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About this quote

What does it mean?
Love is characterized by high expectations and frequent failure.
In plain terms
People expect a lot from love but often fail at it.
What can you take from it?
Approach love with realistic expectations.

Where it applies

  • dating
  • marriage
  • interpersonal conflict

Putting it to work

  • communicate openly
  • manage expectations

Questions to consider

  • Why does love fail?
  • How do you improve love?

Another view

Many love relationships succeed through sustained effort.

More from Erich Fromm

  1. There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail.

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  2. There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives to his life by the unfolding of his powers.

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  3. The scars left from the child's defeat in the fight against irrational authority are to be found at the bottom of every neurosis.

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