No further evidence is needed to show that 'mental illness' is not the name of a biological condition whose nature awaits to be elucidated, but is the name of a concept whose purpose is to obscure the obvious.
Thomas SzaszRead
Self-respect is to the soul as oxygen is to the body. Deprive a person of oxygen, and you kill his body; deprive him of self-respect and you kill his spirit.
Interpretation
Self-respect is essential for a person's inner well-being and spirit, just as oxygen is vital for physical survival.
This quote by Thomas Szasz emphasizes the fundamental importance of self-respect in nurturing one's spirit and inner self. Just as the body requires oxygen to function and survive, a person needs self-respect to maintain their mental and emotional health. Without it, the essence of who they are can be diminished or destroyed, leading to a loss of spirit and purpose.
In practice
This quote is perfect to share in a self-help seminar focused on personal growth.
No further evidence is needed to show that 'mental illness' is not the name of a biological condition whose nature awaits to be elucidated, but is the name of a concept whose purpose is to obscure the obvious.
Classifying thoughts, feelings and behaviors as diseases is a logical and semantic error, like classifying whale as fish.
Addiction, obesity, starvation (anorexia nervosa) are political problems, not psychiatric: each condense and expresses a contest between the individual and some other person or persons in his environment over the control of the individual's body.
In the past, men created witches: now they create mental patients.
Adulthood is the ever-shrinking period between childhood and old age. It is the apparent aim of modern industrial societies to reduce this period to a minimum.
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
First, if it is true that a spatial order organizes an ensemble of possibilities (e.g., by a place in which one can move) and interdictions (e.g., by a wall that prevents one from going further), than the walked actualizes some of these possibilities. In that way, he makes them exist as well as emerge. But he also moves them about and he invents others, since the crossing, drifting away, or improvisation of walking privilege, transform, or abandon spatial elements.
Celebrity distorts democracy by giving the rich, beautiful, and famous more authority than they deserve.
Our own grandchildren may demonstrate that-sometimes- Gigantic is Beautiful.
All of us, poor & rich alike, have been conditioned by our upbringings. Impoverished men & women may become lulled into a state of "learned helplessness" without hope to change their lives. Likewise, the wealthy can walk in a state of "learned blindness" ignoring the desperation of the local & global poor.
An opponent is entitled to the same regard for his principles as we would expect others to have for ours. Non-violence demands that we should see every opportunity to win over opponents.
I donβt feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for love relationships is true also for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we donβt know what will be the end.
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