--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...man can no more survive…" description: "\"...man can no more survive psychologically in a psychological milieu that does not respond empathetically to him, than he can survive physically in an ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg" --- # ...man can no more survive psychologically in a… ![“...man can no more survive psychologically in a psychological milieu that does not respond empathetically to him, than he can survive physically in an atmosphere that contains no oxygen.” quote by Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg) > “...man can no more survive psychologically in a psychological milieu that does not respond empathetically to him, than he can survive physically in an atmosphere that contains no oxygen.” [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People cannot thrive psychologically without empathetic environments, just as they cannot survive without oxygen. **In simple terms:** Empathy is essential for mental health. Key Takeaway Foster empathy in your surroundings. Themes empathy psychological health environment Mood reflective serious Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - therapy - workplace - family dynamics Key Concepts human needs social support Questions to Reflect On - How can you create empathetic spaces? - What barriers prevent empathy? A Different Perspective Empathy may be hard to find in some contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atmosphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atmosphere/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Empathetically Survive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathetically-survive-4542013/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Lack of empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack-of-empathy/) [Man Survive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-survive-277320/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Milieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/milieu/) [No sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-sympathy/) [Oxygen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oxygen/) [Psychological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological/) [Psychological Milieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological-milieu-4542014/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Responding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responding/) [Survive Physically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survive-physically-4542012/) [Survive Psychologically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survive-psychologically-4542011/) [Surviving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surviving/) [Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy/) ## Related quotes > [“I look at it this way: the instinctive response to danger—the stress response—consists of fight, flight, or freeze. 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They have good emotional empathy, but they don't have much empathy for the autistic kid who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/normal-people-have-an-incredible-lack-of-empathy-they-have-good/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [A nation that combines the America predilection towards violence, the American stockpile of weapons and the American lack of empathy for the earth's humiliated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-harding/a-nation-that-combines-the-america-predilection-towards-violence-the/) [Vincent Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-harding/) ## More by Heinz Kohut > [“If you want to hurt somebody and you want to know where his vulnerable spot is you have to know him, before you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/if-you-want-to-hurt-somebody-and-you-want-to-know-where-his/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) > [The empathic understanding of the experience of other human beings is as basic an endowment of man as his vision, hearing, touch, taste and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/the-empathic-understanding-of-the-experience-of-other-human-beings-is/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) > [Although those who didnt receive a parent love become obsessed with themselves to fulfill the feeling of emptiness, they keep on searching for others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/although-those-who-didnt-receive-a-parent-love-become-obsessed-with/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) > [The mark of a good marriage is when only one of you goes crazy at a time!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/the-mark-of-a-good-marriage-is-when-only-one-of-you-goes-crazy-at-a/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) > [If there is one lesson that I have learned during my life as an analyst, it is the lesson that what my patients tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/if-there-is-one-lesson-that-i-have-learned-during-my-life-as-an/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) > [The musician of disordered sound, the poet of decomposed language, the painter and sculptor of the fragmented visual and tactile world: they all portray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/the-musician-of-disordered-sound-the-poet-of-decomposed-language-the/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) > [Empathy is the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/empathy-is-the-capacity-to-think-and-feel-oneself-into-the-inner-life-2/) [Heinz Kohut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) [Explore all 8 Heinz Kohut quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/) ## More Atmosphere quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. 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A lot of people say it's their favorite Joy Division song, but it's not mine; it reminds me too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/atmosphere-is-a-massive-song-a-lot-of-people-say-it-s-their-favorite/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) > [Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [It was clear to me that the White House's solemn atmosphere would not civilize Trump. But the merciless nepotism with which he conducts politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/it-was-clear-to-me-that-the-white-house-s-solemn-atmosphere-would-not/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [“Bjerknes had come up with equations capable of describing the behavior of the atmosphere. The state of the atmosphere at any point could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/bjerknes-had-come-up-with-equations-capable-of-describing-the/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) [Browse all 1,572 Atmosphere quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atmosphere/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...man can no more survive psychologically in a psychological milieu that does not respond empathetically to him, than he can survive physically in an atmosphere that contains no oxygen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Heinz Kohut" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically-in-a-psychological-milieu/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atmosphere" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically-in-a-psychological-milieu/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/heinz-kohut-45965_atmosphere_man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically_1342864.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...man can no more survive psychologically in a psychological milieu that does not respond empathetically to…” — Heinz Kohut", "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": "Heinz Kohut", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-kohut/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...man can no more survive psychologically...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically-in-a-psychological-milieu/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-kohut/man-can-no-more-survive-psychologically-in-a-psychological-milieu/#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 } } ] } ```