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I think my quarry is illusion. I war against magic. I believe that, though illusion often cheers and comforts, it ultimately and invariably weakens and constricts the spirit.

Irvin D. Yalom

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Irvin D. Yalom
Age: 93
Born: 1931
Born: June 13
Author
Existential Therapist
Psychiatrist
Psychologist
Psychotherapist
University Teacher
Writer
Washington
District of Columbia
Irvin David Yalom
Spirit
Cheer
Believe
Ultimately
Think
Illusion
Thinking
Comfort
Quarry
Magic
Cheers
Though
Weakens
War
Comforts
Often
Invariably

More quotes by Irvin D. Yalom

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One comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied with oneself.
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When people don't have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign.
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To love means to be actively concerned for the life and the growth of another.
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A curious thought experiment. . . Nietzsche's message to us was to live life in such a way that we would be willing to repeat the same life eternally
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The creative members of an orthodoxy, any orthodoxy, ultimately outgrow their disciplines.
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Does a being who requires meaning find meaning in a universe that has no meaning?
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Live right, he reminded himself, and have faith that good things will flow from you even if you never learn of them.
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If I had to pick out a therapist in a movie that I'd like to go see as a personal therapist, it would be Robin Williams in Goodwill Hunting.
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The path to decision may be hard because it leads into the territory of both finiteness and groundlessness—domains soaked in anxiety.
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Though the physicality of death destroys us, the idea of death may save us.
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Perhaps the single most important therapeutic credo that I have is that the unexamined life is not worth living.
Irvin D. Yalom
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Psychotherapy is a cyclical process from isolation into relationship. It is cyclical because the patient, in terror of existential isolation, relates deeply and meaningfully to the therapist and then, strengthened by this encounter, is led back again to a confrontation with existential isolation.
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Not to take possession of your life plan is to let your existence be an accident.
Irvin D. Yalom
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Death, however, does itch. It itches all the time. It is always with us, scratching at some inner door. Mirroring, softly, barely audibly, just under the membrane of consciousness. Hidden in disguise, leaking out in a variety of symptoms. It is the wellspring of many of our worries, stresses, and conflicts.
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I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.
Irvin D. Yalom
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Look out the other’s window. Try to see the world as your patient sees it.
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The death anxiety of many people is fueled ... by disappointment at never having fulfilled their potential. Many people are in despair because their dreams didn't come true, and they despair even more that they did not make them come true. A focus on this deep dissatisfaction is often the starting point in overcoming death anxiety.
Irvin D. Yalom
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Life is a spark between two identical voids, the darkness before birth and the one after death.
Irvin D. Yalom
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The spirit of a man is constructed out of his choices.
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Live your life to the fullest and then, and only then, die. Don't leave any unlived life behind.
Irvin D. Yalom