A hurt is at the center of all addictive behaviors. . . . The wound may not be as deep and the ache not as excruciating, and it may even be entirely …

- Gabor Mate

Not why the addiction, but why the pain.

- Gabor Mate

In the real world there is no nature vs. nurture argument, only an infinitely complex and moment-by-moment interaction between genetic and environmen…

- Gabor Mate

Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.

- Gabor Mate

A long-term substance abuser, a few months before his death, penned this poem: Went downtown, Hastings and Main, looking for relief from the pain. A…

- Gabor Mate

We may not be responsible for the world that created our minds, but we can take responsibility for the mind with which we create our world.

- Gabor Mate

Medical thinking usually sees stress as highly disturbing but isolated events such as, for example, sudden unemployment, a marriage breakup, or the d…

- Gabor Mate

... While nervous tension may be a component of stress, one can be stressed without feeling tension.

- Gabor Mate

The very same brain centers that interpret and feel physical pain also become activated during experiences of emotional rejection. In brain scans, t…

- Gabor Mate