The 110 best phrases of Humanistic Psychology
Humanistic Psychology is a current of Psychology that helps us understand people from a different point of view. deeper, not only because of the behavior, but the motivations and emotions that each of us carries with him.
If you are interested in capturing the philosophy of life that this way of understanding Psychology proposes, keep reading. Here you can read a selection of the best phrases of Humanistic Psychology, commented.
- Related article: "Humanistic Psychology: history, theory and basic principles"
The most memorable phrases of Humanistic Psychology
To help us better understand how people act, the fathers of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, as well as other characters, bring us the best phrases about Humanistic Psychology.
1. Try to be a man of values and success comes by itself. (Albert Einstein)
Good things come to those who do good.
2. The only thing I know is that anyone who wants to can improve her well-being. (Carl Rogers)
Changing something we don't like is our own decision.
3. The people we describe as sick are those who are not themselves, those who have created all kinds of neurotic defenses. (Abraham Maslow)
Many of the 'illnesses' are generated by the distortion of our thoughts.
- You may be interested: "Maslow's Pyramid: The Hierarchy of Human Needs"
4. A person, discovering that she is loved for being who she is, not for what she pretends to be, will feel that she deserves respect and love. (Carl Rogers)
When we discover our worth, we do not accept being treated as less than we deserve.
5. The most beautiful destiny, the most wonderful luck that any human being can have is to be paid for doing what he loves to do. (Abraham Maslow)
We all dream of working at what we love to do.
6. The goal of education in life should not be based only on acquiring knowledge, but also on learning human values. (WilliamS. Burroughs)
It is useless for you to know everything, if you are a despicable person.
7. Neither the Bible, nor the prophets, nor the revelations of God or men, nothing has priority over my direct experience. (Carl Rogers)
Only our experiences are the ones that leave us valuable lessons to improve.
8. The real question is whether the development of the human being is possible without love. (Abraham Maslow)
We know that a person who has never received love, looks for it in any way, be it good or bad.
9. People are as beautiful as sunsets, if they are allowed to be. (Carl Rogers)
Many people are unhappy because they have never had a chance to stand out.
10. An interesting question is not "why do people create?" but “why don't people create or innovate?”. (Abraham Maslow)
We all have creative potential within us.
11. What is most personal is most universal. (Carl Rogers)
We own our beliefs and experiences.
12. We must teach people to pay attention to their own tastes. Many do not. (Abraham Maslow)
When a person is motivated to hone her skills, she can have a firmer future.
13. People who are aware of their prejudices are on their way to eliminating them. (Gordon Alport)
The only way to improve and change is to accept that we need a change.
14. Being an empath is seeing the world through someone else's eyes, not seeing our world reflected in their eyes. (Carl Rogers)
It doesn't matter if you haven't been through the same thing, just listen carefully and without prejudice.
15. If you plan to be less than you are capable of, you will probably be unhappy every day of your life. (Abraham Maslow)
One of the reasons why many feel stuck.
16. Schizophrenia is only understood when despair is understood. (Ronald Laing)
A disease that torments those who suffer from it, every moment of their lives.
17. Life, at its best, is a fluid and changing process in which nothing is fixed. (Carl Rogers)
As life progresses, you cannot remain static at the same point.
18. Be independent of the good opinion of other people. (Abraham Maslow)
Disconnecting it from the opinions of others leads us to have a better attitude in life.
19. Since no one else can know how we perceive, we are the best experts on ourselves. (Carl Rogers)
Although some feel that they do not know each other, this is a topic that can be worked on.
20. Choosing growth over fear twelve times a day means moving twelve times a day toward self-realization. (Abraham Maslow)
Changes are achieved with small daily repetitive steps.
21. Selfish people don't love anyone, least of all themselves. (Erich Fromm)
They are beings who are locked in their own insecurity.
22. If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat every problem like a nail. (Abraham Maslow)
A reflection on seeing problems from the same perspective.
23. The man who is educated is the one who learns to learn. (Carl Rogers)
Every day we learn something new and valuable, if we see it that way.
24. The musician must play, the painter must paint and the poet must write if they want to live in peace with themselves. (Abraham Maslow)
Insisting that each person has a talent that he must discover in order to live it.
