avoid
being like me
a melon split into two
―Basho
Posts tagged "psychology"
Blue Highlight
For all practical purposes we take it for granted that in general the patient could not develop otherwise than she did; that in particular she could not help doing, feeling, thinking what she did do, feel, think. This viewpoint, however, is not shared by the patient. Her lofty disregard for all that means laws and necessities extends to herself too. The fact that, everything considered, her development could go only in certain directions is beneath her consideration. Whether some drive or attitude was conscious or unconscious does not matter. However insuperable the odds against which she had to struggle she should have met them with unfailing strength, courage, and equanimity. If she did not do so, it proves that she is no good.
―Neurosis and Human Growth, Karen Horney
Oath, Reaffirmed
I am because I am! means I exist because I exist and need no justification whatsoever for my existence. The fact of my being is enough. I require no terms, conditions or permits from myself or anyone else. I live, and in living I am fully entitled to go on living. My life, my existence, my being is not predicated on standards, values, achievements or accomplishments …
“How do I feel?” is a very important question as applied to people, issues, myself and especially as to my state of well-being. If I feel good, that’s good. If I feel bad, then is there anything I can do to make myself feel better? Am I involved in any way in a self-hating enterprise? Most important, do I feel bad because I haven’t accomplished enough? Achieved enough? Conformed enough? This is blackmail and antithetical to my philosophy. I must fight to give myself the right to feel good about myself and to feel good mood-wise, regardless of any accomplishment or nonaccomplishment whatsoever.
— Compassion and Self-Hate, Theodore Issac Rubin