The Christ-symbol is of the greatest importance for psychology in so far as it is perhaps the most highly developed and differentiated symbol of the self, apart from the figure of the Buddha.

Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!

Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact.

Of course, when I say that human nature is gentleness, it is not 100 percent so. Every human being has that nature, but there are many people acting against their nature, being false.

Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch upon absolute truth.

Cynicism is something which has become symbolic of imperial policy.

Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority.

I was never ignorant, as far as being experienced in classrooms and learning about different subjects and actually soaking it up, so I checked into college for a little bit. I took classes at a community college in West L.A. I took psychology, English, and philosophy.

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.

We’re hardwired for connection. There’s no arguing with the bioscience. But we can want it so badly we’re trying to hot-wire it.

Imaginary evils soon become real one by indulging our reflections on them.

Ritual is another word for fear, manifested in a different way.

Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.

Masses are always breeding grounds of psychic epidemics.

Good psychology should include all the methodological techniques, without having loyalty to one method, one idea, or one person.

Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

Expectations are a form of first-class truth: If people believe it, it’s true.

If you do not understand a man you cannot crush him. And if you do understand him, very probably you will not.

I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.

The bluebird carries the sky on his back.

Ritual will always mean throwing away something: destroying our corn or wine upon the altar of our gods.

Love is a serious mental disease.

The thing we fear we bring to pass.

So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!

Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them.

There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain.

The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do.

Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.

If you think only of evil, then you become pessimistic and hopeless like Freud. But if you think there is no evil, then you’re just one more deluded Pollyanna.

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.

People use irony as a defense mechanism.

The connection between psychology, mythology, and literature is as important as the connection between psychology and biology and the hard sciences.

Words are only painted fire; a look is the fire itself.

Man will do many things to get himself loved, he will do all things to get himself envied.

Hatred is inveterate anger.

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.

You can see neurosis from below – as a sickness – as most psychiatrists see it. Or you can understand it as a compassionate man might: respecting the neurosis as a fumbling and inefficient effort toward good ends.

Most men are within a finger’s breadth of being mad.

The only difference between the sane and the insane is that the sane have the power to lock up the insane.

I love tattoos. And mine symbolise who I really am. I have a Samurai on my left arm. At a subconscious level, I connect to this warrior and model myself on his discipline, skills and honour. There is also a tribal tattoo and a Chinese symbol of faith. I have seen a lot of people getting tattoos just because it’s a trend.

I have no human feelings.

Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.

One Buddha is not enough; we need to have many Buddhas.

The foolish man conceives the idea of ‚self.‘ The wise man sees there is no ground on which to build the idea of ‚self;‘ thus, he has a right conception of the world and well concludes that all compounds amassed by sorrow will be dissolved again, but the truth will remain.

And why not death rather than living torment? To die is to be banish’d from myself; And Silvia is myself: banish’d from her Is self from self: a deadly banishment!

As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.

It’s not just human nature to associate in tribes. It’s deeper than that.

Whatever deceives men seems to produce a magical enchantment.

Character is expressed through our behavior patterns, or natural responses to things.

Death and genitals are things that frighten people, and when people are frightened, they develop means of concealment and aggression. It is common sense.

The secret to the movie business, or any business, is to get a good education in a subject besides film – whether it’s history, psychology, economics, or architecture – so you have something to make a movie about. All the skill in the world isn’t going to help you unless you have something to say.

The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.

A man’s delight in looking forward to and hoping for some particular satisfaction is a part of the pleasure flowing out of it, enjoyed in advance. But this is afterward deducted, for the more we look forward to anything the less we enjoy it when it comes.

I really believed that fear is contagious.

We are not angry with people we fear or respect, as long as we fear or respect them; you cannot be afraid of a person and also at the same time angry with him.

I’m pretty calculating. I take stuff that I know appeals to people’s bad sides and match it up with stuff that appeals to their good sides.

What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.