Better guilt than the terrible burden of freedom and responsibility.
Ernest BeckerRead
We might say that psychoanalysis revealed to us the complex penalties of denying the truth of man's condition, what we might call the costs of pretending not to be mad.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that ignoring our true mental state has serious consequences.
Ernest Becker highlights the inherent struggle of humanity to confront the uncomfortable truths about our existence. By denying our mental realities, we incur psychological penalties that can lead to distorted perceptions and behaviors, illustrating the importance of self-awareness and acceptance of our condition as human beings.
Themes
PsychoanalysisTruthMental StateDenialHuman Condition
In practice
Example use cases
In a psychology class discussing the consequences of denial in mental health.
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When you confuse personal love and cosmic heroism you are bound to fail in both spheres. The impossibility of the heroism undermines the love, even if it is real. This double failure is what produces the sense of utter despair that we see in modern man... Love, then, is seen a religious problem
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All power is in essence power to deny mortality.
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If the love object is divine perfection, then one's own self is elevated by joining one's destiny to it... All our guilt, fear, and even our mortality itself can be purged in a perfect consummation with perfection itself.
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Each society is a hero system which promises victory over evil and death.
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