Alice Miller

Quotes

• “To forget and to repress would be a good solution if there were no more to it than that. But repressed pain blocks emoti...”
• “Narcissistic cathexis of the child by the mother does not exclude emotional devotion. On the contrary, she loves the chi...”
• “Without realizing that the past is constantly determining their present actions, they avoid learning anything about thei...”
• “Child abuse damages a person for life and that damage is in no way diminished by the ignorance of the perpetrator. It is...”
• “Child abuse is still sanctioned — indeed, held in high regard — in our society as long as it is defined as child-rearing...”
• “Where there had been only fearful emptiness or equally frightening grandiose fan­tasies, an unexpected wealth of vitalit...”
• “I've spoken of the patient Peter who was obsessively forced to make conquests with women, to seduce and then to abandon ...”
• “We don't yet know, above all, what the world might be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humili...”
• “Experience has taught us that we have only one enduring weapon in our struggle against mental illness: the emotional dis...”
• “Genuine feelings cannot be produced, nor can they be eradicated. We can only repress them, delude ourselves, and deceive...”
• “The more we idealized the past, however, and refuse to acknowledge or childhood sufferings, the more we pass them on unc...”
• “What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight ...”
• “Cruelty is the opposite of love, and its traumatic effect, far from being reduced, is actually reinforced if it is prese...”
• “All children are born to grow, to develop, to live, to love, and to articulate their needs and feelings for their self-p...”