Erik Erikson Quotes & Sayings

“In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.”

“You see a child play, and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, for in play a child says things without uttering a word. You can see how he solves his problems. You can also see what's wrong. Young children, especially, have enormous creativity, and whatever's in them rises to the surface in free play.”

“The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.”

“There is in every child at every stage a new miracle of vigorous unfolding, which constitutes a new hope and a new responsibility for all.”

“Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.”

“Life doesn't make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all.”

“Babies control and bring up their families as much as they are controlled by them; in fact the family brings up baby by being brought up by him.”

“Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.”

“Every adult, whether he is a follower or a leader, a member of a mass or of an elite, was once a child. He was once small. A sense of smallness forms a substratum in his mind, ineradicably. His triumphs will be measured against this smallness; his defeats will substantiate it.”

“Doubt is the brother of shame.”