Erich Fromm

“The narcissistic orientation is one in which one experiences as real only that which exists within oneself.”

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”

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

“The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots.”

“The main task of a man's life is to give birth to himself.”

“To die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable.”

“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love.”

“The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same form of mental pathology does not make these people sane.”

“There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.”

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

“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.”

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

“Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person; it is an attitude, an orientation of character which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole.”

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

“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.”