“the flame of belief is fueled inexhaustibly by the fears of death, oblivion, and meaninglessness. Where” — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Death loses its terror if one dies when one has consummated one's life! — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Heightened sexuality is a common response to confrontation with death.” — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Life is a spark between two identical voids, the darkness before birth and the one after death. — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Though the physicality of death destroys us, the idea of death may save us. — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Despite the staunchest, most venerable defenses, we can never completely subdue death anxiety: it is always there, lurking in some hidden ravine… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Live when you live! Death loses its terror if one dies when one has consummated one's life! If one does not live… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
...the more unlived your life, the greater your death anxiety. The more you fail to experience your life fully, the more you… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
As we reach the crest of life and look at the path before us, we apprehend that the path no longer ascends… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“How shall we live? How to face our mortality? How to live with the knowledge that we are simply life forms, thrown… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
One doesn't do existential therapy as a freestanding separate theory; rather it informs your approach to such issues as death, which many… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“We poor mortals, we fellow sufferers, are such victims of biology that we fill our lives with guilt about natural acts…and that… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. That's when I will… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
The death anxiety of many people is fueled ... by disappointment at never having fulfilled their potential. Many people are in despair… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“The life of our bodies is only a constantly prevented dying, an ever deferred death…Every breath we draw wards off death that… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Death, however, does itch. It itches all the time. It is always with us, scratching at some inner door. Mirroring, softly, barely… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Death cures psychoneurosis. In a sense all these neurotic concerns--fear of rejection, interpersonal concerns--seem to melt away, and people get another perspective… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
It's not easy to live every moment wholly aware of death. It's like trying to stare the sun in the face: you… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
I feel strongly, because a man who will himself die one day in the not to distant future and, also, as a… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Every breath we draw wards off the death that constantly impinges on us…. Ultimately death must triumph, for by birth it has… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“In the first place a man never is happy but spends his whole life in striving after something which he thinks will… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
In a study we did of bereavement, we found that rather impressive numbers of widows and widowers had not simply gone back… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“The sentiment that one "should have done something more" reflects, it seems to me, an underlying wish to control the uncontrollable. After… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“keep in mind that therapy is a deep and comprehensive exploration into the course and meaning of one’s life; given the centrality… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“come to believe that the fear of death is always greatest in those who feel that they have not lived their life… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“People fear contact with the afflicted because they wish not to be confronted with the death that awaits each of them.” — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Four givens are particularly relevant for psycho-therapy: the inevitability of death for each of us and for those we love; the freedom… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“The same point is made by the Hasidic Rabbi, Susya, who shortly before his death said, "When I get to heaven they… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
If people in their 20s had more death awareness, would that in fact temper their ambition or drive? My hunch is yes.… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL” — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another. — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Therapists need to have a long experience in personal therapy to see what it's like to be on the other side of the couch… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Beginning therapists must learn that there are times to sit in silence, sometimes in silent communion, sometimes simply while waiting for patients' thoughts to… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
If one is to learn to live with the dead, one must first learn to live with the living! — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly motivated by… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Exactly. We know that the great Goethe carried a copy of Spinoza’s Ethics in his pocket for a year. Imagine that—an entire year! And… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
Absolute power, as we have always known, corrupts absolutely; it corrupts because it does not do the trick for the individual. Reality always creeps… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
“Indeed, the capacity to tolerate uncertainty is a prerequisite for the profession. Though the public may believe that therapists guide patients systematically and sure-handedly… — Irvin D. Yalom Copy Share Image
