Karen Horney Quotes

• There is no good reason why we should not develop and change until the last day we live.

  Karen Horney

  Reason Why, Why Not, Lasts

  Karen Horney “The Therapeutic Process: Essays and Lectures”, Yale University Press

  142 Copy quote

• The view that women are infantile and emotional creatures, and as such, incapable of responsibility and independence is the work of the masculine tendency to lower women's self-respect.

  Karen Horney

  Responsibility, Emotional, Self

  Karen Horney (1967). “Feminine Psychology”

  106 Copy quote

• a normal human being ... does not exist.

  Karen Horney

  Doe, Normal, Humans

  Karen Horney (2013). “The Neurotic Personality Of Our Time”, p.27, Routledge

  108 Copy quote

• Fortunately analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.

  Karen Horney

  Life, Spiritual, Women

  Our Inner Conflicts: A Constructive Theory of Neuroses conclusion (1945)

  170 Copy quote

• If you want to be proud of yourself, then do things in which you can take pride

  Karen Horney

  Pride, Accomplishment, Want

  118 Copy quote

• To experience conflicts knowingly, though it may be distressing, can be an invaluable asset. The more we face our own conflicts and seek out our own solutions, the more inner freedom and strength we will gain. Only when we are willing to bear the brunt can we approximate the ideal of being the captain of our ship. Spurious tranquillity rooted in inner dullness is anything but enviable. It is bound to make us weak and an easy prey to any kind of influence.

  Karen Horney

  Faces, Bears, May

  Karen Horney (2013). “Our Inner Conflicts: A CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY OF NEUROSIS”, p.27, Routledge

  115 Copy quote

• If I couldn't be pretty, I decided I would be smart.

  Karen Horney

  Smart, Would Be, Decided

  65 Copy quote

• The most comprehensive formulation of therapeutic goals is the striving for wholeheartedness: to be without pretense, to be emotionally sincere, to be able to put the whole of oneself into one's feelings, one's work, one's beliefs.

  Karen Horney

  Inspirational, Self, Goal

  Karen Horney (2013). “Our Inner Conflicts: A CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY OF NEUROSIS”, p.242, Routledge

  92 Copy quote

• Basic anxiety can be roughly described as a feeling of being small, insignificant, helpless, deserted or endangered in a world that is out to abuse, cheat, humiliate, betray, envy... . And special in this is the child's feeling that the parents' love, their Christian charity, honesty, generosity ... may be only a pretense.

  Karen Horney

  Christian, Honesty, Children

  103 Copy quote

• Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.

  Karen Horney

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

  Our Inner Conflicts: A Constructive Theory of Neuroses conclusion (1945)

  101 Copy quote

• Let me say to begin with: It is not neurotic to have conflict ... Conflicts within ourselves are an integral part of human life.

  Karen Horney

  Conflict, Human Life, Let Me

  Karen Horney (2013). “Our Inner Conflicts: A CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY OF NEUROSIS”, p.23, Routledge

  83 Copy quote

• Rationalization may be defined as self-deception by reasoning.

  Karen Horney

  Self, Deception, May

  Karen Horney (2013). “Our Inner Conflicts: A CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY OF NEUROSIS”, p.135, Routledge

  90 Copy quote

• We may feel genuinely concerned about world conditions, though such a concern should drive us into action and not into a depression.

  Karen Horney

  Government, World, May

  Karen Horney (2013). “Self-Analysis”, p.154, Routledge

  78 Copy quote

• Because it corresponds to a vital need, love is overvalued in our culture. It becomes a phantom - like success - carrying with it the illusion that it is a solution for all problems.

  Karen Horney

  Love Is, Needs, Culture

  Karen Horney (2013). “The Neurotic Personality Of Our Time”, p.287, Routledge

  73 Copy quote

• Like all sciences and all valuations, the psychology of women has hitherto been considered only from the point of view of men.

  Karen Horney

  Funny, Life, Witty

  Karen Horney (1967). “Feminine Psychology”

  73 Copy quote

• To search for truth about self is as valuable as to search for truth in other areas of life.

  Karen Horney

  Self, Valuable, Areas

  Karen Horney (2013). “Self-Analysis”, p.30, Routledge

  61 Copy quote

• To find a mountain path all by oneself gives a greater feeling of strength than to take a path that is shown.

  Karen Horney

  Life, Giving, Feelings

  Karen Horney (2013). “Self-Analysis”, p.36, Routledge

  63 Copy quote

• That many-faceted thing called love succeeds in building bridges from the loneliness on this shore to the loneliness on the other one. These bridges can be of great beauty, but they are rarely built for eternity, and frequently they cannot tolerate too heavy a burden without collapsing.

  Karen Horney

  Love, Loneliness, Bridges

  Karen Horney (1967). “Feminine Psychology”

  71 Copy quote

• [Neurotics are] torn by inner conflicts ... Every neurotic ... is at war with himself.

  Karen Horney

  War, Conflict, Torn

  61 Copy quote

• The perfect normal person is rare in our civilization.

  Karen Horney

  Funny, Life, Witty

  44 Copy quote

• There is no such thing as a normal psychology that holds for all people.

  Karen Horney

  People, Psychology, Normal

  17 Copy quote

• There's still such chaos in me. Still so little firmly outlined. Just like my face: a formless mass that only takes on shape through the expression of the moment. The searching for our selves is the most agonizing

  Karen Horney

  Self, Expression, Shapes

  Karen Horney (1980). “The Adolescent Diaries of Karen Horney”, Basic Books (AZ)

  50 Copy quote

• The conception of what is normal varies not only with the culture but also within the same culture, in the course of time.

  Karen Horney

  Culture, Normal, Courses

  Karen Horney (2013). “The Neurotic Personality Of Our Time”, p.15, Routledge

  14 Copy quote

• the idea of a finished human product not only appears presumptuous but even, in my opinion, lacks any strong appeal. Life is struggle and striving, development and growth - and analysis is one of the means that can help in this process. Certainly its positive accomplishments are important, but also the striving itself is of intrinsic value.

  Karen Horney

  Strong, Struggle, Mean

  Karen Horney (2013). “Self-Analysis”, p.303, Routledge

  16 Copy quote

• No one … can entirely step out of his time, that despite his keenness of vision his thinking is in many ways bound to be influenced by the mentality of his time

  Karen Horney

  Thinking, Vision, Way

  Karen Horney (2013). “New Ways in Psychoanalysis”, p.37, Routledge

  39 Copy quote

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