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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

“By pretending that convention is Nature, that disobeying a personal prohibition is a medical illness, they establish themselves as agents of social control and at the same time disguise their punitive interventions in the semantic and social trappings of medical practice.”

Social Practice Illness Medical Agents Pretending Conventions Disguise Intervention Prohibition Social Control Disobeying

Book:The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement

Source: The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement

“After generations of living under medical tutelage, which provides us with protection (albeit illusory) against "dangerous drugs", we have failed to cultivate the self-reliance and self-discipline we must possess as competent adults surrounded by the fruits of our pharmacological-technological age.”

Self Age Generations Dangerous Discipline Drug Adults Fruit Protection Medical Self Discipline Technological Self Reliance Reliance Competent Illusory Dangerous Drugs Tutelage

Book:Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market

Source: Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market

“Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.”

Men Religion Strong Mistake Magic Society Weak Medicine Medical Glitter Scientism Weak Man Medical Science Medical Doctor

Author:Thomas Szasz

“The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism, monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political, sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to man: members of his own species, bent on ensuring his salvation, security, and sanity.”

“Is psychiatry a medical enterprise concerned with treating diseases, or a humanistic enterprise concerned with helping persons with their personal problems? Psychiatry could be one or the other, but it cannot--despite the pretensions and protestations of psichiatrists--be both.”

Persons Helping Problem Disease Concerned Medical Despite Enterprise Psychiatry Pretension Humanistic Personal Problems

Book:Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences

Source: Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences

“The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic - in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea - known to medical science is work.”

Work Known Medical Genuine Closest Narcotics Stimulants Antibiotics Panacea Medical Science

Book:The second sin

Source: The second sin

“Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to the intellectual expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-medical jargon that parodies the concepts of science. The social style conforms to the political expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-liberal social movement that parodies the ideals of freedom and rationality.”

Source: The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement