We have to realize that we are as deeply afraid to live and to love as we are to die.
R. D. LaingRead
Attempts to wake before our time are often punished, especially by those who love us most. Because they, bless them, are asleep. They think anyone who wakes up, or who, still asleep, realizes that what is taken to be real is a ‘dream’ is going crazy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that those who challenge the norms of reality may be misunderstood or rejected by those who do not perceive life in the same way.
R. D. Laing's quote conveys the idea that when individuals try to awaken from the illusions of societal norms and perceptions, they often face resistance, particularly from loved ones. This resistance is rooted in the discomfort that arises when one's understanding of reality is challenged; those who remain within conventional beliefs may perceive the awakening individual as unstable or mad, ultimately emphasizing the conflict between personal enlightenment and societal acceptance.
Themes
AwakeningRealityPerceptionTruthUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal growth and enlightenment, this quote serves as a reminder of the challenges faced when trying to break free from societal expectations.
More from R. D. Laing
All quotes →Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death.
R. D. LaingRead
Whether life is worth living depends on whether there is love in life.
R. D. LaingRead
The experience and behavior that gets labeled schizophrenic is a special strategy that a person invents in order to live in an unlivable situation.
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The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.
R. D. LaingRead
Here we have the paradox, the potentially tragic paradox, that our relatedness to others is an essential aspect of our being, as is our separateness, but any particular person is not a necessary part of our being.
R. D. LaingRead
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