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You can take away a man's gods, but only to give him others in return.
Carl Jung
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that while one can strip someone of their beliefs, they will inevitably adopt new ones.

Carl Jung's quote explores the inevitability of belief systems in human life. It highlights the idea that even when external structures of faith or ideology are removed, individuals will seek out new ones to fill the void, underscoring the human need for meaning and understanding in life.

Themes

BeliefFaithMeaningPhilosophyExistence

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be cited in a discussion about the importance of personal beliefs during a philosophy class.

More from Carl Jung

Grounded in the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, alchemy formed a bridge: on the one hand into the past, to Gnosticism, and on the other into the future, to the modern psychology of the unconscious.
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The majority of my patients consisted not of believers but of those who had lost their faith.
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Complexes are psychic contents which are outside the control of the conscious mind. They have been split off from consciousness and lead a separate existence in the unconscious, being at all times ready to hinder or to reinforce the conscious intentions.
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We are in a far better position to observe instincts in animals or in primitives than in ourselves. This is due to the fact that we have grown accustomed to scrutinizing our own actions and to seeking rational explanations for them.
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From the viewpoint of analytic psychology, the theatre, aside from any aesthetic value, may be considered as an institution for the treatment of the mass complex.
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I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35 - there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.
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