--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is just because we live in an active…" description: "\"“It is just because we live in an active and responsible time that we need more consciousness and self-reflection,” otherwise we will be “unconsciously..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg" --- # It is just because we live in an active and responsible… ![“It is just because we live in an active and responsible time that we need more consciousness and self-reflection,” otherwise we will be “unconsciously swept along by events.” “Mass movements,” Jung told his Nazi interviewer, “have the peculiarity of overpowering the individual by mass suggestion…” quote by Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg) > ““It is just because we live in an active and responsible time that we need more consciousness and self-reflection,” otherwise we will be “unconsciously swept along by events.” “Mass movements,” Jung told his Nazi interviewer, “have the peculiarity of overpowering the individual by mass suggestion and making him unconscious. The political or social movement gains nothing by this when it has swarms of hypnotized camp followers.” And when Weizsäcker remarked that “in Germany today psychology is suspect . . . precisely because it is concerned with the self-development of the so-called individual,” and asked how “when the collective forces of the whole community have taken the lead in moulding our way of life, are we to assess the efforts of psychology,” Jung replied that “the self-development of the individual is especially necessary in our time” and “only the self-development of the individual, which I consider to be the supreme goal of all psychological endeavour, can produce consciously responsible spokesmen and leaders.”45 Nazism, as is well known, had no use for individuals, and Jung’s emphasis on the importance of individuals and their self-development was an outright attack on Nazi ideology. Most critics of Jung, however, fail to point this out.”” [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Jung argues that individual self‑development is essential to resist mass movements and ideological domination. **In simple terms:** People must develop themselves to avoid being swept by collective forces. Key Takeaway Cultivate personal consciousness and responsibility. Themes individualism psychology politics ethics Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political activism - education reform - personal therapy - leadership training Key Concepts self‑actualization mass influence critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals maintain autonomy in collective crises? - What practices foster true self‑reflection? A Different Perspective Mass movements can still manipulate individuals despite personal growth efforts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [I was very lucky to get well known much later in life. You need to have flopped quite a few times to get a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/i-was-very-lucky-to-get-well-known-much-later-in-life-you-need-to/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [it is clearly evident that our path travels through a valley of teas well known to all farm workers, because in all valleys the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/it-is-clearly-evident-that-our-path-travels-through-a-valley-of-teas/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“He hammered along, arms swinging by his sides. He was known, well known, along the highways in hiding that are traveled by the poor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/he-hammered-along-arms-swinging-by-his-sides-he-was-known-well-known/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [But mad people never die. That's a well-known fact. They've nothing to trouble them, and they live for ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/but-mad-people-never-die-that-s-a-well-known-fact-they-ve-nothing-to/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [Hell, it is well known, has no fury like a woman who wants her tea and can't get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hell-it-is-well-known-has-no-fury-like-a-woman-who-wants-her-tea-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is well known that unemployment benefits raise unemployment durations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-chetty/it-is-well-known-that-unemployment-benefits-raise-unemployment/) [Raj Chetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-chetty/) > [I didn't go to the right schools, didn't come from a well-known family, nor was I even remotely connected to a powerful publishing dynasty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-drudge/i-didn-t-go-to-the-right-schools-didn-t-come-from-a-well-known-family/) [Matt Drudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-drudge/) > [People's sex habits are as well known in Hollywood as their political opinions, and much less criticized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/people-s-sex-habits-are-as-well-known-in-hollywood-as-their-political/) [Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/) > [I'm not very well known. However, the more well known you get, the more people are going to have expectations of you. Although that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-hawkins/i-m-not-very-well-known-however-the-more-well-known-you-get-the-more/) [Sally Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-hawkins/) > [That prince is highly esteemed who conveys this impression of himself, and he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against; for, provided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/that-prince-is-highly-esteemed-who-conveys-this-impression-of-himself/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“He is a good man, but even a good man can fall for a glamorous woman. That is well known.” “That is very well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/he-is-a-good-man-but-even-a-good-man-can-fall-for-a-glamorous-woman/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“A less well known impact of immigrant populations is the increase that destination states gain in Congress where apportionment of seats in the House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-s-greenberg/a-less-well-known-impact-of-immigrant-populations-is-the-increase/) [Edward S. Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-s-greenberg/) > [Perhaps our own opposition to even the level of European integration we have now, let alone any more, is well known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-farage/perhaps-our-own-opposition-to-even-the-level-of-european-integration/) [Nigel Farage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-farage/) > [It is well known to all great men, that by conferring an obligation they do not always procure a friend, but are certain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/it-is-well-known-to-all-great-men-that-by-conferring-an-obligation/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) ## More by Gary Valentine Lachman > [“What troubled Jung most was Freud’s tendency to reduce any expression of spirituality—in a cultural or philosophical sense—to something smaller. Freud sniffed out sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/what-troubled-jung-most-was-freud-s-tendency-to-reduce-any-expression/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Jung recognized that society advances only slowly, through the gradual integration of new insights gleaned through the often unrecorded work of individuals, whose attempts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/jung-recognized-that-society-advances-only-slowly-through-the-gradual/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“One result of active imagination, according to some reports, is an increase in synchronistic and paranormal phenomena. 32 This was certainly true of Jung.