25. If I can hear what he can tell me, if I can understand how he thinks; if I can see the personal meaning of it for him, if I can feel the emotional flavor it has for him, then I am going to unleash powerful forces of change in him. (Carl Rogers)
Active listening is the first step to liberation.
26. Life is so fast that the changes are noticed when they are already disappearing. (Victor Frankl)
There are changes that we only notice when we are already immersed in them.
- Related article: "Viktor Frankl's 70 Best Quotes"
27. True empathy is always free of any evaluative or diagnostic quality. (Carl Rogers)
Empathy is an ability to attend to a person without having any prejudice.
28. The study of motivation must be, in part, the study of the ends, desires or ultimate needs of the human being. (Abraham Maslow)
Motivation is an essential ingredient of productivity that some overlook.
29. I can, through accepting my individuality…be more of my uniqueness, more of my potentiality. (Carl Rogers)
Knowing ourselves helps us know who we want to become in the future.
30. We could define therapy as a search for value. (Abraham Maslow)
A space where we find ourselves again.
31. The paradigm of Western culture is that the essence of people is dangerous; therefore, they must be taught, guided, and controlled by those in higher authority. (Carl Rogers)
Restricting creativity only creates insecure and unhappy people.
32. We must be aware not only of the divine possibilities in us, but also of the existential human limitations. (Abraham Maslow)
Focus on both our strengths and admit our limitations to realize our full potential.
33. Humanism and going back to human roots is an antidote to the poisons that were installed before Christianity. (Simone Well)
A hope to connect with the inner potential of people.
34. One can choose to go towards security or to move towards growth. (Abraham Maslow)
Move towards where we dream or stay in the comfort zone.
35. I am not perfect, but I am enough. (Carl Rogers)
Perfection does not exist, what we can do is continue to grow.
36. We are what we do and we do what we are. (Abraham Maslow)
For Maslow, personality is not only who we are, but our actions, as if they were part of a whole.
37. There is direction but no destination. (Carl Rogers)
A reference to the journey being more important than the goal itself.
38. Growth must be chosen over and over again; fear must be overcome over and over again. (Abraham Maslow)
Everything is based on a personal and continuous decision.
39. Experience is, for me, the ultimate authority. (Carl Rogers)
The only way we live and above all, learn.
40. Existentialism indicates that man can always achieve fulfillment. (Jean-Paul Sartre)
Hoping to keep reinventing ourselves..
41. What is life for? Life is for you. (Abraham Maslow)
Maslow leaves us with the beautiful reflection that life can be whatever we want.
42. We cannot change, we cannot get away from what we are until we accept what we are. So the change seems to come almost unnoticed. (Carl Rogers)
Change cannot happen without first accepting that we need it.
43. A well-ordered humanism places respect for others before self-love. (Levi Strauss)
Respect is the maximum expression of love towards others.
44. This comes to the recipient with something of a surprise. "If I am not judged, maybe I am not as evil or abnormal as I have thought." (Carl Rogers)
There are reactions that are just a defensive response to the criticism of others.
45. Give people affection and security and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and behaviors. (Abraham Maslow)
If you give love you will not only receive love, but others will learn to give more love.
46. In my first professional years I asked myself this question: How can I treat, cure or change this person? Now I would phrase the question this way: How can I provide a relationship that this person can use for their own personal growth? (Carl Rogers)
Understanding that therapy is a guide to self-discovery and autonomy.
47. We have reached the point in biological history where we are already responsible for our own evolution. We have become self-evolving. (Abraham Maslow)
We are able to recognize that something is wrong with us and we need to work on it.
48. To be what one is, is to enter fully into being a process. (Carl Rogers)
A way to reinforce this idea and make it stronger than the opinion of others.
49. The fact is that people are good. (Abraham Maslow)
Maslow believed that all people are naturally good.
50. Live each day as if you had a second chance and, by the way, always think that you already had a bad time. Take advantage of every moment. (Fritz Pearls)
Incredible advice on taking advantage of every opportunity that comes our way.
51. The sacred is in the ordinary. It is found in daily life, in the neighbors, in the friends, in the family, in the backyard. (Abraham Maslow)
The sacred is in the things that give us happiness and tranquility.
52. We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, with real empathy. (Carl Rogers)
Listening is not just sitting with a person, it is paying full attention to what they tell you.
