The 30 best phrases of Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson is one of the most recognized psychologists for his contributions to the science of behavior. His theory, called "psychosocial theory", was developed from the reinterpretation of the phases of the theory of Sigmund Freud.

• Related article: "Sigmund Freud: life and work of the famous psychoanalyst"

His theory consists of 8 stages and his ideas emphasize the understanding of the self and propose how is the development of personality from childhood to old age. Erikson focused on the impact of culture and society on our development.

Best quotes from Erik Erikson

If you want to delve into his theory, you can read our article “Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development”. In this post, however, we have prepared a list with some of his best phrases. Quotes that exemplify what his thought was and represent his ideas. Do not miss it!

1. we are what we like

This quote is similar to another well-known one: "We are what we think." That is to say, our behavior is influenced by our thinking.

2. Babies control and educate their families as much as they are controlled by them

When there is a new member in the home, that conditions the lives of the family members.

3. You have to learn to accept the law of life, and face the fact that it slowly disintegrates us.

You have to accept things as they happen. This is synonymous with emotional health.

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

What parents teach children is a large part of their children's future mental health.

5. A man's conflicts represent what he "really" is

If we overcome the stages and the problems that arise in each of them, we will grow as people.

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

This quote refers to one of his stages: "integrity of self vs. despair."

7. Doubt is the brother of shame

The third stage of his theory, receives in the name of "initiative vs guilt". The child grows rapidly. If the parents react negatively to his initiative, they will generate in him a feeling of guilt.

8. There is in each child at each stage of a new miracle of vigorous development, which constitutes a new hope and a new responsibility for all

Hope motivates us to continue growing.

9. Life is meaningless without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we find out, the better for all of us.

Human beings are social beings. We depend on others in a certain way to fully develop. That does not mean that we do not have autonomy.

10. When we look at the cycle of life in our 40s, we look to older people for wisdom. At 80, however, we look at other 80-year-olds to see who possesses wisdom and who doesn't. A lot of old people aren't especially wise, but you get more right as you get older.

Over the years, one reasons differently. Experience makes us see life differently.

11. Every adult, whether he is a follower or a leader, a member of a crowd or an elite, was once a child. Once it was small. A feeling of smallness forms a substrate in his mind, indelibly. His triumphs will be measured against this smallness; his defeats will substantiate it

One can become a leader, but once it was small.

12. You have to learn to accept the law of life, and face the fact that it slowly disintegrates.

Life has a beginning and an end. You have to accept it.

13. Hope is the most indispensable and inherent virtue in the condition of being alive.

Hope is what moves us to move forward.

14. The more you know yourself, the more patience you have towards what is seen in others

Self-awareness is one of the keys to achieving emotional balance.

15. The only thing that can save us as a species is to see how we are not thinking about future generations in the same way that we live.

Human beings carry out behaviors that can cause serious problems for future generations.

16. I am what survives of me

Development is cumulative. According to Erikson, we are going through phases to grow.

17. One must carve out his own biography

We go through the stages as we overcome the different conflicts.

18. No one likes to be found out, not even one who has made the relentless confession of a part of his profession. Any autobiographer, therefore, at least between the lines, shares everything with his potential reader and judge.

We all want to give the best image of ourselves and we keep things to ourselves.

19. Parents should not only have certain ways to guide through prohibition and permission, but also they must be able to convey to the child a deep conviction that there is meaning in what they are doing

The education it should make children people who can be critical in the future.

20. Children love and want to be loved and much prefer the joy of achievement or triumph to the hate of failure. A child should not be confused by their symptom

Deep down, we all want to be valued positively by others.

21. The concept of psychosocial development basically refers to how the interaction of the person with their environment is given by some fundamental changes in their personality.

Erikson's theory is based on the idea that society and culture shape our personality.

22. The way we understand history is also a way of making history.

How we interpret facts and how we think determines our behavior

23. He who is ashamed would like to force the world not to look at him, not to realize his existence. He would like to destroy in the eyes of the world

A quote that refers to his stage: "autonomy vs shame and doubt". Shame inhibits us and affects our self-confidence.

24. Critical thinking requires courage more than intelligence

To deal with problems you have to have critical thinking. Otherwise, we can appear weak and avoid seeing difficult situations realistically.

25. The child becomes an adult not when he realizes that he has the right to be right, but when he realizes that he has the right to be wrong too.

True growth occurs when we accept ourselves in both victories and defeats.

26. When you follow your development, your behavior is affected

As you get older, your way of seeing the world changes.

27. The psychoanalytic method is essentially a historical method.

Erikson was a psychoanalyst psychologist who paid attention to social and cultural processes in our development.

28. The more you know yourself, the more patience you will have for what you see in others.

When you grow up, you value the really important things in life.

29. Men have always demonstrated a low awareness of their best potentialities through tribute to those leaders who taught the simplest and most inclusive rules to achieve a humanity divided

One tends to downplay his virtues.

30. Life follows a process and it is not forever. To understand it is to develop

Life has a beginning and an end. You have to accept it to be okay.