80 phrases by Carl Jung to rethink your existence
Carl Jung was one of Freud's disciples who later disagreed with him to the point of developing different "schools" of therapy. Specific, he founded what today is called Deep Psychology or Analytical Psychology .
This type of psychology considers the existence of a collective unconscious from which various inherited and transmitted archetypes start, as well as a personal unconscious in which the conflicts inherent in the experience of the subject itself remain, in the form of complexes. All this is evolving so that the subject is building his identity, his sameness.
For Jung, the symbolic and representative like dreams and artistic expressions they are of great importance, allowing to clarify the content of the unconscious in the conscience, as well as the spiritual (dimension of the person to whom it gave great value).
In order to better understand his vision of life and of the psyche, in this article you can find 80 phrases by Carl Jung .
80 phrases by Carl Gustav Jung
The vision of Jung with respect to the human psyche and the diverse aspects that configure us as people It has a marked symbolic and even spiritual tinge . To better understand Jung's work, you can review the following reflections by the author.
1. The meeting of two people is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is a reaction, both are transformed
In this sentence Jung reflects on the capacity of the human being to provoke a reaction in the other and the importance of human contact in development, the process of change and the vital transformation.
2. Know all the theories. Master all the techniques, but touching a human soul is just another human soul
This phrase refers to the fact that regardless of our knowledge and abilities, we are human beings who deal with other human beings. A cold and distant treatment can be harmful, being essential the establishment of trust relationships from the understanding and unconditional acceptance.
3. One does not attain enlightenment by fantasizing about the light but by making the darkness aware ... what does not become conscious manifests itself in our lives as destiny
Jung urges us with this phrase to let go our unconscious side and allow the expression of the instincts, without repressing them out of fear or fear.
4. The main function of dreams is to try to restore our psychological balance
In this sentence we see how for Jung dreams are elements that pretend to clarify our conscience.
5. Unlived life is a disease from which one can die
The repression and inhibition of being itself makes it difficult for us to live the life we really want or need to lead, causing deep frustration and suffering.
6. You are what you do, not what you say you are going to do
This phrase impels us to act instead of promising or thinking about doing it.
7. People will do any case, no matter how absurd this may be, to avoid facing their own souls.
The fear of oneself, which they will say or a high level of moral rigidity causes us to do behaviors that pretend to occupy our time or deny our own essence, not accepting ourselves.
8. The shoe that fits one man squeezes another; there is no recipe for life that works in all cases
What works for another can be harmful to you. This can be applied to multiple areas of life, from the level of psychological treatments to ways of coping with certain conflicts.
9. If you are a talented person, it does not mean that you have already received something. It means you can give something
This phrase impels us to offer and give the best of ourselves and our abilities, seeking good. Talent is a gift to offer to the world.
10. Great talents are the most charming and often the most dangerous fruits in the tree of humanity. Hang on the thinnest and easiest branches to break
Talent comes largely from effort, but care and restraint must be taken to achieve it. Generally, in addition, the talent has to be cultivated and taken care of or else it could vanish.
11. No one, as long as he moves among the chaotic currents of life, is without problems
Living involves facing vicissitudes and difficulties and finding obstacles that we must overcome in order to achieve our goals. A life without any problems does not exist, or is limited to survive without living.
12. I am not what happened to me. I am what I chose to be
Our past can mark us in multiple ways and can predispose us to act in certain ways. However, we can always choose what to do in the future and how we are going to follow our path. The past has already happened, we have to choose what to do now and in the future.
13. The privilege of a life is to become who you really are
Be who one is. Find a balance in our conflicts and develop our identity by living according to it.
14. Your vision will only become clear when you can look into your own heart. Who looks out, dreams; who looks in, wakes up
Jung advocates that self-awareness and knowledge of our nature It is necessary in order to understand ourselves and be able to achieve a balance and objectives that harmonize with it.
15. Everything in creation is essentially subjective and the dream is a theater where the dreamer is at the same time stage, actor, manager, author, public and critic
In this sentence we are told about subjectivity and dreams as an element of representation of our psyche.
16. The dream is the small door hidden in the deepest and most intimate sanctuary of the soul
Again the author tells us the value of dreams in their connection with the expression of our desires.
