Renata Salecl > Quotes

“Love is linked to the fact that in the end we know nothing about the object
that attracts us in the Other, and that at the same time the Other knows nothing
about this object that is in him more than himself, i.e. what makes someone
attracted to him.”
― Renata Salecl, On Anxiety

“By working so hard at self-improvement we lose the energy and ability to participate in any form of social change”
― Renata Salecl

“The idea of choice has deeply penetrated our perception of feelings, as though we can ‘choose’ whether or not to have them.”
― Renata Salecl, The Tyranny of Choice

“No matter how much we may try to manipulate our feelings of anger with the techniques these books suggest, in the end we will probably only feel angry at ourselves for not overcoming this painful emotion.”
― Renata Salecl, The Tyranny of Choice

“The ego (one’s self-perception) is a very shaky structure, easily undermined by unconscious drives and desires. It is possible to repress those drives for a while and feel like a capable, rational subject, but eventually they will reveal themselves in the form of idiosyncratic behaviour, slips of the tongue, even illnesses. The perception that one can craft an identity by copying that of someone else has created particular problems in today’s society.”
― Renata Salecl, The Tyranny of Choice

“De acuerdo con los saberes de esta antigua disciplina, que nos permite afinar nuestro destino ajustando nuestros muebles y artefactos, uno puede, por ejemplo, si quiere volverse rico, colocar billetes falsos o un bol con monedas extranjeras en el cuarto. Sin embargo, debe tener cuidado con que el baño no se encuentre cerca del área que contribuye a la prosperidad, ya que el dinero puede fácilmente irse por el inodoro —una solución, en ese caso, es mantenerlo tapado—. Y hay que tener cuidado, incluso, con qué tipo de imágenes cuelgan de”
― Renata Salecl, La tiranía de la elección

“The film nicely shows how a person may make a rational decision to achieve a goal while at the same time unconsciously doing everything possible to avoid it. It may be that what held this couple together was the very lack of sexual satisfaction or the mutual search for a solution, while the realisation of their quest proved unsatisfactory.”
― Renata Salecl, The Tyranny of Choice