Thomas Szasz
» Adulthood » “Adulthood is the ever-shrinking period between childhood and old age. It is the apparent aim of modern industrial societies to reduce this period to a minimum.”
» Adulthood » “A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.”
» Aid and Assistance » “The proverb warns; ”Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.”
» Body » “Addiction, obesity, starvation (anorexia nervosa) are political problems, not psychiatric: each condenses and expresses a contest between the individual and some other person or persons in his environment over the control of the individual’s body.”
» Conceit » “Narcissist: psychoanalytic term for the person who loves himself more than his analyst; considered to be the manifestation of a dire mental disease whose successful treatment depends on the patient learning to love the analyst more and himself less.”
» Creation » “People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something that one finds. It is something one creates.”
» Definition » “In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.”
» Doubt » “Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions.”
» Duty » “It is easier to do one’s duty to others than to one’s self. If you do your duty to others, you are considered reliable. If you do your duty to yourself, you are considered selfish.”
» Education » “Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.”
» Excuses » “Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they make a good excuse.”
» Forgiveness » “The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the na
