--- title: "3 Existential Quotes By Irvin D. Yalom" description: "3 Existential quotes by Irvin D. Yalom. Plus more from Irvin D. Yalom and more Existential sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2eb/irvin-d-yalom-1519_approach_one-doesn-t-do-existential-therapy-as-a_1285255.png" --- > [One doesn't do existential therapy as a freestanding separate theory; rather it informs your approach to such issues as death, which many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/one-doesn-t-do-existential-therapy-as-a-freestanding-separate-theory/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2eb/irvin-d-yalom-1519_approach_one-doesn-t-do-existential-therapy-as-a_1285255.png) > [In a study we did of bereavement, we found that rather impressive numbers of widows and widowers had not simply gone back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/in-a-study-we-did-of-bereavement-we-found-that-rather-impressive/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/963/irvin-d-yalom-1519_awareness_in-a-study-we-did-of-bereavement-we-foun_2097644.jpg) > [Psychotherapy is a cyclical process from isolation into relationship. It is cyclical because the patient, in terror of existential isolation, relates deeply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/psychotherapy-is-a-cyclical-process-from-isolation-into-relationship/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f18/irvin-d-yalom-1519_back-again_psychotherapy-is-a-cyclical-process-from_2393045.png) ## Other authors on Existential - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-rollo-may-80838.jpg) Rollo May 18 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/rollo-may/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-lu-xun-61677.jpg) Lu Xun 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/lu-xun/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 14 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-viktor-e-frankl-93688.jpg) Viktor E. Frankl 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/viktor-e-frankl/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-jean-paul-sartre-220.jpg) Jean-Paul Sartre 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/jean-paul-sartre/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-simone-de-beauvoir-85532.jpg) Simone de Beauvoir 12 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/simone-de-beauvoir/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-paul-tillich-74200.jpg) Paul Tillich 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/paul-tillich/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-ernest-becker-33772.jpg) Ernest Becker 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/ernest-becker/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-albert-camus-10482.jpg) Albert Camus 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/albert-camus/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rajneesh-77002.jpg) Rajneesh 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/rajneesh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-hunter-s-thompson-42712.jpg) Hunter S. Thompson 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/hunter-s-thompson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-a-diamond-86925.jpg) Stephen A. Diamond 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/stephen-a-diamond/) ## More by Irvin D. Yalom > [“ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/alas-if-all-humans-were-wise-and-had-more-good-will-the-world-would/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-dream-of-a-love-that-is-more-than-two-people-craving-to-possess-one/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Ümitsizlik özfarkındalık uğruna ödenen bedeldir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/mitsizlik-zfark-ndal-k-u-runa-denen-bedeldir/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/therapists-need-to-have-a-long-experience-in-personal-therapy-to-see/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Beginning therapists must learn that there are times to sit in silence, sometimes in silent communion, sometimes simply while waiting for patients' thoughts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/beginning-therapists-must-learn-that-there-are-times-to-sit-in/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [If one is to learn to live with the dead, one must first learn to live with the living!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/if-one-is-to-learn-to-live-with-the-dead-one-must-first-learn-to-live/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly motivated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/specialness-as-a-primary-mode-of-death-transcendence-takes-a-number/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/exactly-we-know-that-the-great-goethe-carried-a-copy-of-spinoza-s/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Hope is the worst of evils because it protracts torment.” “Your”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/hope-is-the-worst-of-evils-because-it-protracts-torment-your/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Mature love is loving, not being loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/mature-love-is-loving-not-being-loved/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Absolute power, as we have always known, corrupts absolutely; it corrupts because it does not do the trick for the individual. Reality always creeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/absolute-power-as-we-have-always-known-corrupts-absolutely-it/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/indeed-the-capacity-to-tolerate-uncertainty-is-a-prerequisite-for-the/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Rollo May quipped that anxiety about nothing tries to become anxiety about something. In other words, anxiety about nothingness quickly attaches itself to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/rollo-may-quipped-that-anxiety-about-nothing-tries-to-become-anxiety/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“I often urge patients to project themselves into the future and to consider how they can live now so that five years hence they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-often-urge-patients-to-project-themselves-into-the-future-and-to/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [When people don't have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/when-people-don-t-have-any-curiosity-about-themselves-that-is-always/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/irvin-d-yalom/#itemlist", "name": "3 Existential Quotes By Irvin D. Yalom", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One doesn't do existential therapy as a freestanding separate theory; rather it informs your approach to such issues as death, which many therapists tend to shy away from.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Irvin D. 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