The Most Enlightening Carl Jung Quotes
Carl Jung quotes are interesting, as he was a prominent psychiatrist and thinker. He was also a tireless researcher concerned with understanding the nature of human specificity, who viewed psychology as a basic tool for the human being.
Jung founded analytical psychology as a perspective to delving into the universe of the unconscious in order to make what’s hidden conscious. In fact, he was more of a mystic than a scientist in the academic community of the time, according to Gary Lachman.
He was the author of numerous works, such as Man and His Symbols, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, and Psychology of the Unconscious, among others. Now, if there was one to highlight, it would be The Red Book (or Liber Novus). He wrote it between 1914 and 1930 and his editors published it posthumously. It’s an unfinished manuscript that delves into psychology, mysticism, and prophecy.
Jung left a great legacy behind and humanity can remember it today through some of his best quotes.
Carl Jung quotes
The magic of connection
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed .”
Sharing ideas, exchanging visions, or communicating feelings are just some of the pieces of a puzzle (a relationship). They may or may not fit together as time goes by. However, they’ll inevitably bring about change. This is because every experience you live and every person you meet can influence you. They can somehow shape part of your story.
Thus, people who meet and bond inevitably transform. In fact, Jorge Luis Borges, a writer, expresses a similar idea in his work: “Each person that passes through our life is unique. They always leave a little bit of themselves and take a little bit of us. This is the clear proof that two souls do not meet by chance.”
The importance of love
“Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.”
Love doesn’t understand power. In other words, it doesn’t allow domination and, therefore, it doesn’t cohabit with games of superiority or inferiority, not even with belonging.
Loving is much more: it’s giving. In other words, an excellent way to enjoy everything that we’re capable of giving.
The value of humanity in Carl Jung quotes
“Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul .”
This is one of Carl Jung’s quotes you must keep in mind in your daily life, especially in the workplace. He says that, despite all the knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired, you shouldn’t stop being human in your relationships with others. Be aware of your warmth, of the affection that facilitates your connection with others.
A distant cold treatment creates an abyss, a distance that, at times, prevents authenticity and generates fear in others. Hence, it’s important to be aware of how you relate to others.
The psychotherapist must view each patient and each case as something new, unique, wonderful, and exceptional. Only then will they be closer to the truth.
Like humanity, you must keep in mind that everyone is unique, especially during therapy. Limiting yourself to diagnostic criteria and manual definitions keep you from seeing the person exactly as they are. This doesn’t mean you’re not taking what they say into account, only that there are other important details in addition to what’s apparent.
Thus, a technique or theory doesn’t fit all. They must be adapted to each person in one way or another and take both their personality and circumstances into account. As you can see, there’s no magic recipe. Hence, it’s essential to worry about getting to know a person and accept them if you really want to help them.
Contact with oneself
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
People have a bad habit of thinking that happiness is out there in the objects they desire, the people they care about, and in the job of their dreams. In one way or another, society constantly invites you to look outside and even promises you’ll be happy when you attain it. They’re wrong.
Carl Gustav Jung was clear about it: contact with oneself is the cornerstone for self-realization, for achieving that much-needed balance and achieving well-being. Thus, as long as you don’t look inside yourself, you’ll continue to tiptoe around everything. You’ll only see a detached person from above, as if you were a dream.
Carl Jung quotes – the relationship between opposites
“Even a happy life can’t be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it weren’t balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”
This is another Carl Jung quote to keep in mind. Life is a balance between opposites, a dance of polarities in which the best option is to find equilibrium. However, the existence of both, that is, the knowledge of the different nuances, is essential to know every single one of them individually.
Jung believed there are two sides to most things; two opposite aspects; two extremes that are identical in nature but different in their degree of expression. He called it the principle of polarity. Good and evil, light and darkness, and happiness and sadness are just some examples of this.
The power of resilience
“The most intense conflicts, if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed. It is just these intense conflicts and their conflagration which are needed to produce valuable and lasting results.”
Leaving a bad experience triumphantly, or filled by internal conflict and deep discomfort, is only possible from acceptance and an attitude of learning and change. However, when you achieve it, when your wounds heal, the harvested fruit has enormous value: a feeling of calm and security.
Learning from your experiences somehow teaches you to be more cautious, to take into account what you learned from your mistakes, and to savor well-being. This is because you can only boost your self-confidence when you heal your wounds.
Carl Jung quotes – the fear of oneself
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”
This is another Carl Jung quote to keep in mind when it comes to getting to know yourself. Embracing your monsters and knowing your shadows is no easy task, as it involves confronting those things about yourself that irritate or displease you. Few people care to discover and confront their dark side.
People are afraid to really know themselves and to fully immerse themselves in their voids and fears, to come into contact with their dark side and, ultimately, with their suffering. However, if you don’t do it, you won’t be able to accept yourself. Without this, you’ll hardly build happy relationships and be fulfilled.
Embracing your monsters will make it easier to understand other people’s fears and wounds. Somehow, identifying your dark side and every negative aspect of yourself helps you see others in a different perspective, mainly because you’re taking their history into account.
As you can see, Carl Jung quotes are a valuable legacy, both for what they say and for what they inspire. They’re words to turn to on your path towards personal growth. Especially if you want to question yourself and get to know yourself, as well as others.