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Quote by R. D. Laing

“In the context of our present pervasive madness that we call normality, sanity, freedom, all our frames of reference are ambiguous and equivocal.”

Author

R. D. Laing

R. D. Laing was a Scottish psychiatrist known for his unconventional views on schizophrenia and his contributions to psychotherapy. His theories emphasized the role of social and cultural factors in mental illness and had a profound impact on the field of psychiatry. more

“How do we define, how do we describe, how do we explain and/or understand ourselves? What sort of creatures do we take ourselves to be? What are we? Who are we? Why are we? How do we come to be what or who we are or take ourselves to be? How do we give an account of ourselves? How do we account for ourselves, our actions, interactions, transactions (praxis), our biologic processes? Our specific human existence?”

Giving Humans Action Process Existence Creatures Accounts Who We Are Interaction Our Actions Human Existence Transactions Praxis

Author:R. D. Laing

“Experience is mad when it steps beyond the horizons of our common, that is, our communal sense.”

Common Steps Mad Horizon

Author:R. D. Laing

“Our civilization represses not only "the instincts", not only sexuality, but any form of transcendence. Among one-dimensional men, it is not surprising that someone with an insistent experience of other dimensions, that he cannot entirely deny or forget, will run the risk either of being destroyed by the others, or of betraying what he knows.”

Knows Men Running Form Forget Risk Civilization Instinct Deny Sexuality Destroyed Dimensions Betray Surprising Transcendence

Author:R. D. Laing

“When I go beyond a certain range it's outside of my direct horizon therefore I've got to rely on the writings and personal communications given to me by other people that I know.... I've got to try to piece together some tentative information picture of what the whole thing is like, but I'm aware that it becomes more and more speculative as it becomes more and more second, third, fourth hand. And this applies to absolutely everyone.”