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.
He can give me what you cannot. Death is not a lover. Oh yes, he is.
you can measure the size of a person by what makes him or her angry
Faith is a dark night for man, but in this very way it gives him light.
All men contain several men inside them, and most of us bounce from one self to another without ever knowing who we are.
I hate facts. I always say the chief end of man is to form general propositions - adding that no general proposition is worth a damn.
We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
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