“Often children who survive extremely adverse childhoods have learned a particular survival strategy. I call it ‘strategic detachment.’ This is not the… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
For children mastery entails struggle. This means they must be permitted to struggle. If parents inappropriately step in to "help"-out of impatience… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
“A person who is brilliantly talented and successful at work but irrational and irresponsible in his or her private life may want… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
Not a great deal is known about the factors in childhood that doubtless underlie a person's choice of career - I'm talking… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of the body.… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
Be careful what you say to your children. They may agree with you. — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
When I was a child, I felt at times that I had been born into an insane asylum, that much of human… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
A commitment to lifelong learning is a natural expression of the practice of living consciously. — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
What a great teacher, a great parent, a great psychotherapist and a great coach have in common is a deep belief in the potential… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
If we are happy within ourselves, we don't accept or demand that our partner should fulfill every need. We need to be comfortable with… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
Productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of health, self-esteem, not its cause — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
Faith is the commitment of one's consciousness to beliefs for which one has no sensory evidence or rational proof. When man rejects reason as… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
In the nature of our existence, we must act to achieve values. And in order to act appropriately, we need to value the beneficiary… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
I cannot remember a time when the question of why people behave as they do was not intensely interesting to me. The desire to… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
Suppose you feel you cannot accept some fact about yourself. Then own your refusal to accept. Own the block. Embrace it fully. And watch… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
“Out of fear, out of the desire for approval, out of misguided notions of duty, people surrender themselves--their convictions and their aspirations--every day. There… — Nathaniel Branden Copy Share Image
