59 Quotes by Karen Horney

The tenacity with which the neurotic adheres to any attitude is a sure indication that the attitude fulfills functions which seem indispensable in the framework of his neurosis.

A perfectly normal person is rare in our civilization.

To find a mountain path all by oneself gives a greater feeling of strength than to take a path that is shown.

The central inner conflict is one between the constructive forces of the real self and the obstructive forces of the pride system, between healthy growth and the drive to prove in actuality the perfection of the idealized self.

If you want to be proud of yourself, then do things in which you can take pride

There is no good reason why we should not develop and change until the last day we live.

It is naturally a sign of inner liberation when a patient can squarely recognize his difficulties and take them with a grain of humor. But some patients at the beginning of analysis make incessant jokes about themselves, or exaggerate their difficulties in so dramatic a way that they will appear funny, while they are at the same time absurdly sensitive to any criticism. In these instances humor is used to take the sting out of an otherwise unbearable shame.

Pride and self-hate belong inseparably together; they are two expressions of one process.

Pride in many diverse ways is the enemy of love.