Quotes from Lying on the Couch

“Only the wounded healer can truly heal. (97)”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“What? 'Borderline patients play games'? That what you said? Ernest, you'll never be a real therapist if you think like that. That's exactly what I meant earlier when I talked about the dangers of diagnosis. There are borderlines and there are borderlines. Labels do violence to people. You can't treat the label; you have to treat the person behind the label. (17)”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“He had learned long ago that, in general, the easier it was for anxious patients to reach him, the less likely they were to call. (107)”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“Nonetheless, the past is part of your present consciousness—it forms the spectacles through which you experience the present.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“چطور می توان مردی را به چنگ آورد؟
سئله ساده ایه، فقط باید به چشمان یک مرد خیره شد و چند ثانیه صبر کرد. همین!”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“این رویاها نظر فروید را در این باره که عملکرد اولیه رویاها حفظ خواب است اثبات می کرد. در این نمونه، فکر وحشتناک سوزاندن جسد به چیزی ملایم تر و دلپذیرتر تبدیل شده است: چهره دوست داشتنی و جذاب خرس آتش نشان. ولی این رویاها تنها تا حدودی موفق بود: هرچند باعث شده بود که ارنست خوابش را ادامه دهد اضطراب مرگ کل رویایش را در ترس فروبرد.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“گذشته بخشی از شرایط امروزته. گذشته برات عینکی درست می کنه که باهاش زمان حال رو تجربه می کنی.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“یه مرد خوش قیافه فقیر با 1دلار و 50سنت برات یه کاپوچینو می خره.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

“Seymour a Ernest: "A veces el destino nos coloca en una posición dónde lo correcto resulta equivocado”
― Irvin D. Yalom, quote from Lying on the Couch

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“Making these choices [to attend school instead of skipping], as it turned out, wasn't about willpower. I always admired people who “willed” themselves to do something, because I have never felt I was one of them. If sheer will were enough by itself, it would have been enough a long time ago, back on University Avenue, I figured. It wasn't, not for me anyway. Instead, I needed something to motivate me. I needed a few things that I could think about in my moments of weakness that would cause me to throw off the blanket and walk through the front door. More than will, I needed something to inspire me.

One thing that helped was a picture I kept in mind, this image that I used over and over whenever I was faced with these daily choices. I pictured a runner running on a racetrack. The image was set in the summertime and the racetrack was a reddish orange, divided in white racing stripes to flag the runners’ columns. Only, the runner in my mental image did not run alongside others; she ran solo, with no one watching her. And she did not run a free and clear track, she ran one that required her to jump numerous hurdles, which made her break into a heavy sweat under the sun. I used this image every time I thought of things that frustrated me: the heavy books, my crazy sleep schedule, the question of where I would sleep and what I would eat. To overcome these issues I pictured my runner bolting down the track, jumping hurdles toward the finish line.

Hunger, hurdle. Finding sleep, hurdle, schoolwork, hurdle. If I closed my eyes I could see the runner’s back, the movement of her sinewy muscles, glistening with sweat, bounding over the hurdles, one by one. On mornings when I did not want to get out of bed, I saw another hurdle to leap over. This way, obstacles became a natural part of the course, an indication that I was right where I needed to be, running the track, which was entirely different from letting obstacles make me believe I was off it. On a racing track, why wouldn't there be hurdles? With this picture in mind—using the hurdles to leap forward toward my diploma—I shrugged the blanket off, went through the door, and got myself to school.”
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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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