QuoteProject
A creative person has little power over his own life. He is not free. He is captive and driven by his daimon.
Carl Jung
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

A creative individual often feels compelled by an inner drive that limits their autonomy.

Carl Jung suggests that creativity is not solely a choice but rather a descent into a powerful drive or instinct, referred to as 'daimon.' This indicates that a creative person's life is heavily influenced by their creative urges and inspirations, which can make them feel less in control of their own destiny.

Themes

CreativityInner DriveDaimonFreedomLife Control

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about artistic challenges, one might say, 'As Carl Jung noted, a creative person has little power over his own life.'

More from Carl Jung

Grounded in the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, alchemy formed a bridge: on the one hand into the past, to Gnosticism, and on the other into the future, to the modern psychology of the unconscious.
Carl JungRead
The majority of my patients consisted not of believers but of those who had lost their faith.
Carl JungRead
Complexes are psychic contents which are outside the control of the conscious mind. They have been split off from consciousness and lead a separate existence in the unconscious, being at all times ready to hinder or to reinforce the conscious intentions.
Carl JungRead
We are in a far better position to observe instincts in animals or in primitives than in ourselves. This is due to the fact that we have grown accustomed to scrutinizing our own actions and to seeking rational explanations for them.
Carl JungRead
From the viewpoint of analytic psychology, the theatre, aside from any aesthetic value, may be considered as an institution for the treatment of the mass complex.
Carl JungRead
I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35 - there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.
Carl JungRead

Similar quotes

If you have no eyes, do not walk blindly; take a staff in your hand. If you have no staff of insight, do not walk without a guide.
RumiRead
It's a great lesson about not being too precious about your writing. You have to try your hardest to be at the top of your game and improve every joke you can until the last possible second, and then you have to let it go. You can't be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it...You have to let people see what you wrote.
Tina FeyRead
You can judge the quality of their faith from the way they behave. Discipline is an index to doctrine.
TertullianRead
We can find true refuge within our own hearts and minds-right here, right now, in the midst of our moment-to-momen t lives. We find true refuge whenever we recognize the silent space of awareness behind all our busy doing and striving. We find refuge whenever our hearts open with tenderness and love. We find refuge whenever we connect with the innate clarity and intelligence of our true nature.
Tara BrachRead
Raphael paints wisdom, Handel sings it, Phidias carves it, Shakespeare writes it, Wren builds it, Columbus sails it, Luther preaches it, Washington arms it, Watt mechanizes it.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Going through war and living is a very important process. You realize how vulnerable you are and how lucky you are to be in the right place at the right time. As a matter of fact, I have a history of luck.
Carl ReinerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.