Alfred Adler

Meanings are not determined by situations, but we determine ourselves by the meanings we give to situations.

Every therapeutic cure, and still more, any awkward attempt to show the patient the truth, tears him from the cradle of his freedom from responsibility and must therefore reckon with the most vehement resistance.

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.

It is the patriotic duty of every man to lie for his country.

A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt dangerous.

The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, with the truth.

God who is eternally complete, who directs the stars, who is the master of fates, who elevates man from his lowliness to Himself, who speaks from the cosmos to every single human soul, is the most brilliant manifestation of the goal of perfection.

The educator must believe in the potential power of his pupil, and he must employ all his art in seeking to bring his pupil to experience this power.

In the investigation of a neurotic style of life, we must always suspect an opponent, and note who suffers most because of the patient's condition. Usually this is a member of the family.

Death is really a great blessing for humanity, without it there could be no real progress. People who lived for ever would not only hamper and discourage the young, but they would themselves lack sufficient stimulus to be creative.

The science of the mind can only have for its proper goal the understanding of human nature by every human being, and through its use, brings peace to every human soul.

The test of one's behavior pattern is their relationship to society, relationship to work and relationship to sex.

No experience is a cause of success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences, so-called trauma - but we make out of them just what suits our purposes.

War is not the continuation of politics with different means, it is the greatest mass-crime perpetrated on the community of man.

Our modern states are preparing for war without even knowing the future enemy.

War is organized murder and torture against our brothers.

To all those who walk the path of human cooperation war must appear loathsome and inhuman.

It is one of the most effective attitudes of the neurotic to measure thumbs down, so to speak, a real person by an ideal, since in doing so he can depreciate him as much as he wishes.