The only possible recourse a baby has when his screams are ignored is to repress his distress, which is tantamount to mutilating his soul, for the result is an interference with his ability to feel, to be aware, and to remember.
Alice MillerRead
The victimization of children is nowhere forbidden; what is forbidden is to write about it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the silence surrounding the abuse of children while highlighting the taboo against discussing it openly.
This quote by Alice Miller emphasizes the disturbing reality that while the suffering and victimization of children is pervasive and often overlooked, societal norms tend to silence discussions about these issues. Miller suggests that the real offense is not the actual harm inflicted on children but the act of bringing those truths to light through writing and discourse, which indicates a deep-rooted discomfort regarding the topic of child abuse in society.
Themes
Child AbuseVictimizationSilenceWritingSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a presentation about child welfare policies.
More from Alice Miller
All quotes →The truth about childhood, as many of us have had to endure it, is inconceivable, scandalous, painful. Not uncommonly, it is monstrous. Invariably, it is repressed. To be confronted with this truth all at once and to try to integrate it into our consciousness, however ardently we may wish it, is clearly impossible.
Alice MillerRead
We don't yet know, above all, what the world might be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humiliation, if parents would respect them and take them seriously as people.
Alice MillerRead
I have never known a patient to portray his parents more negatively than he actually experienced them in childhood but always more positively--because idealization of his parents was essential for his survival.
Alice MillerRead
It is not true that evil, destructiveness , and perversion inevitably form part of human existence, no matter how often this is maintained. But it is true that we are daily producing more evil and, with it, an ocean of suffering for millions that is absolutely avoidable. When one day the ignorance arising from childhood repression is eliminated and humanity has awakened, an end can be put to this production of evil.
Alice MillerRead
Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on.
Alice MillerRead
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