Erich Fromm Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Erich Fromm quotes, Erich Fromm sayings, and Erich Fromm proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self. Erich Fromm
Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence. Erich Fromm
Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others. Erich Fromm
One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often. Erich Fromm
The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the source of all anxiety. Erich Fromm
Men are born equal but they are also born different. Erich Fromm
Just as modern mass production requires the standardization of commodities, so the social process requires standardization of man, and this standardization is called equality. Erich Fromm
Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. Erich Fromm
Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either. Erich Fromm
Boredom is nothing but the experience of a paralysis of our productive powers. Erich Fromm
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. Erich Fromm
Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either. Erich Fromm
To spare oneself from grief at all cost can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness. Erich Fromm
Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before. Erich Fromm
The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers. Erich Fromm
Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality. Erich Fromm
There is only one meaning of life: the act of living itself. Erich Fromm
Giving is the highest expression of potency...Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness. Erich Fromm
Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says: 'I need you because I love you Erich Fromm
Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. Erich Fromm
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. Erich Fromm
It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas and feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consensual validation as such has no bearing on reason or mental health. Erich Fromm
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. Erich Fromm
Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.' Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you Erich Fromm
Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.  Erich Fromm
Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies. Erich Fromm
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. Erich Fromm
If I perceive in another person mainly the surface, I perceive mainly the differences, that which separates us. If I penetrate to the core, I perceive our identity, the fact of our brotherhood. Erich Fromm
To spare oneself from grief at all cost can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness. Erich Fromm
Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.' Erich Fromm