Thomas Szasz Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“The system isn't stupid, but the people in it are.”

“There is no such thing as mental illness, hence also no such thing as psychotherapy.”

“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.”

“Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.”

“Individual psychotherapy - that is, engaging a distressed fellow human in a disciplined conversation and human relationship - requires that the therapist have the proper temperament and philosophy of life for such work. By that I mean that the therapist must be patient, modest, and a perceptive listener, rather than a talker and advice-giver.”

“No further evidence is needed to show that 'mental illness' is not the name of a biological condition whose nature awaits to be elucidated, but is the name of a concept whose purpose is to obscure the obvious.”

“Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.”

“The proverb warns that 'You should not bite the hand that feeds you.' But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.”

“It is easier to do one's duty to others than to one's self. If you do your duty to others, you are considered reliable. If you do your duty to yourself, you are considered selfish.”

“A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.”