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Thomas Szasz

Thomas Szasz Quotes

Psychiatrist

Thomas Szasz, born on April 15, 1920 in Hungary, was a renowned American psychiatrist, writer, and philosopher. He is known for his critical views on psychiatry and liberalism, particularly his skepticism about the nature of mental illness and his emphasis on individual freedom.

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Famous Thomas Szasz Quotes

“Mysticism joins and unites; reason divides and separates. People crave belonging more than understanding. Hence the prominent role of mysticism, and the limited role of reason in human affairs.”

People Humans Reason Understanding Roles Affair Mysticism Belonging Divides Crave Prominent

Book:The Untamed Tongue: A Dissenting Dictionary

Source: The Untamed Tongue: A Dissenting Dictionary

“There is a fundamental similarity between the persecution of individuals who engage in consenting homosexual activity in private, or who ingest, inject, or smoke various substances that alter their feelings and thoughts - and the traditional persecution of men for their religion... What all of these persecutions have in common is that the victims are harassed by the majority not because they engage in overtly aggressive or destructive acts... but because their conduct or appearance offends a group intolerant to and threatened by human differences.”

“Psychiatry does not commit human rights abuse. It is a human rights abuse.”

Humans Doe Rights Abuse Human Rights Commit Psychiatry

Author:Thomas Szasz

“In the 60s people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.”

People World Humans Animal Normal Kingdoms Defined Acid Prozac Animal Kingdom

Author:Thomas Szasz

“Science can give us power over nature, but it cannot give us power over human nature.”

Giving Humans Human Nature

Author:Thomas Szasz

“In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.”

Humans Animal Kingdoms Defined Totems Animal Kingdom

Book:Words to the Wise: A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary

Source: Words to the Wise: A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary

“Individual psychotherapy - that is, engaging a distressed fellow human in a disciplined conversation and human relationship - requires that the therapist have the proper temperament and philosophy of life for such work. By that I mean that the therapist must be patient, modest, and a perceptive listener, rather than a talker and advice-giver.”

“Suicide is a fundamental human right. This does not mean that it is desirable. It only means that society does not have the moral right to interfere, by force, with a persons decision to commit this act. The result is a far-reaching infantilization and dehumanization of the suicidal person.”

Humans Mean Persons Doe Force Decision Results Moral Fundamentals Suicide Commit Reaching Interfere Desirable Suicidal Dehumanization

Author:Thomas Szasz

“The language of science—and especially of a science of man—is, necessarily, anti-individualistic, and hence a threat to human freedom and dignity.”

Men Humans Language Dignity Threat Human Freedom Individualistic

Book:Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry

Source: Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry

“I believe the time has come to acknowledge that the practice of routine circumcision rests on the absurd premise that the only mammal in creation born in the condition that requires immediate surgical correction is the human male.”

Believe Humans I Believe Born Practice Conditions Creation Males Absurd Acknowledge Routine Premises Corrections Mammals Circumcision

Author:Thomas Szasz

“Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of moral conflicts in human relations.”

Humans Moral Conflict Function Relation Illness Myth Mental Illness Bitter Disguise Pills Psychoanalysis Human Relations

Book:Words to the Wise: A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary

Source: Words to the Wise: A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary