The persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real.

What it means

Persona is the Latin word for an actor's mask, and Jung used it for the face we show society. Look closely and most of it is borrowed: manners, roles, the expected opinions. The real person is underneath.

The source

"The persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real." Carl Jung said it in Two Essays (1928), II, Part I, ch. III 'The Persona as a Part of the Collective Psyche'. Translated by H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928.

"When we analyse the persona we take off the mask; and then we discover that what seemed to be individual is at bottom collective, in other words, the persona was only the mask of the collective psyche. Fundamentally the persona is not real."

H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928, Two Essays (1928), II, Part I, ch. III 'The Persona as a Part of the Collective Psyche'. 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 persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real." mean?

Persona is the Latin word for an actor's mask, and Jung used it for the face we show society. Look closely and most of it is borrowed: manners, roles, the expected opinions. The real person is underneath.

Who said "The persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real."?

Carl Jung (1875–1961). Source: Two Essays (1928), II, Part I, ch. III 'The Persona as a Part of the Collective Psyche'.

What is the original wording?

When we analyse the persona we take off the mask; and then we discover that what seemed to be individual is at bottom collective, in other words, the persona was only the mask of the collective psyche. Fundamentally the persona is not real (H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928). Translated by H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928.

Is "The persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real." on a shirt?

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"The persona is only a mask. At bottom, it is not real." (Carl Jung, Two Essays (1928), II, Part I, ch. III 'The Persona as a Part of the Collective Psyche', trans. H. G. and C. F. Baynes, 1928). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/the-persona-is-only-a-mask-at-bottom