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/one-result-of-active-imagination-according-to-some-reports-is-an/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Again Jung wanted to make contact with “archaic man” and he asked the Pueblo chief why he thought the whites were mad. Ochwiay told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/again-jung-wanted-to-make-contact-with-archaic-man-and-he-asked-the/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“But Jung did speak out against Hitler some years before he left the society. In 1936 he condemned the Fuehrer as a “raving berserker”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/but-jung-did-speak-out-against-hitler-some-years-before-he-left-the/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Dulles knew of Jung through his wife, who had an interest in psychoanalysis and had trained as an analyst in Zürich before the war.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/dulles-knew-of-jung-through-his-wife-who-had-an-interest-in/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Western man, Jung saw, always wants to do something, to “get somewhere”; this kind of restlessness is characteristic of us all. A few years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/western-man-jung-saw-always-wants-to-do-something-to-get-somewhere/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Jung’s remarks about how in North Africa he “felt cast back many centuries to an infinitely more naïve world of adolescents who were preparing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/jung-s-remarks-about-how-in-north-africa-he-felt-cast-back-many/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Anyone who does creative work is familiar with this problem, and in many ways active imagination is similar to writing, painting, and so on;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/anyone-who-does-creative-work-is-familiar-with-this-problem-and-in/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Jung came to understand that in this regard, we are all fragmented, and that the work of individuation is to fuse our disparate parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/jung-came-to-understand-that-in-this-regard-we-are-all-fragmented-and/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“As he argued in The Undiscovered Self, Jung told the “average” reader that any possibility of avoiding disaster “must begin with an individual.” “It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/as-he-argued-in-the-undiscovered-self-jung-told-the-average-reader/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Jung had had enough, and in his reply he made clear his disgust with Freud’s infuriating practice of treating criticism of his ideas as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/jung-had-had-enough-and-in-his-reply-he-made-clear-his-disgust-with/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“Gross was a habitué of the decadent bohemian café society of Munich’s Schwabing district—a kind of early-twentieth-century Haight-Ashbury—and embraced the radical social ideas prevalent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/gross-was-a-habitu-of-the-decadent-bohemian-caf-society-of-munich-s/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“With practice one can follow the material as it develops and can actually speak with it, as Jung did, which means, of course, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/with-practice-one-can-follow-the-material-as-it-develops-and-can/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [“That life could be ugly wasn’t news, and Jung found that the neurotics who were supposed to be cured by making their neurosis clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/that-life-could-be-ugly-wasn-t-news-and-jung-found-that-the-neurotics/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) [Explore all 46 Gary Valentine Lachman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) ## More Psychology quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Once ye made up yer mind to do somethin', 'tis better t'stumble o'er the small hillock of jump-ahead than t'bash yer head on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/once-ye-made-up-yer-mind-to-do-somethin-tis-better-t-stumble-o-er-the/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I love playing for my country, getting the support. Especially for the kids and everybody, showing my example of what I can achieve so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-sharapova/i-love-playing-for-my-country-getting-the-support-especially-for-the/) [Maria Sharapova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-sharapova/) > [Do you think that God would separate me from my husband if I killed myself? I feel as though I am going out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-think-that-god-would-separate-me-from-my-husband-if-i-killed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [This is a proof of a well-trained mind, to rejoice in what is good and to grieve at the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/this-is-a-proof-of-a-well-trained-mind-to-rejoice-in-what-is-good-and/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“I had nowhere to go and did not wish to be seen by anyone for fear they would recognize my sadness and so for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-had-nowhere-to-go-and-did-not-wish-to-be-seen-by-anyone-for-fear/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Music is a job, but I figured out ways to get my mind into a place where I could be creative. I actually discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flume/music-is-a-job-but-i-figured-out-ways-to-get-my-mind-into-a-place/) [Flume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flume/) > [ “\[S\]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-the-possible-irrelevance-of/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [No!! Get out of my Head!...You may have invaded my mind and my body...But there's one thing a Saiyan always keeps...his PRIDE!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragon-ball-z/no-get-out-of-my-head-you-may-have-invaded-my-mind-and-my-body-but/) [Dragon Ball Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragon-ball-z/) [Browse all 56,059 Psychology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is just because we live in an active and responsible time that we need more consciousness and self-reflection,” otherwise we will be “unconsciously swept along by events.” “Mass movements,” Jung told his Nazi interviewer, “have the peculiarity of overpowering the individual by mass suggestion and making him unconscious. The political or social movement gains nothing by this when it has swarms of hypnotized camp followers.” And when Weizsäcker remarked that “in Germany today psychology is suspect . . . precisely because it is concerned with the self-development of the so-called individual,” and asked how “when the collective forces of the whole community have taken the lead in moulding our way of life, are we to assess the efforts of psychology,” Jung replied that “the self-development of the individual is especially necessary in our time” and “only the self-development of the individual, which I consider to be the supreme goal of all psychological endeavour, can produce consciously responsible spokesmen and leaders.”45 Nazism, as is well known, had no use for individuals, and Jung’s emphasis on the importance of individuals and their self-development was an outright attack on Nazi ideology. Most critics of Jung, however, fail to point this out.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gary Valentine Lachman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active-and-responsible-time-that-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Psychology" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active-and-responsible-time-that-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/gary-valentine-lachman-14492_psychology_it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active_2311525.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is just because we live in an active and responsible time that we need more consciousness and…” — Gary Valentine Lachman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gary Valentine Lachman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is just because we live...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active-and-responsible-time-that-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/it-is-just-because-we-live-in-an-active-and-responsible-time-that-we/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```