17. Those who learn nothing of the unpleasant facts of life force the cosmic consciousness to reproduce them as many times as necessary to learn what the drama of what happened teaches. What you deny submits to you; what you accept transforms you
Suffering, however painful, allows us to learn different aspects of life. Not accepting it supposes that it will tend to repeat the same pattern of behavior, while doing so brings us closer to overcoming it.
18. Loneliness does not come because you do not have people around you, but because you can not communicate the things that seem important to you, or to maintain certain points of view that others consider inadmissible
Jung reflect on what it means to feel alone , something different from being physically.
19. In one way or another we are part of a single all-encompassing mind, a single great human being
We are all connected between us. This phrase also connects with the idea of the existence of a collective unconscious through which we transmit elements such as archetypes.
20. There are as many nights as there are days, and each lasts the same as the next day. Even the happiest life can not be measured without a few moments of darkness, and the word happy would lose all meaning if it were not balanced by sadness
We are able to know what happiness is because there are times when we are not, which allows us to value it. The life we live is a balance between opposites.
21. Show me a sane man and I will heal for you
We all have our problems. Even people who do not manifest psychopathology suffer and will suffer various circumstances throughout life and may need help.
22. If there is something we want to change in the child, we must first examine it and see if it is not something that could be better to change in ourselves
Each person is as he is and has his own way of seeing the world. Before trying to change the characteristics of others it is necessary to take into account where they come from, since sometimes we are the ones who cause these characteristics. In addition, it may be that what needs to be changed is not a feature that bothers us but the fact that it bothers us.
23. There can be no transformation from darkness to light and from apathy to movement without emotions
Emotions are a main element to take into account when explaining our behavior. Working only at the behavioral level may not generate a real change if there is no motivation to do so.
24. Fanaticism is an overcompensation of doubt
The taking of extremist positions comes for Jung from an attempt to fight against uncertainty and doubt through overcorrective methods.
25. I simply believe that some part of the self or the human soul is not subject to the laws of space and time
Jung's spiritual facet comes to light in this sentence.
26. A man who has not passed through the hell of his passions has never overcome them
Overcoming something means facing it despite the pain that may cause us.
27. The most terrifying thing is to accept yourself completely
Accepting both our person and our shadow, both what we express and what we repress, is something tremendously complex. We all have a good side and a dark side.
28. The knowledge of your own darkness is the best method to deal with the darkness of other people
Being aware of the totality of one's own nature can help us to understand the presence of similar elements in others, both in what is expressed and in the occult, and help them to understand each other and live their lives satisfactorily.
29. That which you resist, persists
Resisting something is just a way for it to remain in our mind and present itself again in the future.
30. We can come to think that we control ourselves completely. However, a friend can easily tell us something we did not have the slightest idea about
Although we often believe that no one knows us better than we do, sometimes we express things that we are not even aware of. Others can teach us things about ourselves that we did not know about.
31. The greater the crowd, the more insignificant the person is
Human beings tend to dissolve partially when we are in the crowd.
32. Consciousness is a condition of being
Being aware is a fundamental part of being and knowing who we are.Without consciousness there could not be a me.
33. Nothing has a stronger psychological influence on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of a father
What we live and what we repress not only has an effect on us, but through our actions we transmit it to the environment and the people around us.
34. Time is a child who plays like a child. I am one but opposed to myself I am young and old at the same time
In this sentence, Jung talks about self-consciousness. We are who we are all our lives, no matter how old we are, although different aspects may change throughout the development.
35. All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to the amortization of the imagination?
The art and the expression They have their origin in the capacity for fantasy and creativity, aspects linked to our emotions, our nature and impulses. This idea has a lot to do with Jung's emphasis on analyzing works of artistic and cultural expression, through which the archetypes could be recognized .
- Related article: "The archetypes according to Carl Gustav Jung"
36. The unconscious can reserve essential messages for ears that know how to listen
Introspection can serve as a mechanism to get to find out unconscious aspects of oneself. Likewise, specialized and skilled people can help uncover the unconscious elements trapped in others.
37. When love is the norm, there is no will to power, and where power prevails, love is lacking
Amar supposes not wanting to dominate the other, not establishing relations of superiority or inferiority with the loved person or object. If this happens, there really is no true love.
38. Do not hold back those who are far away from you, because that is the way people who want to get closer will not come
The meaning of this phrase leads us to let things flow and stop living from the past, or we can miss great opportunities.
39. Art is a kind of innate unity that seizes a human being and turns him into his instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with free will that seeks his own benefit, but an art that allows to realize his purpose through him
Jung reflects his opinion about what art supposes, and its irrationality.
