Alexandra B

“Idealuri? Idealurile sunt in cultura, in aer. Le inspiri. Toti printre care am crescut au inhalat aceleasi idealuri. Toti voiam sa iesim din ghetou, sa crestem in lume, sa avem succese, bogatie, respectabilitate. Asta voia toata lumea! Nici unul n-a stat sa-si aleaga deliberat idealurile - ele se aflau acolo, pur si simplu, consecinte naturale ale epocii, ale poporului meu, ale familiei mele. ... - Dar n-au fost destul de solide, Josef. Probabil ar putea fi destul de solide pentru unii, pentru cei care nu vad prea departe, pentru alergătorii inceti. Dar tu, ca si mine, ai vederea buna. Ai privit prea departe in viata.”
― Yalom D. Irvin - Plansul lui Nietzsche

“Above all, I didn't want to fall into the trap that Buddhists call idiot compassion - an apt phrase, given John's worldview. In idiot compassion, you avoid rocking the boat to spare people's feelings, even though the boat needs rocking and your compassion ends up being more harmful than your honesty. People do this with teenagers, spouses, addicts, even themselves. Its opposite is wise compassion, which means caring about the person but also giving him or her a loving truth bomb when needed.”
― Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

“From time to time, Wendell and I have discussed the ways parental relationships evolve in midlife as people shift from blaming their parents to taking full responsibility for their lives. It’s what Wendell calls “the changing of the guard.” Whereas in their younger years, people often come to therapy to understand why their parents won’t act in ways they wish, later on, people come to figure out how to manage what is. And so my question about my mother has gone from “Why can’t she change?” to “Why can’t I?”
― Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

“If the queen had balls, she’d be the king.” If you go through life picking and choosing, if you don’t recognize that “the perfect is the enemy of the good,” you may deprive yourself of joy.”
― Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed