57 Carl Jung Quotes and Sayings that are Meaningful

Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung founded analytic psychology as a response to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis.

He introduced the concepts of extraversion, introversion, archetypes and the collective unconscious, influencing various fields including psychiatry, religion and literature.

Early Life: Born to a pastor, Jung had a lonely childhood marked by deep introspection. Initially inclined towards religion, his interests shifted to philosophy, leading him to study medicine and later psychiatry at the University of Basel and Zürich.

Carl Jung

Professional Journey: Working at the Burghölzli Asylum, Jung delved into association tests, developing the concept of ‘complexes’. His early work aligning with Freud led to collaboration, but they later parted due to theoretical disagreements.

Key Theories: Post his break with Freud, Jung explored the ‘collective unconscious’, emphasizing the role of archetypes. He believed that understanding ancient texts could shed light on individual and collective psychologies.

Religion and Psychotherapy: Jung integrated religious elements, particularly from the Hermetic tradition, into his understanding of the psyche. He saw alchemical symbols as representations from the collective unconscious.

Legacy: Jung contributed immensely to psychotherapy for older individuals, emphasizing the role of individual myths in personality development, a process he termed ‘individuation’. Despite facing criticism, including accusations of being a Nazi sympathizer, Jung’s works remain influential.

Publications: Jung’s extensive publications include “Symbols of Transformation”, “The Psychology of Dementia Praecox”, “Modern Man in Search of a Soul” and “Memories, Dreams, Reflections”, among others.

I have picked the best quotes by Carl Jung below.


Meaningful Carl Jung Quotes

1. “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” ~ (Carl Jung).

quotes-about-carl-jung

2. “Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” ~ (Carl Jung).

3. “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ~ (Carl Jung).

4. “Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.” ~ Carl Jung.

5. “It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.” ~ Carl Jung.

6. “In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” ~ Carl Jung.

7. “Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.” ~ Carl Jung.

Best Carl Jung Quotes

8. “Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.” ~ Carl Jung.

9. “The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.” ~ Carl Jung.

10. “We don’t really heal anything; we simply let it go.” ~ Carl Jung.

11. “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” ~ (Carl Jung).

quotes-on-carl-jung

12. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” ~ (Carl Jung).

Popular Carl Jung Quotes

13. “The best political, social, and spiritual work we can do is to withdraw the projection of our shadow onto others.” ~ (Carl Jung).

14. “The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it.” ~ (Carl Jung).

15. “Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” ~ (Carl Jung).

16. “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” ~ (Carl Jung).

17. “Synchronicity is an ever-present reality for those who have eyes to see.” ~ (Carl Jung).

18. “Shame is a soul-eating emotion.” ~ (Carl Jung).

Great Carl Jung Quotes

19. “Wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one’s being, but by integration of the contraries.” ~ (Carl Jung).

20. “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” ~ (Carl Jung).

21. “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ~ (Carl Jung).

22. “There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” ~ (Carl Jung).

best-carl-jung-quotes

23. “To ask the right question is already half the solution of a problem.” ~ (Carl Jung).

24. “Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research.” ~ (Carl Jung).

Top Carl Jung Quotes

25. “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know but need to know. Learn from them.” ~ (Carl Jung).

26. “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.” ~ (Carl Jung).

27. “Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.” ~ (Carl Jung).

28. “Solitude is for me a fount of healing which makes my life worth living. Talking is often a torment for me, and I need many days of silence to recover from the futility of words.” ~ (Carl Jung).

29. “Normality is a fine ideal for those who have no imagination.” ~ (Carl Jung).

30. “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” ~ (Carl Jung).

31. “Wisdom accepts that all things have two sides.” ~ (Carl Jung).

32. “Embrace your grief. For there, your soul will grow.” ~ (Carl Jung).

Famous Carl Jung Quotes

33. “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” ~ (Carl Jung).

34. “Free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must do.” ~ (Carl Jung).

35. “Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth, and if a man does not know what a thing is, it is at least an increase in knowledge if he knows what it is not.” ~ (Carl Jung).

36. “Synchronicity: A meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.” ~ (Carl Jung).

top-carl-jung-quotes

37. “The ability to ask questions is the greatest resource in learning the truth.” ~ (Carl Jung).

38. “We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” ~ (Carl Jung).

39. “Where love rules, there is no will to power, and where power predominates, love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.” ~ (Carl Jung).

40. “In all chaos,, there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” ~ (Carl Jung).

41. “In every adult there lurks a child – an eternal child, something that is always becoming, is never completed, and calls for unceasing care, attention, and education. That is the part of the personality which wants to develop and become whole.” ~ (Carl Jung).

42. “Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. To perform this difficult office it is sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life worth living for the ordinary human being.” ~ (Carl Jung).

Thought-Provoking Carl Jung Quotes

43. “We meet ourselves time and again in a thousand disguises on the path of life.” ~ (Carl Jung).

44. “The greatest tragedy of the family is the unlived lives of the parents.” ~ (Carl Jung).

45. “Neurosis is the natural by-product of pain avoidance.” ~ (Carl Jung).

46. “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.” ~ (Carl Jung).

47. “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” ~ (Carl Jung).

48. “The highest, most decisive experience is to be alone with one’s own self. You must be alone to find out what supports you, when you find that you can not support yourself. Only this experience can give you an indestructible foundation.” ~ (Carl Jung).

49. “The difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through the fire.” ~ (Carl Jung).

50. “In each of us there is another whom we do not know.” ~ (Carl Jung).

51. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” ~ (Carl Jung).

52. “What you resist, persists.” ~ (Carl Jung).

53. “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.” ~ (Carl Jung).

54. “Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ~ (Carl Jung).

55. “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” ~ (Carl Jung).

56. “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.” ~ (Carl Jung).

57. “I must also have a dark side if I am to be whole.” ~ (Carl Jung).



You Might Like

Share with others!
Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar