear in the flesh; an idea which does not lead to action by the individual and by groups remains at best a paragraph or a footnote in a book.

The destruction of the world is the last, almost desperate attempt to save myself from being crushed by it

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says: 'I need you because I love you'

Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self.