Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living.
Carl Jung, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'Spirit and Life' (1926)
Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living.
Carl Jung, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'Spirit and Life' (1926)
What it means
Living only for yourself, your comfort and your wants, leaves people empty. A life needs a guiding idea bigger than the ego. Jung calls that spirit.
The source
"Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living." Carl Jung said it in Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'Spirit and Life' (1926). Translated by H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928.
"It is certainly indispensable to life, since a mere ego-life is, as we well know, a most inadequate, unsatisfactory thing. Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth while."H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'Spirit and Life' (1926). Text read at archive.org.
Who said it
Carl Jung (1875–1961). Swiss psychiatrist who broke with Freud and founded analytical psychology. He mapped the persona, the shadow, the collective unconscious and the lifelong work of becoming yourself, which he called individuation. Our lines come only from his writings published before 1931, in our own translations from the German or in English translations of the time.
Questions
- What does "Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living." mean?
- Living only for yourself, your comfort and your wants, leaves people empty. A life needs a guiding idea bigger than the ego. Jung calls that spirit.
- Who said "Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living."?
- Carl Jung (1875–1961). Source: Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'Spirit and Life' (1926).
- What is the original wording?
- It is certainly indispensable to life, since a mere ego-life is, as we well know, a most inadequate, unsatisfactory thing. Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth while (H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928). Translated by H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928.
- Is "Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living." on a shirt?
- Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.
Cite this line
"Only a life lived in a certain spirit is worth living." (Carl Jung, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'Spirit and Life' (1926), trans. H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/only-a-life-lived-in-a-certain-spirit
Filed under Quotes about character.
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More from Carl Jung
- Your worst enemy lives inside your own chest.Two Essays (1928), I, ch. III 'The Other Point of View: The Will to Power'
- Only what is truly yourself has the power to heal.Two Essays (1928), II, Part I, ch. IV 'The Attempt to Free the Individuality from the Collective Psyche'
- Trade yourself for a mask and you will pay for it.Two Essays (1928), II, Part II, ch. II 'Anima and Animus'
- You and your job are two different things.Two Essays (1928), II, Part II, ch. II 'Anima and Animus'
- The persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real.Two Essays (1928), II, Part I, ch. III 'The Persona as a Part of the Collective Psyche'
- Some people come to believe they are their public face.Two Essays (1928), II, Part II, ch. II 'Anima and Animus'