Erich Fromm Quotes
Erich Fromm was a German-Jewish social psychologist, psychoanalyst, and humanist philosopher associated in his early career with the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. After fleeing Nazi Germany he lived and taught in the United States and Mexico, where he integrated Freud and Marx into a sustained analysis of the character structures generated by modern capitalism. The quotes below are attributed to Erich Fromm, organized by topic.
Browse Erich Fromm by topic
Erich Fromm on Knowledge
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“Psychoanalyse und Soziologie" (1929); published as "Psychoanalysis and Sociology" as translated by Mark Ritter, in Critical Theory and Society : A Reader (1989) edited by S. E. Bronner and D. M. Kellner”
The application of psychoanalysis to sociology must definitely guard against the mistake of wanting to give psychoanalytic answers where economic, technical, or political facts provide the real and sufficient explanation of sociological questions. On the other hand, the psychoanalyst must emphasize that the subject of sociology, society, in reality consists of individuals, and that it is these hum -
“Psychoanalysis , which interprets the human being as a socialized being, and the psychic apparatus as essentially developed and determined through the relationship of the individual to society, must consider it a duty to participate in the investigation of sociological problems to the extent the human being or his/her psyche plays any part at all.”
Psychoanalyse und Soziologie" (1929); published as "Psychoanalysis and Sociology" as translated by Mark Ritter, in Critical Theory and Society : A Reader (1989) edited by S. E. Bronner and D. M. Kellner -
“Psychoanalyse und Soziologie" (1929); published as "Psychoanalysis and Sociology" as translated by Mark Ritter, in Critical Theory and Society : A Reader (1989) edited by S. E. Bronner and D. M. Kellner”
Psychoanalysis , which interprets the human being as a socialized being, and the psychic apparatus as essentially developed and determined through the relationship of the individual to society, must consider it a duty to participate in the investigation of sociological problems to the extent the human being or his/her psyche plays any part at all. -
“ABC TV (25 May 1958)”
One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often. -
“It is often said that the Arabs fled, that they left the country voluntarily, and that they therefore bear the responsibility for losing their property and their land. It is true that in history there are some instances — in Rome and in France during the Revolutions when enemies of the state were proscribed and their property confiscated. But in general international law, the principle holds true ”
Jewish Newsletter [New York] (19 May 1959); quoted in Prophets in Babylon (1980) by Marion Woolfson, p. 13 -
“Both dreams and myths are important communications from ourselves to ourselves. If we do not understand the language in which they are written, we miss a great deal of what we know and tell ourselves in those hours when we are not busy manipulating the outside world.”
As quoted in The New York Times (5 January 1964)
Erich Fromm on Life
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“Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself.”
Ch. 4 "Problems of Humanistic Ethics -
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.”
Erich Fromm on Love
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Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“To love means to commit oneself without guarantee.”
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“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”
Our society is run by a managerial bureaucracy, by professional politicians; people are motivated by mass suggestion, their aim is producing more and consuming more, as purposes in themselves. All activities are subordinated to economic goals, means have become ends; man is an automaton — well fed, well clad, but without any ultimate concern for that which is his peculiarly human quality and funct -
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love.”
Erich Fromm on Nature
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“One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often.”
ABC TV (25 May 1958)
Erich Fromm on Politics
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Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“The danger of the past was that men became slaves; the danger of the future is that men may become robots.”
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“The application of psychoanalysis to sociology must definitely guard against the mistake of wanting to give psychoanalytic answers where economic, technical, or political facts provide the real and sufficient explanation of sociological questions. On the other hand, the psychoanalyst must emphasize that the subject of sociology, society, in reality consists of individuals, and that it is these human beings, rather than abstract society as such, whose actions, thoughts, and feelings are the object of sociological research.”
Psychoanalyse und Soziologie" (1929); published as "Psychoanalysis and Sociology" as translated by Mark Ritter, in Critical Theory and Society : A Reader (1989) edited by S. E. Bronner and D. M. Kellner
Erich Fromm on Time
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“Human history began with an act of disobedience, and it is not unlikely that it will be terminated by an act of obedience.”
Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem" in On Disobedience and Other Essays (1981)
Erich Fromm on Virtue
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“Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem" in On Disobedience and Other Essays (1981)”
Human history began with an act of disobedience, and it is not unlikely that it will be terminated by an act of obedience.