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Quote by Irvin D. Yalom

“Despite the staunchest, most venerable defenses, we can never completely subdue death anxiety: it is always there, lurking in some hidden ravine of the mind.”

Quote by Irvin D. Yalom

Book:Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death

Work

Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death

This book delves into the psychological and philosophical aspects of mortality, offering insights and strategies for confronting and overcoming the fear of death. more

Author

Irvin D. Yalom is an American author renowned for his psychological novels and philosophical reflections. His works delve into the essence of human existence, as well as psychotherapy and interpersonal relationships. more

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“It's not easy to live every moment wholly aware of death. It's like trying to stare the sun in the face: you can stand only so much of it. Because we cannot live frozen in fear, we generate methods to soften death's terror. We project ourselves into the future through our children; we grow rich, famous, ever larger; we develop compulsive protective rituals; or we embrace an impregnable belief in an ultimate rescuer.”

Source: Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death

“I feel strongly, because a man who will himself die one day in the not to distant future and, also, as a psychiatrist who spent decades dealing with death anxiety, that confronting death allows us, not to open some noisome, Pandora's box, but to re-enter life in a richer, more compassionate manner.”

Men Feels Death Dies One Day Anxiety Boxes Decades Compassionate Psychiatrist Confronting Pandora Dealing With Death Pandora's Box

Author:Irvin D. Yalom

“Death, however, does itch. It itches all the time. It is always with us, scratching at some inner door. Mirroring, softly, barely audibly, just under the membrane of consciousness. Hidden in disguise, leaking out in a variety of symptoms. It is the wellspring of many of our worries, stresses, and conflicts.”

Doe Death Consciousness Worry Doors Conflict Stress Variety Disguise Symptoms Mirroring Wellspring Membranes

Author:Irvin D. Yalom

“Death loses its terror if one dies when one has consummated one's life!”

Ifs Death Dies Loses Terror Life Death

Author:Irvin D. Yalom

“As we reach the crest of life and look at the path before us, we apprehend that the path no longer ascends but slopes downward toward decline and diminishment. From that point on, concerns about death are never far from mind.”

Mind Looks Age Path Concern Old Age Decline Slopes

Book:Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death

Source: Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death

“Absolute power, as we have always known, corrupts absolutely; it corrupts because it does not do the trick for the individual. Reality always creeps in--the reality of our helplessness and our mortality; the reality that, despite our reach for the stars, a creaturely fate awaits us.”

Doe Reality Individual Stars Known Power Fate Absolutes Tricks Despite Mortality Creeps Helplessness Absolute Power

Book:Existential Psychotherapy

Source: Existential Psychotherapy

“Psychotherapy is a cyclical process from isolation into relationship. It is cyclical because the patient, in terror of existential isolation, relates deeply and meaningfully to the therapist and then, strengthened by this encounter, is led back again to a confrontation with existential isolation.”

Process Patient Terror Relate Encounters Isolation Existential Confrontation Psychoanalysis Therapists Back Again Psychotherapy

Book:Existential Psychotherapy

Source: Existential Psychotherapy

“Live your life to the fullest; and then, and only then, die. Don't leave any unlived life behind.”

Dies Behinds Live Your Life Live Your Life To The Fullest

Author:Irvin D. Yalom

“I think we ripple on into others, just like a stone puts its ripples into a brook. That, for me, too, is a source of comfort. It kind of, in a sense, negates the sense of total oblivion. Some piece of ourselves, not necessarily our consciousness, but some piece of ourselves gets passed on and on and on.”

Thinking Kind Consciousness Pieces Source Comfort Stones Oblivion Brooks Ripple

Author:Irvin D. Yalom

“The death anxiety of many people is fueled ... by disappointment at never having fulfilled their potential. Many people are in despair because their dreams didn't come true, and they despair even more that they did not make them come true. A focus on this deep dissatisfaction is often the starting point in overcoming death anxiety.”

People Dream Focus Despair Anxiety Overcoming Starting Disappointment Fulfilled Dissatisfaction Starting Point

Author:Irvin D. Yalom