Far more unwaveringly, the neurotic keeps before his eye his God, his idol, his ideal of personality and clings to his guiding principle, losing sight in the meanwhile of reality, whereas the normal person is always ready to dispense with this crutch, this aid, and reckon unhampered with reality.

Alfred Adler

Categorized in : Fiction Medical Neurosis

Follow your heart but take your brain with you.

Alfred Adler

follow-your-heart brain heart

We are not determined by our experiences, but are self-determined by the meaning we give to them; and when we take particular experiences as the basis for our future life, we are almost certain to be misguided to some degree. Meanings are not determined by situations. We determine ourselves by the meanings we ascribe to situations.

Alfred Adler

degrees self giving

Overcoming difficulties leads to courage, self-respect, and knowing yourself.

Alfred Adler

knowing self overcoming

What do you first do when you learn to swim? You make mistakes, do you not? And what happens? You make other mistakes, and when you have made all the mistakes you possibly can without drowning - and some of them many times over - what do you find? That you can swim? Well - life is just the same as learning to swim! Do not be afraid of making mistakes, for there is no other way of learning how to live!

Alfred Adler

swim mistake inspiring

Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted.

Alfred Adler

learning fear motivational

You can be healed of depression if every day you begin the first thing in the morning to consider how you will bring a real joy to someone else.

Alfred Adler

broken real morning

It is very obvious that we are not influenced by "facts"

Alfred Adler

interpretation obvious facts

Meanings are not determined by situations, but we determine ourselves by the meanings we give to situations.

Alfred Adler

determined determination giving

An educator's most important task, one might say his holy duty, is to see to it that no child is discouraged at school, and that a child who enters school already discouraged regains his self-confidence through his school and his teacher. This goes hand in hand with the vocation of the educator, for education is possible only with children who look hopefully and joyfully upon the future.

Alfred Adler

teacher children school

The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.

Alfred Adler

humor knowing drinking

Life is just the same as learning to swim. Do not be afraid of making mistakes, for there is no other way of learning how to live!

Alfred Adler

persistence swim mistake

Courage is not an ability one either possess or lacks. Courage is the willingness to engage in a risk-taking behavior regardless of whether the consequences are unknown or possibly adverse. We are capable of courageous behavior provided we are willing to engage in it. Given that life offers few guarantees, all living requires risk-taking.

Alfred Adler

courageous risk guarantees

It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is fro+m among such individuals that all human failures spring.

Alfred Adler

fellow-man spring men

Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.

Alfred Adler

trust work commitment

To see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears of another, to feel with the heart of another. For the time being, this seems to me an admissible definition of what we call social feeling.

Alfred Adler

eye feelings heart

A simple rule in dealing with those who are hard to get along with is to remember that this person is striving to assert his superiority; and you must deal with him from that point of view.

Alfred Adler

simple views people

Every pampered child becomes a hated child.... There is no greater evil than the pampering of children.

Alfred Adler

pampering evil children

Exaggerated sensitiveness is an expression of the feeling of inferiority.

Alfred Adler

expression feelings reality

All failures - neurotics, psychotics, criminals, drunkards, problem children, suicides, perverts, and prostitutes - are failures because they are lacking in social interest

Alfred Adler

failure suicide children

A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.

Alfred Adler

danger-in-life truth lying