Quotessence
Home / Books / Escape from Freedom

Escape from Freedom

Book by Erich Fromm · 3 quotes · 1941, Psikoloji, Men

Filter quotes by topic

All1941PsikolojiMenFreedomAuthoritarianismIndividualMartin LutherCalvinismIfsPredestinationSola FideLutheranismProtestant ReformationProtestantismSubmissionKindNazismNeedsPersons1969

Escape from Freedom Quotes

“Calvin's theory of predestination has one implication which should be explicitly mentioned here, since it has found its most vigorous revival in Nazi ideology: the principle of the basic inequality of men. For Calvin there are two kinds of people—those who are saved and those who are destined to eternal damnation. Since this fate is determined before they are born and without their being able to change it by anything they do or do not do in their lives, the equality of mankind is denied in principle. Men are created unequal. This principle implies also that there is no solidarity between men, since the one factor which is the strongest basis for human solidarity is denied: the equality of man's fate. The Calvinists quite naïvely thought that they were the chosen ones and that all others were those whom God had condemned to damnation. It is obvious that this belief represented psychologically a deep contempt and hatred for other human beings—as a matter of fact, the same hatred with which they had endowed God. While modern thought has led to an increasing assertion of the equality of men, the Calvinists' principle has never been completely mute. The doctrine that men are basically unequal according to their racial background is confirmation of the same principle with a different rationalization. The psychological implications are the same.”

RacismNazismPredestinationCalvinismPuritanism1941Sola FideCreated EqualGod Hates Us All
Book:Escape from Freedom
Create image

“The Reformation is one root of the idea of human freedom and autonomy as it is represented in modern democracy. However, while this aspect is always stressed, especially in non-Catholic countries, its other aspect—its emphasis on the wickedness of human nature, it insignificance and powerlessness of the individual, and the necessity for the individual to subordinate himself to a power outside himself—is neglected. This idea of the unworthiness of the individual, his fundamental inability to rely on himself and his need to submit, is also the main theme of Hitler's ideology, which, however, lacks the emphasis on freedom and moral principles which was inherent to Protestantism.”

FascismWickednessNazismProtestantism1941Protestant Reformation
Book:Escape from Freedom
Create image