- You may be interested: "Carl Rogers: biography of the promoter of humanism in therapy"
53. If I was thrown out of a plane into an ocean and told that the nearest land is thousands of miles away, I would still swim. And he would despise the one who surrendered. (Abraham Maslow)
Having the firm belief that we need to fight and strive.
54. Listening, in that very special way, is one of the most powerful forces for change that I know. (Carl Rogers)
Active listening is an essential step in creating positive change.
55. Man needs to live in beauty rather than ugliness, just as he needs to have food for his hungry stomach or rest for his tired stomach. (Abraham Maslow)
It is a basic need to have everything that satisfies us at a general level.
56. Man's inability to communicate is the result of his inability to listen effectively. (Carl Rogers)
Communication begins with good listening practice.
57. Love transcends the physical form of the loved one to deepen into the spirit itself. (Victor Frankl)
Love is a feeling that is not only shown on the outside but also travels to our interior.
58. I feel moved and fulfilled when I glimpse the fact, or allow myself the feeling, that someone cares about me, accepts me, admires me, or praises me. (Carl Rogers)
A reflection on the benefit of accepting the compliments we receive.
59. You will either walk forward to growth or you will walk backward to safety. (Abraham Maslow)
Be careful of the steps you take, because they can take you backwards or forwards.
60. The only person who cannot be helped is that person who blames others. (Carl Rogers)
No one can help someone who doesn't want to be helped.
61. I can feel a little guilty about the past and apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. (Abraham Maslow)
We will always feel some kind of remorse for some past injustice, but it is no use dragging it into the future.
62. It's not that this approach empowers the person, it's that he never takes it away. (Carl Rogers)
It reaffirms to people that they can be masters of their lives.
63. The personality is hidden in the specific acts and within the individual. Therefore, the personality “is” and “does”. (Gordon Alport)
Another statement that personality is the union of what we are and our actions.
64. There are as many "real worlds" as there are people! (Carl Rogers)
As the saying goes: 'each person is a world'.
65. Most of us could be better than we really are. (Abraham Maslow)
Every day we have the opportunity to improve, if we find the way.
66. It is not often that such a deep and mutual personal encounter takes place, but I am convinced that if it does not happen from time to time, we do not live as human beings. (Carl Rogers)
Speaking of the special connections we make throughout life.
67. False optimism sooner or later spells disappointment, hatred, and hopelessness. (Abraham Maslow)
We have to be careful with the so-called 'toxic positivity', which can also affect our confidence.
68. I was forced to stretch my thinking, to realize that sincere and honest people could believe in widely divergent religious doctrines. (Carl Rogers)
Everyone has his personal beliefs, regardless of his education and experiences.
69. Take the choice of growth a dozen times a day. (Abraham Maslow)
Although it seems difficult or risky, the results will always be worth it.
70. Nationalism is a kind of sect. It is an idolatry that can lead to madness. (Erich Fromm)
A critique of this political thought.
71. True happiness is in accepting oneself and getting in touch with oneself. (Carl Rogers)
Happiness begins when we are comfortable with ourselves.
72. The ability to live in the present is the greatest component of emotional well-being. (Abraham Maslow)
Peace of mind is acquired when we are able to live in the present and not in the past or worry about the future.
73. What is humanism? Nothing but love for men, just that. (Thomas Mann)
Love towards others and love towards oneself.
74. Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and only she can build bridges to other islands if she is first willing to be herself and is allowed to be herself. (Carl Rogers)
The way we make connections with others.
75. The only failure is to fail to live up to one's possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and he must therefore be treated as a king. (Abraham Maslow)
What for Maslow means real failure in life.
76. Powerful is our need to be known, really known by ourselves and by others, even if only for a moment. (Carl Rogers)
It is a natural instinct to want recognition from others.
77. The typical desire is clearly a need of the whole person. (Abraham Maslow)
The desire to improve or want something better.
78. The organism has a basic tendency and effort: to update, maintain and improve the organism that experiences it. (Carl Rogers)
It is our very existence that demands continuous change from us.
79. One's only rival is his own potentialities. (Abraham Maslow)
The limits are imposed by our mind.
80. A humanism based on falsehoods does not serve to understand the essence of man. (Alfonso Tailor)
Humanism is based on the needs and motivations of people.
81. Talking about humanism and denying man is a lie. (Paulo Freire)
The basis of all humanism cannot be denied.
82. A person cannot teach another person directly; one person can only facilitate another person's learning. (Carl Rogers)
People need a guide to learn on their own.
83. Looking everywhere for miracles is a sure sign that you are unaware that everything in life is a miracle. (Abraham Maslow)
We miss thousands of things when we focus on seeking the happiness we already have.
84. The very essence of creativity is its novelty, and therefore we have no standard by which to judge it. (Carl Rogers)
Creativity is the main tool of all creation.
85. The satisfaction of one need creates another. (Abraham Maslow)
It is a vicious circle that can consume us.
86. World peace begins with the health of the spirit. (Anonymous)
As change is individual, so is the peace we seek in the world.
87. The one who has a lot is not rich, but the one who gives more. (Erich Fromm)
A beautiful reflection on the true treasure that we must appreciate.
88. It is always very enriching to be able to accept another person. (Carl Rogers)
The acceptance of any person without any distinction, makes us take another step towards brotherhood.
89. What it takes to change a person is to change their self-awareness. (Abraham Maslow)
The first change must come from the way we see ourselves.
90. Death only causes fear to those who have not had time to live. (Victor Frankl)
A despair of knowing that we did not do what we really wanted in life.
91. What you should be, is what you are now becoming. (Carl Rogers)
You are getting closer to becoming who you want to be.
92. The healthiest self-esteem is based on deserved respect from others rather than external fame, celebrity, or adulation. (Abraham Maslow)
Respect for who you are, not what you have.
93. In my relationships with people I've found that it doesn't help, in the long run, to act like I'm something I'm not. (Carl Rogers)
Maintaining a lie for a long time wears down the trust that others put in us.
94. One cannot choose wisely in life unless one dares to listen to oneself, to one's own self, at every moment of one's life. (Abraham Maslow)
About following the course that from the inside, we want to travel.
95. The degree to which I can create relationships that facilitate the growth of others as separate persons is a measure of the growth I have achieved in myself. (Carl Rogers)
A reflection of your personal work as an example to help others.
96. Creativity is a characteristic that is given to all of us at birth. (Abraham Maslow)
Creativity is the most innate tool of the human being.
97. Greed is a bottomless pit and it only stirs up people who never reach satisfaction. (Erich Fromm)
Greed ends up consuming people to the point of leaving them alone in the world.
98. The novice can often see things that the expert cannot. What is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes or appearing naive. (Abraham Maslow)
Newbies always have a fresh take on what they're doing, so you need to listen to them.
99. You can't be afraid of death, actually, you can only be afraid of life. (Carl Rogers)
Especially to a life that has not been happy.
100. People are not bad, they are unhappy. (Abraham Maslow)
A bold statement about human nature.
101. For significant learning, the one that provokes profound changes in the individual, one must be strong, and not be limited to an increase in knowledge, but encompass all parts of existence. (Carl Rogers)
The only way to give a rich and profitable teaching.
102. One of the goals of education should be to teach that life is precious. (Abraham Maslow)
Education also needs to teach people about self-esteem and appreciation of life.
103. The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is an address, not a destination. (Carl Rogers)
The good life is the moments that we enjoy every day and that together make a great set of joys.
104. All the consequences of your actions depend directly on your value scheme. (Anonymous)
Responsibility is given thanks to a good base of values.
105. The need to know and understand is seen in early and late childhood, perhaps even more strongly than in adulthood. (Abraham Maslow)
Childhood is a crucial period for the development of the person we will one day be.
106. I am more and more an architect of myself. I am free to want and choose. (Carl Rogers)
Having the ability to decide for ourselves is an incomparable freedom.
107. A need that is satisfied ceases to be a need. (Abraham Maslow)
Needs are those desires that we yearn to fulfill at all costs, whether they are realistic or not.
108. Loneliness is a barrier that prevents one from uniting with the inner being. (Carl Rogers)
Isolation is always a point against emotional well-being.
109. Everything in life is education, and everyone is a teacher and a student at the same time. (Abraham Maslow)
We can find new knowledge in every corner of our world.
110. When I look at the world I am pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic. (Carl Rogers)
Do you look at the world with optimism or with negativity?
