The afternoon of life asks for simplification, limitation, intensification.

Carl Jung, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'On Psychical Energy'

What it means

Youth is right to expand: more friends, more places, more projects. Later the task reverses. Do fewer things, more deeply.

The source

"The afternoon of life asks for simplification, limitation, intensification." Carl Jung said it in Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'On Psychical Energy'. Translated by H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928.

"For the adult man, however, the continued extension of life is obviously not the right principle, because the descent towards the afternoon of life demands simplification, limitation, and intensification; that is to say, it demands individual culture."

H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'On Psychical Energy'. 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 "The afternoon of life asks for simplification, limitation, intensification." mean?: Youth is right to expand: more friends, more places, more projects. Later the task reverses. Do fewer things, more deeply.
Who said "The afternoon of life asks for simplification, limitation, intensification."?: Carl Jung (1875–1961). Source: Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'On Psychical Energy'.
What is the original wording?: For the adult man, however, the continued extension of life is obviously not the right principle, because the descent towards the afternoon of life demands simplification, limitation, and intensification; that is to say, it demands individual culture (H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928). Translated by H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928.
Is "The afternoon of life asks for simplification, limitation, intensification." 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

"The afternoon of life asks for simplification, limitation, intensification." (Carl Jung, Contributions to Analytical Psychology (1928), 'On Psychical Energy', trans. H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/the-afternoon-of-life-asks-for-simplification-limitation