Summary of Erich Fromm's To Have or To Be?

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#1 The distinction between having and being is the most crucial problem of existence. It has been proven through the study of individuals and groups that having and being are two fundamental modes of experience, and the respective strengths of which determine the differences between the characters of individuals and various types of social character.

#2 The difference between the having and being modes of existence can be illustrated by two poems by a Japanese and an English poet, respectively. Tennyson reacts to the flower by wanting to have it, while Basho simply looks at it.

#3 Goethe, the great lover of life, expressed the quality of being in many poems. He saw in the little flower a reminder that we must not forget to be joyous, employed our faculties productively, and was oned to the world.

#4 The difference between being and having is not essentially that between East and West. The difference is between a society centered around persons and one centered around things. The having orientation is typical of Western industrial society, in which greed for money, fame, and power has become the dominant theme of life.

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