Quotes by

Erich Fromm

To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime. – Erich Fromm

In the nineteenth century the problem was that God is dead. In the twentieth century the problem is that man is dead. – Erich Fromm

There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail. – Erich Fromm

Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others. – 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

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. – Erich Fromm

We all dream we do not understand our dreams, yet we act as if nothing strange goes on in our sleep minds, strange at least by comparison with the logical, purposeful doings of our minds when we are awake. – Erich Fromm

Man always dies before he is fully born. – Erich Fromm

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. – Erich Fromm

The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science. – Erich Fromm

Education makes machines which act like men and produces men who act like machines. – Erich Fromm

The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that man may become robots. – Erich Fromm

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. – Erich Fromm

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence. – Erich Fromm

We are not only less reasonable and less decent in our dreams… we are also more inteligent, wiser and capable of better judgment when we are asleep than when we are awake. – 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

Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age? – Erich Fromm

Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. – Erich Fromm