The real opposition is that between the ego-bound man, whose existence is structured by the principle of having, and the free man, who has overcome his egocentricity.
Interpretation
The quote contrasts those who live for material accumulation with those who achieve true freedom by transcending selfish desires.
Erich Fromm's quote highlights the fundamental conflict between two types of individuals: the ego-bound man, who is defined by his possessions and the pursuit of material wealth, and the free man, who liberates himself from egocentric thinking. Fromm suggests that genuine freedom is attained not through having more, but by overcoming self-centeredness and embracing a more profound sense of existence that prioritizes connection and understanding over material gain.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about personal growth and self-awareness.
Love, experienced thus, is a constant challenge; it is not a resting place, but a moving, growing, working together; even whether there is harmony or conflict; joy or sadness, is secondary to the fundamental fact that two people experience themselves from the essence of their existence, that they are only one with each other by being one with themselves, rather than by fleeing from themselves.
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.
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.
To have faith requires courage, the ability to take a risk, the readiness even to accept pain and disappointment. Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner. To be loved, and to love, need courage, the courage to judge certain values as of ultimate concern β and to take the jump and to stake everything on these values.
In times of change, learners inherit the earth
In the nineteenth century the problem was that God is dead. In the twentieth century the problem is that man is dead.
One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world.
Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.
To cease from evil, to do good, and to purify the mind yourself, this is the teaching of all the Buddhas.
There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It was when I realised I had a new nationality: I was in exile. I am an adulterous resident: when I am in one city, I am dreaming of the other. I am an exile; citizen of the country of longing.
Jealousy is the greatest of all evils, and the one that arouses the least pity in the person who causes it.
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