Carl Jung

1875 - 1961

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Known for his concepts of the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the process of individuation, Jung made significant contributions to the field of psychology and is considered one of the most important figures in the development of modern psychology.

A man who is not on fire is nothing.

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.

Follow that will and that way which experience confirms to be your own.

We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything more.

The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.

Civilization in Transition, CW 10, p. 279, 1964

No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown allies will come and seek you.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 399

Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.

Psychology and Religion, p. 131, 1938

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life and you will call it fate.

The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche", Collected Works, Vol. 8, p. 234

Ultimately everything depends on the quality of the individual, but our fatally short-sighted age thinks only in terms of large numbers and mass organizations.

The Undiscovered Self", 1957, p. 27

The most dangerous things in the world are immense accumulations of human beings who are manipulated by only a few heads.

Civilization in Transition, "The State," p. 456, 1957

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

Psychology of the Transference, Collected Works, Vol. 16, p. 194

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.

Psychology and Alchemy, p. 99, 1944

A tree that wants to reach up into heaven has to grow its roots all the way into hell.

Psychology and Alchemy, p. 294, 1944

I must also have a dark side if I am to be whole.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 399, 1963

Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.

The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man, Collected Works, Vol. 10, Civilization in Transition, para. 178

The foundation of all mental illness is the unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering.

The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.

We deem those happy who from the experience of life have learnt to bear its ills without being overcome by them.

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.

The ultimate aim of the ego is not to see something, but to be something.

Psychological Reflections: A New Anthology of Quotations, p. 98, 1953

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 387

Where your fear is, there is your task.

Letters Vol. II, Pages 205-206

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

Psychology and Religion, p. 584, 1938

No tree can grow to Heaven unless it’s roots reach down to Hell.

Symbols of Transformation, p. 350, 1952

Neurotic problems are the language of the unconscious emerging into social awareness.

The Symbolic Life", Collected Works, Vol. 18, p. 256

Man’s task is to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 341, 1963

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 399

Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 356

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

'Psychology and Alchemy,' Collected Works, Vol. 12, p. 78, 1944

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.

Letters, Volume 1: 1906-1950", page 493, 1973

Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.

If a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely.

Psychological Reflections, p. 159, 1953

Those who look outside, dream. Those who look inside, awaken.

Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.

Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.

Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.

Two Essays on Analytical Psychology," p. 141 (1928; revised edition 1966)

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases." Memories, Dreams, Reflections, 1961

The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 355

Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.

Psychological Reflections, p. 167, 1953

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 325, 1963

Where love rules, there is no will to power, and where power predominates, love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.

Civilization in Transition (Collected Works, Vol. 10), para. 462

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

Psychological Types", 1921, page 398

An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.

Before you heal someone, ask him if he's willing to give up the things that make him sick.

Loneliness is the way by which destiny endeavors to lead man to himself.

Memories Dreams and Reflections, Page 356

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 399 (some editions), 1963