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R. D. Laing

R. D. Laing Quotes

Psychiatrist

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Famous R. D. Laing Quotes

“Before one goes through the gate one may not be aware there is a gate One may think there is a gate to go through and look a long time for it without finding it One may find it and it may not open If it opens one may be through it As one goes through it one sees that the gate one went through was the self that went through it no one went through a gate there was no gate to go through no one ever found a gate no one ever realized there was never a gate”

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Book:Knots
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“In certain cases, a man blind from birth may have an operation performed which gives him his sight. The result: frequently misery, confusion, disorientation. The light that illumines the madman is an unearthly light, but I do not believe it is a projection, an emanation from his mundane ego. He is irradiated by a light that is more than he. It may burn him out.”

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Author:R. D. Laing
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“The schizophrenic may indeed be mad. He is mad. He is not ill. I have been told by people who have been through the mad experience how what was then revealed to them was veritable manna from Heaven. The person's whole life may be changed, but it is difficult not to doubt the validity of such vision. Also, not everyone comes back to us again.”

PeopleMayPersonsHas BeensWholeHeavenDifficultVisionDoubtChangedMadnessMadIllWhole LifeValiditySchizophrenic
Author:R. D. Laing
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“In a world full of danger, to be a potentially seeable object is to be constantly exposed to danger. Self-consciousness, then, may be the apprehensive awareness of oneself as potentially exposed to danger by the simple fact of being visible to others. The obvious defence against such a danger is to make oneself invisible in one way or another.”

WorldWayMaySelfFactsSimpleConsciousnessAwarenessDangerObjectsOneselfObviousInvisibleOne WayVisibleExposedDefenceSelf Consciousness
Author:R. D. Laing
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“The individual in the ordinary circumstances of living may feel more unreal than real; in a literal sense, more dead than alive; precariously differentiated from the rest of the world, so that his identity and autonomy are always in question.... He may not possess an over-riding sense of personal consistency or cohesiveness. He may feel more insubstantial than substantial, and unable to assume that the stuff he is made of is genuine, good, valuable. And he may feel his self as partially divorced from his body.”

WorldFeelsMayMadeRealSelfBodyIndividualStuffAliveIdentityCircumstancesOrdinaryAssumingIndividualityValuableGenuineRidingConsistencyAutonomyDivorcedLiteralUnrealCohesiveness
Author:R. D. Laing
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