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Irvin D. Yalom

Irvin D. Yalom Quotes

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Famous Irvin D. Yalom Quotes

“If people in their 20s had more death awareness, would that in fact temper their ambition or drive? My hunch is yes. It would certainly do something for those who are most ruthless, who tend to make others most miserable. Some sort of greater awareness of their own finiteness and what their time on earth really is, and what they really want to do with their lives, could help improve them.”

PeopleIfsWantFactsHelpingEarthGreaterAwarenessAmbitionMiserableTemperRuthlessHunchesTime On Earth
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“What? 'Borderline patients play games'? That what you said? Ernest, you'll never be a real therapist if you think like that. That's exactly what I meant earlier when I talked about the dangers of diagnosis. There are borderlines and there are borderlines. Labels do violence to people. You can't treat the label; you have to treat the person behind the label. (17)”

PeopleIfsThinkingPersonsSaidRealPlayGamesBehindsViolenceDangerTreatsPatientLabelsDiagnosisTherapistsBorderline
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“If we look at life in its small details, how ridiculous it all seems. It is like a drop of water seen through a microscope, a single drop teeming with protozoa. How we laugh as they bustle about so eagerly and struggle with one another. Whether here, or in the little span of human life, this terrible activity produces a comic effect”

IfsHumansLooksLittlesSeemsWaterLaughingStruggleEffectsProduceTerribleActivityDetailsRidiculousComicHuman LifeMicroscopesDrop Of WaterBustleSmall Details
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“If I'm among men who don't agree at all with my nature, I will hardly be able to accommodate myself to them without greatly changing myself. A free man who lives among the ignorant strives as far as he can to avoid their favors. A free man acts honestly, not deceptively. Only free man are genuinely useful to one another and can form true friendships. And it's absolutely permissible, by the highest right of Nature, for everyone to employ clear reason to determine how to live in a way that will allow him to flourish.”

IfsMenWayReasonAbleFormClearHighestAgreeStriveDetermineFavorsHonestlyIgnorantStrifeTrue FriendshipFree ManAccommodateChanging Myself
Author:Irvin D. Yalom
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“There was a time in our lives when we were so close that nothing seemed to obstruct our friendship and brotherhood, and only a small footbridge separated us. Just as you were about to step on it, I asked you "Do you want to cross the footbridge to me?" - Immediately you did not want to anymore; and when I asked you again you remained silent. Since then mountains and torrential rivers and whatever separates and alienates have been cast between us, and even if we wanted to get together, we couldn't. But when you now think of that little footbridge, words fail you and you sob and marvel.”

IfsThinkingWantLittlesHas BeensWantedTogetherStepsOur LivesFailingMountainRiversCrossesSilentCastsBrotherhoodYou AgainGet Together
Author:Irvin D. Yalom
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