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If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients

Book by Sheldon B. Kopp · 2 quotes · Freedom, Self Acceptance, Absurdity

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If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients Quotes

“I do not mean to imply by this that a man can determine just what his world or his life will be like. A man, after all, is only a man. He stands somewhere between absolute freedom on the one hand, and total helplessness on the other. All of his important decisions must be made on the basis of insufficient data. It is enough if a man accepts his freedom, takes his best shot, does what he can, faces the consequences of his acts, and makes no excuses. It may not be fair that a man gets to have total responsibility for his own life without total control over it, but it seems to me that for good or for bad, that's just the way it is.”

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Book:If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients
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“Of course, being crazy can instead be a stubborn expression of self-destructive willfulness. There appear to be many people who choose to go crazy (or become alcoholics, addicts, criminals, suicides) rather than have to bear the pain and ambiguity of a life situation that they have decided that they cannot stand. With such patients, I try to make clear that I cannot prevent their going mad, but that I will not follow their madcap course from home to hospital and back. They may have any crazy feelings and ideas they wish, but in their community they have to act as if they were sane, if they want me to accompany them on their pilgrimage. The irresponsible act of going crazy, in order not to have to face up to the mess they have created in their own lives, is not one to which I wish to be an accomplice.”

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Book:If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients
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