There is no fun in psychiatry. If you try to get fun out of it, you pay a considerable price for your unjustifiable optimism.
Harry Stack SullivanRead
When the satisfaction or the security of another person becomes as significant to one as one's own satisfaction or security, then the state of love exists. Under no other circumstances is a state of love present, regardless of the popular usage of the term.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Love involves prioritizing another's well-being as much as one's own.
This quote by Harry Stack Sullivan emphasizes the essence of true love, which is characterized by mutual concern and respect for each other's satisfaction and security. It suggests that genuine love cannot exist if one doesn't regard the needs and safety of another person as important as their own, challenging the more superficial notions of love that are often accepted in society.
Themes
LoveSatisfactionSecurityConcernWell-Being
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding speech to illustrate the depth of true love.
More from Harry Stack Sullivan
All quotes →It is easier to act yourself into a new way of feeling than to feel yourself into a new way of acting.
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What I am, at any given moment in the process of my becoming a person, will be determined by my relationships with those who love me or refuse to love me, with those whom I love or refuse to love.
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