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Quote by James Hillman

“How can Hitler, or some other murderer, appear in this world? I don't think any single theory can account for the phenomenon, and I think it's a mistake to try to reduce it to being brutalized by your parents or having grown up in some horrible situation - like Charles Manson.”

Quote by James Hillman

Author

James Hillman (April 12, 1926 - October 27, 2011) was an American psychologist and a prominent figure in the field of analytical psychology. His research focused on dream analysis, mythology, and the relationship between the human psyche and nature. Hillman's works have had a profound impact on psychology, literature, and the arts. more

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“It's the only way we can get out of being so human-centered: to remain attached to something other than humans.”

Author:James Hillman

“We must look back over our lives and look at some of the accidents and curiosities and oddities and troubles and sicknesses and begin to see more in those things than we saw before. It raises questions, so that when peculiar little accidents happen, you ask whether there is something else at work in your life.”

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“The Greek idea of fate is moira, which means "portion." Fate rules a portion of your life. But there is more to life than just fate. There is also genetics, environment, economics, and so on. So it's not all written in the book before you get here, such that you don't have to do anything. That's fatalism.”

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“I tend to think that you fulfill your own destiny, whether you realize it or not.”

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Author:James Hillman

“You may not become a celebrity. You may even experience lots of illness or divorce, or unhappiness. But I think there is still a thread of individual character that determines how you live through those things.”

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“Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area.”

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Author:James Hillman

“I just read about John Le Carre, the great spy novelist. He had an absolutely miserable childhood. His mother deserted him when he was young. His father was a playboy and a drunk. He was shifted around to many different homes. He knew he was a writer when he was about nine, but he was dyslexic. So here was a person with an absolutely messed-up childhood and a symptom that prevented him from doing what he wanted to do most. Yet that very symptom was part of the calling. It forced him to go deeper.”

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Author:James Hillman

“Many people nowadays who discover that they have a major symptom, whether psychological or physical, begin to study it. They get drawn very deeply into the area of their trouble. They want to know more than their doctor. That's a curious thing, and not at all the way it used to be.”

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Author:James Hillman

“People used to trust their doctor. They went to an expert. Now people have new ideas and are thinking for themselves. That's a very important change in our collective psychology.”

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Author:James Hillman