“…it is only through our feebleness and incapacity that we are linked up with the unconscious, with the lower world of the instincts and with our fellow beings. Our virtues make us independent. In that state we do not need anybody—we are masters there; but in our inferiority we are linked up with mankind as […]
Below is an excerpt from Jung’s autobiographical book, in which this brilliant psychiatrist and psychologist describes the latest years of his life, well into his 80s. His words touch and move me; I feel in them the lived experience of a long and extraordinary life. I am grateful for the sincerity and deep humanity with […]
“The decisive question for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of his life. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid setting our interests upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance. […]
“Man always has the last word, even against God’s will. Otherwise there would be no freedom, and what would be its meaning if it could not threaten even the Threatener?” — C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 214
“I am told that I am knowledgeable or even ‘wise,’ but I cannot accept it. There was once a man who scooped a little water from a stream in his hat. What does that mean? I am not that stream. I am at the stream, but I do nothing. There are others at the stream, […]
“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. They then dwell in the house next door, and at any moment a flame may dart out and set fire to his own house. Whenever we give up, leave behind, and forget too much, there is always the danger that the things we have neglected will return with […]
“…the goal of psychic development is the Self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the Self. Linear development exists only at the very beginning; later, everything is directed toward the center.” — C.G. Jung, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” For me, this thought by Jung is vital because it explains the difference […]
““The greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of the parents.” C. G. Jung Below I share a quotation from Jung’s Autobiography, in which he comments on the same theme, namely that in the deeper layers of our psychic unconscious the connection with our ancestors is more alive than ever. It lives […]
After the publication of his book Symbols of Transformation (originally Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido), through which he revealed his differences with Freud, Jung was publicly rejected and criticized. About this period of his life he writes: “After the break with Freud, all my friends and acquaintances withdrew. My book was declared rubbish. I was […]
“Oh, those obedient, diligent, and healthy people—they always remind me of those optimistic tadpoles that, cheerfully wagging their tails, bask in the sun in some crowded rain puddle—the shallowest of all puddles—without even suspecting that by tomorrow, it will have dried up!” — C.G. Jung, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” When you are deeply immersed in the […]
“I know from experience, however, that this is not for the best—people should not be outsmarted, even when it is for their own benefit. I do not wish to push anyone off the tracks of their own misguided faith. Perhaps it would be better for that person to reach a total failure than to be […]
M. Scott Peck: “The tendency to avoid problems, as well as the emotional suffering with which they are charged, is the basis of all mental illness. Since this is characteristic of most of us, we are all mentally ill to a greater or lesser degree, and some go too far in their effort to escape […]
