3 December 2020 James Hillman I don’t think anything changes until ideas change. The usual American viewpoint is to believe that something is wrong with the person.
3 December 2020 James Hillman We can’t change anything until we get some fresh ideas, until we begin to see things differently.
3 December 2020 James Hillman Just stop for a minute and you’ll realize you’re happy just being. I think it’s the pursuit that screws up happiness. If we drop the pursuit, it’s right here.
3 December 2020 James Hillman The word power has such a generally negative implication in our society. What are people talking about? Are they talking about muscles, or control?
3 December 2020 James Hillman Loss means losing what was We want to change but we don’t want to lose. Without time for loss, we don’t have time for soul.
3 December 2020 James Hillman I see happiness as a by-product. I don’t think you can pursue happiness. I think that phrase is one of the very few mistakes the Founding Fathers made.
3 December 2020 James Hillman In the history of the treatment of depression, there was the dunking stool, purging of the bowels of black bile, hoses, attempts to shock the patient. All of these represent hatred or aggression towards what depression represents in the patient.
3 December 2020 James Hillman We’re an air bag society that wants guarantees on everything that we buy. We want to be able to take everything back and get another one. We want a 401-k plan and Social Security.
3 December 2020 James Hillman You don’t attack the grunts of Vietnam you blame the theory behind the war. Nobody who fought in that war was at fault. It was the war itself that was at fault. It’s the same thing with psychotherapy.
3 December 2020 James Hillman All we can do when we think of kids today is think of more hours of school, earlier age at the computer, and curfews. Who would want to grow up in that world?
3 December 2020 James Hillman We approach people the same way we approach our cars. We take the poor kid to a doctor and ask, What’s wrong with him, how much will it cost, and when can I pick him up?
3 December 2020 James Hillman Psychotherapy theory turns it all on you: you are the one who is wrong. If a kid is having trouble or is discouraged, the problem is not just inside the kid it’s also in the system, the society.
