Eating is always a decision, nobody forces your hand to pick up food and put it into your mouth.
Albert EllisRead
I get people to truly accept themselves unconditionally, whether or not their therapist or anyone loves them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Self-acceptance is crucial for personal growth, independent of external validation.
In this quote, Albert Ellis emphasizes the importance of individuals accepting themselves without relying on the love or acceptance of others, including therapists. It suggests that true self-esteem and personal peace come from an internal affirmation rather than external approval, encouraging people to embrace their true selves regardless of external opinions or judgments.
Themes
Self-AcceptanceUnconditional LovePersonal GrowthSelf-EsteemInternal Validation
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote during a mental health seminar to emphasize the importance of self-love.
More from Albert Ellis
All quotes →Religious creeds encourage some of the craziest kinds of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors and favor severe manifestations of neurosis, borderline personality states, and sometimes even psychosis.
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I had used eclectic therapy and behavior therapy on myself at the age of 19 to get over my fear of public speaking and of approaching young women in public.
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If you would stop, really stop, damning yourself, others, and unkind conditions, you would find it almost impossible to upset yourself emotionally - about anything. Yes, anything.
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The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.
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Attempts to help humans eliminate all self-ratings and views self-esteem as a self-defeating concept that encourages them to make conditional evaluations of self. Instead, it teaches people unconditional self-acceptance.
Albert EllisRead
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