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. YalomRead
It is wrong to bear children out of need, wrong to use a child to alleviate loneliness, wrong to provide purpose in life by reproducing another copy of oneself. It is wrong also to seek immortality by spewing one's germ into the future as though sperm contains your consciousness!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children should not be brought into the world for selfish reasons or as a means to fulfill personal needs.
Irvin D. Yalom emphasizes the moral implications of parenthood, arguing that having children should not be driven by personal desires such as loneliness or the quest for immortality. Instead, it suggests that bringing a child into the world demands a deeper consideration of the child's future and autonomy, rather than using them as a means to fulfill one's own psychological needs or aspirations.
Themes
ParenthoodSelfishnessLonelinessResponsibilityConsciousness
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on family planning, I quoted Yalom to highlight the importance of thoughtful parenthood.
More from Irvin D. Yalom
All quotes →A curious thought experiment. . . Nietzsche's message to us was to live life in such a way that we would be willing to repeat the same life eternally
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A sense of life meaning ensues but cannot be deliberately pursued: life meaning is always a derivative phenomenon that materializes when we have transcended ourselves, when we have forgotten ourselves and become absorbed in someone (or something) outside ourselves
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Marriage and its entourage of possession and jealousy enslave the spirit.
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Life is a spark between two identical voids, the darkness before birth and the one after death.
Irvin D. YalomRead
I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.
Irvin D. YalomRead
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