The 30 best quotes by Erik Erikson

A selection of the German psychologist's thoughts.

Erik Erikson is one of the most recognized psychologists for his contributions to the science of behavior.. His theory, called "psychosocial theory", was developed from the reinterpretation of the phases of Sigmund Freud's theory.

His theory consists of 8 stages and his ideas emphasize the understanding of the self and propose how is the development of personality from childhood to old age. Erikson focused on the impact of culture and society on our development.

Best quotes by Erik Erikson

If you want to go deeper into his theory, you can read our article "Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development". In this post, however, we have compiled a list of some of his best quotes. Quotes that exemplify what he thought and represent his ideas. Don't miss them!

1. We are what we like

This quote is similar to another well-known one: "We are what we think". That is to say, our behavior is influenced by our thinking..

2. Babies control and educate their families as much as they are controlled by them.

When there is a new member in the home, it conditions the life of the family members.

3. You have to learn to accept the law of life, and face the fact that it disintegrates us slowly.

You have to accept things as they happen. This is synonymous with emotional health.

4. Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have enough integrity not to fear death.

What parents teach their children is a big part of their children's future mental health.

5. A man's conflicts represent what he "really" is.

If we overcome the stages and the problems that arise in each one of them, we will grow as people.

6. In the social jungle of human existence, there is no sense of being alive without a sense of identity.

This quote refers to one of his stages: "integrity of self vs. despair".

7. Doubt is the brother of shame

The third stage of his theory is called "initiative vs. guilt".. The child grows up quickly. If the parents react negatively to his initiative, they will generate in him the feeling of guilt.

8. There is in every child at every stage of a new miracle of vigorous development, which constitutes a new hope and a new responsibility for all of us.

Hope motivates us to continue to grow.

9. Life is meaningless without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn this, the better for all of us.

Human beings are social beings. We depend on others in a certain way to develop fully. This does not mean that we do not have autonomy.

10. When we look at the cycle of life in our 40s, we look at older people for wisdom. At 80, however, we look at others in their 80s to see who has wisdom and who does not. Many older people are not especially wise, but you get more reason as you get older.

As you get older, you reason differently. Experience makes us see life differently.

11. Every adult, whether he is a follower or a leader, a member of a mass or an elite, was once a child. He was once small. A sense of smallness forms a substratum in his mind, indelibly. His triumphs will be measured against this smallness; his defeats will be based on it.

One may become a leader, but he was once small.

12. You have to learn to accept the law of life, and face the fact that it slowly disintegrates.

Life has a beginning and an end. You have to accept it.

13. Hope is the most indispensable virtue inherent in the condition of being alive.

Hope is what moves us to move forward.

14. The more you know yourself, the more patience you have towards what you see in others.

Self-knowledge is one of the keys to achieve emotional balance.

15. The only thing that can save us as a species is to see how we are not thinking about future generations in the same way we are living

Human beings engage in behaviors that can cause serious problems for future generations.

16. I am what survives of me

Development is cumulative. According to Erikson, we go through phases of growth..

17. One must carve out one's own biography

We overcome the stages as we overcome the different conflicts.

18. No one likes to be discovered, not even one who has made the relentless confession of a part of his profession. Any autobiographer, therefore, at least between the lines, shares everything with his reader and potential judge.

We all want to give the best image of ourselves and hold things back.

19. Parents must not only have certain ways of guiding through prohibition and permission, but must also be able to pass on to the child a deep conviction that there is meaning in what they are doing

Education should make children people who can be critical in the future.

20. Children love and want to be loved and much prefer the joy of achievement or triumph to the hatred of failure. A child should not be mistaken for a symptom.

Deep down, we all want to be positively valued by others.

21. The concept of psychosocial development basically refers to how the interaction of the person with his environment is given by fundamental changes in his personality.

Erikson's theory is based on the idea that society and culture shape our personality.

22. The way in which we understand history is also a way of making history.

How we interpret facts and how we think determines our behavior.

23. He who is ashamed would like to force the world not to look at him, not to notice his existence. He would like to destroy in the eyes of the world.

A quote that refers to his stage: "autonomy vs. shame and doubt".. Shame inhibits us and affects our self-confidence.

24. Critical thinking requires courage more than intelligence

To face problems we must have critical thinking. Otherwise, we may appear weak and avoid looking at difficult situations realistically.

25. The child becomes an adult not when he realizes that he has the right to be right, but when he realizes that he has the right to be wrong as well.

True growth occurs when we accept ourselves in both victories and defeats.

26. When you follow your development, your behavior is affected.

As you grow, your way of seeing the world changes.

27. The psychoanalytic method is essentially a historical method.

Erikson was a psychoanalytic psychologist who paid attention to social paid attention to the social and cultural processes in our development..

28. The more you know yourself, the more patience you will have for what you see in others.

As you grow older, you come to value the really important things in life.

29. Men have always demonstrated a low awareness of their best potentialities by paying homage to those leaders who taught the simplest and most inclusive rules to achieve a divided humanity.

One tends to downplay one's virtues.

30. Life follows a process and is not forever. To understand it is to develop

Life has a beginning and an end. It is necessary to accept it to be well.