40. Everything that irritates us about others leads us to an understanding of ourselves
In this sentence we are told that the fact that something irritates us can allow us to discover how we are and why we find it irritating.
41. We are all born originals and we die copies.
This phrase reflects the idea that in childhood we are authentic and pure, while as we grow we are constrained by our experiences and the repression of our nature. We tend to adopt the majority behavior model .
42. The unconscious is the history of humanity since time immemorial
This phrase reflects in part the concept of collective unconscious of Jung, which allows the transmission of knowledge and information through the times and generations.
43. No psychic value can disappear without being replaced by another equivalent in intensity
Our emotions, feelings, beliefs or values do not just disappear, but they are transformed.
44. A man can take away his gods, but only to give others in return
This phrase refers to the same aspect as the previous one. What we believe, what we value, think or feel can not simply vanish, but can only be transformed.
45. The healthy man does not torture others, it is usually the tortured who becomes the torturer
In this sentence it is established that generally the person who harms others is because previously it has been damaged (it is important to bear in mind that the relationship does not happen in reverse, that is, not all the tortured become torturers).
46. The separation of psychology from the premises of biology is purely artificial, because the human psyche lives in an indissoluble union with the body
Despite being deeply spiritual, Jung believed that body and mind are united and influence each other .
- Maybe you're interested: "Dualism in Psychology"
47. We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect. The judgment of the intellect is only part of the truth
The sensations and intuitions are an important part when it comes to helping explain the world. Using only logic limits our point of view.
48. Children are educated by what the great does and not by what he says.
Words can be important, but what we record in our memory since childhood is what our referents do.
49. Every form of addiction is bad, it does not matter if the narcotic is alcohol, morphine or idealism
Circumscribing our way of acting only based on one aspect of our life is harmful and harmful.
50. When the most intense conflicts are overcome, they leave a sense of security and tranquility that is not easily disturbed. It is only these intense conflicts and their conflagration that are needed to produce valuable and lasting results
The resolution of important conflicts for us is fundamental and necessary in order to modify our way of seeing life and acting, while its resolution allows us to feel satisfaction and well-being.
51. If you do not understand another person, you tend to consider him crazy
The lack of understanding is what leads to confrontation, and this together with other factors can lead to criticism and to consider that the other errs or even that he does not enjoy good mental health.
52. Complexes are psychic contents that are beyond the control of the conscious mind. They have split off from consciousness and lead a separate existence in the unconscious, being at all times ready to hinder or reinforce conscious intentions
The complexes with Jung repressed elements of the psyche that cause great problems when acting, usually caused by the experience of stressful, painful and traumatic events. These contents are separated from the conscious psyche due to the pain they generate.
53. The unconscious is not a bad thing by nature, it is also a source of well-being. Not only darkness but also light, not only beastly and demonic, but also spiritual and divine
Often the unconscious, the instinct and the drive are understood as something brutal and that it has negative connotations, but it also supposes the birth of passion, art, expression, kindness or love.
54. The word belief is something difficult for me. I don `t believe. I have to have a reason for a certain hypothesis. Or I know one thing, and then, I know I do not need to believe
What is a belief? Where does it come from? Jung considered that behind them there was a certain reason that makes them more than mere beliefs.
55. The pendulum of the mind alternates between meaning and nonsense, not between good and evil
Good and evil are concepts created by the human being. We simply act in a certain way that may or may not make sense or be coherent.
56. We can not change anything until we accept it. The sentence does not release, she oppresses
Condemning something, repressing it, only causes it to hide and prevents it from being modified.
57. I have been accused of being a defender of the soul. It was not me but God himself who defended her
A phrase that reflects Jung's belief in the human soul .
58. The man who does not perceive the drama of his own end is not in normality but in pathology, and he would have to lie on the stretcher and be healed
Death is something that most people worry about because, after all, it means facing the unknown and the end of life.
59. Everything depends on how we see things, and not on the way they are in themselves
Our perception of things determines how we act and what they mean to us. It is our point of view about them that determines what the facts mean, and not what it really is.
60. Knowledge is not based on the truth only but also on the error
To err is something normal and it supposes an opportunity. To make mistakes it is necessary to learn and develop . One of Carl Jung's most inspiring phrases.
