Learning to Love
is Better
Than Expecting to
Be Loved
Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm and the front cover of his book, 1957 edition
Foreword by Erich Fromm
He who knows nothing, loves nothing.
PARACELSUS
The reading of this
book would be a disappointing experience for anyone who expects easy
instruction in the art of loving. This book, on the contrary, wants to show
that love is not a sentiment which can be easily indulged in by anyone,
regardless of the level of maturity reached by him. It wants to convince the
reader that all his attempts for love are bound to fail, unless he tries most
actively to develop his total personality, so as to achieve a productive
orientation; that satisfaction in individual love cannot be attained without
the capacity to love one’s neighbor, without true humility, courage, faith and
discipline. In a culture in which these qualities are rare, the attainment of
the capacity to love must remain a rare achievement. Or - anyone can ask himself
how many truly loving persons he has known.
Yet, the difficulty of the task must not be a reason
to abstain from trying to know the difficulties as well as the conditions for
its achievement. (….)
000
Date of the
present online edition of “The Art of
Loving”: January 2014.
000
In September 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the
esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists, whose
priorities include the building of a better future in the different dimensions
of life.
000
