If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.
— [from] The Integration of the Personality (1939) p285

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.
— [from] Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1963) p326

The attainment of wholeness requires one to stake one’s whole being. Nothing less will do; there can be no easier conditions, no substitutes, no compromises.
— [miscellaneous]

The foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of true suffering.
— [miscellaneous]

The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown.
— [miscellaneous]

The healthy man does not torture others — generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
— [miscellaneous]

The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
— [miscellaneous]

The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.
— [miscellaneous]

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.
— [miscellaneous]

Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.
— [miscellaneous]

We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
— [miscellaneous]

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart … Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.
— [miscellaneous]