61. We are born at a given moment in which it takes place and like good wines we have the qualities of the year and the season in which we have come to this world. Astrology should not justify anything else
Astrology is another of the fields in which Jung showed interest, linking it with the existence of some innate characteristics in people. This, among other things, moves Jung away from science.
62. Often the hands will solve a mystery with which the intellect has struggled with it in vain
Jung indicates in this sentence that the intellect is not everything, and that often our body and our instinct can respond to what reason does not reach.
63. Through pride we deceive ourselves. But in the background below the surface of the average consciousness a soft and gentle voice tells us that something is out of tune
Pride is just a way to try to deceive yourself despite the fact that deep down we know that we are not acting correctly or with truth.
64. From the middle of life forward, only those who are prepared to die alive remain vital.
Aging sometimes induces us to worry and focus on death and what might happen instead of living in itself and trying to follow our nature,
65. We need to learn that the giver of all things resides within us. This is a truth that in front of all evidence, in the greatest and smallest things, you never know, although it is often so necessary, even vital, for us to know it
It is we ourselves who live our lives, and our actions that govern it.
66. It is surprising that man, the instigator, inventor and vehicle of all these events, the author of all judgments and decisions and the planning of the future, is so negligent
The human being has made great discoveries and has developed a great amount of skills, knowledge, technologies and forms of expression. However, human nature is negligent and often neglects essential aspects, including itself.
67In science we must always be attentive to the fact that there are human veils that hide the abysmal darkness of the unknown
In this sentence Jung talks about the possibility of finding biases and even interests in investigations that are carried out and that can compromise the results.
68. The human being who promises everything is sure to do nothing and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using diabolical means to carry out his promises and is already on the path of perdition
We can not commit to everything and everyone, and whoever does too much or will have to break their commitment or use harmful means for themselves and / or others, wearing them out.
69. The erotic instinct belongs to the original nature of man ... It is related to the highest form of spirit
Although Jung did not consider that sex was the main motor of human behavior, sexuality and sensuality form an important part of the human being, linking eroticism to spirituality.
70. It is much better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity
What happens to us is not always controllable regardless of how much we worry, so it is much more adaptive to be able to tolerate uncertainty and accept what may come.
71. There is no language that can not be misinterpreted. Each interpretation is hypothetical, since it is a simple attempt to read an unknown text
It all depends on how we see things. Regardless of how objective something may seem, others will always interpret it in their own way and may reach different conclusions regarding the same reality.
72. Without playing with fantasy, no creative work has ever been born. The debt we have with the work of the imagination is incalculable
Creativity and unconscious are always deeply linked, and thanks to this we can develop and generate new contents and elements.
73. The small world of childhood with its family environment is a model of the world. The more intensely the character of the family forms, the child will adapt better to the world
The family environment is what gives us values and the one who educates us and prepares us to see the outside world. It is something of great importance in order to forge a good adaptation to it.
74. As a general rule, the great decisions of human life have much more to do with instincts and other mysterious unconscious factors than with conscious will and a sense of reasonableness
When making decisions, we usually reflect to a large extent on the pros and cons of each option, but instinct usually ends up driving the taking of a concrete option.
75. The worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be fully understood
A reflection on the fact that the complete comprehension of something or someone can be inconvenient both for the understood and for the one who understands, but especially for the first one.
76. There is no awareness without pain
Feeling pain is inevitable, and it helps us to be aware of ourselves and our relationship with reality and with our own self.
77. All Mythology can be understood as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious. We can see this more clearly when we look at stellar constellations, those originally chaotic forms were organized through the projection of images. This explains the influence of the stars as asserted by astrologers. These influences are nothing less than unconscious and introspective perceptions of the Collective Unconscious
The collective unconscious, the images and concepts inherited and transmitted generationally, is an important part of Jung's psyche. He considers that from these images come the archetypes, internalized images of our own nature, and that from it the myths and legends of each people have been forged.
78. The wine of adolescence does not always clear up as the years go by, sometimes it becomes turbid
Time per se does not have to cure the wounds or improve the aspects of each person, but it is the performance that does it.
79. Astrology represents the sum of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity
Again we can see that for Jung astrology is an important element, since it reflects the beliefs and what the ancients knew about the psyche.
80. As far as we can reach, the only meaning of human existence is to light a light in the darkness of mere being
Finding ourselves and living according to what and how we are is for Jung the main meaning of life.
