Reading Notes: To Have or to Be? The Nature of the Psyche

Erich Fromm

"As long as everybody wants to have more, there must be formations of classes, there must be class war, and in global terms, there must be international war. Greed and peace preclude each other."

"Living structures can be only if they become; they can exist only if they change."

"Modern consumers may identify themselves by the formula: I am = what I have and what I consume."

"Rational authority is built on competence, and it helps the person who leans on it to grow. Irrational authority is built on power and serves to exploit the person subjected to it. "

"Faith, in the having mode, is a crutch for those who want to be certain, those who want an answer to life without daring to search for it themselves."

"...human beings have an unconditional right to live, regardless of whether they do their 'duty to society' . It is a right we guarantee to our pets, but not to our fellow beings."