Quotes from Games People Play

Eric Berne ·  162 pages

Rating: (20.5K votes)


“Awareness requires living in the here and now, and not in the elsewhere, the past or the future.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Beautiful friendships” are often based on the fact that the players complement each other with great economy and satisfaction, so that there is a maximum yield with a minimum effort from the games they play with each other.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Such a woman is called "Mother's FRIEND" always ready to give judicious Parental advice and living vicariously on the experience of others”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Pastimes and games are substitutes for the real living of real intimacy.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play



“Society frowns upon candidness, except in privacy; good sense knows that it can always be abused; and the Child fears it because of the unmasking which it involves. Hence in order to get away from the ennui of pastimes without exposing themselves to the dangers of intimacy, most people compromise for games when they are available, and these fill the major part of the more interesting hours of social intercourse. That is the social significance of games.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Salesman: ‘This one is better, but you can’t afford it.’ Housewife: ‘That’s the one I’ll take.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“The solitary individual can structure time in two ways: activity and fantasy.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“In short, a diamond bracelet is a much more honest instrument of courtship than a perforated stomach. She has the option of throwing the jewelry back at him, but she cannot decently walk out on the ulcer. ("Look How Hard I've Been Trying")”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play



“The position is, then, that at any given moment each individual in a social aggregation will exhibit a Parental, Adult or Child ego state, and that individuals can shift with varying degrees of readiness from one ego state to another.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“we shared a common interest in how the past effects people—some let it decide who they are, while others make it part of what they will do.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“As this is written, a sow bug crawls across a desk. If he is turned over on his back, one can observe the tremendous struggle he goes through to get on his feet again. During this interval he has a ‘purpose’ in his life. When he succeeds, one can almost see the look of victory on his face. Off he goes, and one can imagine him telling his tale at the next meeting of sow bugs, looked up to by the younger generation as an insect who has made it. And”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“The essential and similar feature of both procedures and rituals is that they are stereotyped. Once the first transaction has been initiated, the whole series is predictable and follows a predetermined course to a foreordained conclusion unless special conditions arise.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Cowboy: ‘Come and see the barn.’ Visitor: ‘I’ve loved barns ever since I was a little girl.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play



“В большинстве случаев человек проводит всю жизнь, обманывая мир, а обычно и себя самого.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Настоящий человек может быть определен следующим образом: это тот, кто действует спонтанно, но рационально и достойно и учитывает при этом интересы других людей.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Раны причиняют боль, но как приятно, когда раны залечиваются”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“ощущение независимости достигается, как мы считаем, высвобождением или пробуждением трех способностей: включённости в настоящее, спонтанности и близости”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“Как утверждают многие клиницисты, невротики обращаются к врачу не для того, чтобы
вылечиться, а чтобы понять, как стать еще лучшим невротиком. Сценарные аналитики
утверждают нечто похожее: пациент приходит не для того, чтобы вылечиться, а чтобы научиться лучше играть в свои игры.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play



“компания женщин, каждое утро собирающаяся по очереди в чьем-нибудь доме, чтобы выпить кофе и поиграть в "Непутевого мужа", скорее всего окажет весьма прохладный прием новой соседке, которая хочет играть во "Все замечательно".”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“На основе жизненной позиции, занимаемой человеком, нетрудно сделать вывод о том, какое у него было детство.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


“очень многие охотнее тратят деньги на выпивку, наркотики и азартные игры, чем на психиатрическую помощь, которая могла бы их спасти.”
― Eric Berne, quote from Games People Play


About the author

Eric Berne
Born place: in Montreal, Canada
Born date May 10, 1910
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