— A New Approach to Healing through the Art of Storytelling
Select Quotes
The Chained Elephant
We’re all a little bit like the circus elephant: we make our way through the world chained to hundreds of tiny stakes that curtail our freedom. “We live thinking that we ‘can’t’ do tons of things, simply because once, a long time ago, when we were little kids, we tried and it didn’t work.
The Breast Or The Milk
You want that breast. But don’t forget: It’s not the breast that quenches your thirst … It’s the milk!
The Boomerang Brick
Every time we do it, a barrier of sorts stops our hostile, aggressive energy before it can reach others, and we ourselves are the ones who impose that barrier. It doesn’t absorb the impact, it simply reflects it.
in reality, once we feel rage, or ire, or irritation, the only way we can free ourselves of it is to get it out of our system, by channeling it into action. Otherwise, the only thing we’ll end up doing, sooner or later, is becoming angry with ourselves.”
The Ring’S True Worth
“You are like that ring: a unique, valuable gem. And that being the case, only a real expert can deem your worth. So why do you go around assuming that anyone at all can see your true worth?”
Two Sizes Too Small
The very concept of ‘no effort’ is a challenge,
If I refused to quit smoking until I could do it naturally?
Possessiveness
“I don’t see why I have to share my partner with her friends, or share my friends with their partners. And I’m expressing it that way so that by hearing myself, I’ll realize how silly it is. When something is mine, even if this is ‘caveman-like,’ as you call it, I feel like I have the right to decide whether to share it or not, and for how long.
“When we possess something and become slaves to that something, who owns whom, Demián?” Who owns whom?
What Kind Of Therapy Is That?
“The first approach, though it’s not necessarily the most popular, includes all of those schools that start from the premise—or act as though they started from the premise—that a neurotic is someone who once, a long time ago, when he or she was a child, had a problem and ever since then has been paying the consequences of the circumstances that arose from that.
“Many analysts, the way I see it, believe that simply by finding the reason behind the symptoms—i.e., if the patient discovers why he or she does what he or she does, becomes conscious of the unconscious—then the patient’s entire mechanism will begin functioning correctly.
“At the other extreme, I think, are the schools of psychotherapy focused on the future. I might sum up these approaches, which are very in vogue at the moment, this way: the real problem is that the patient is behaving in a way different from what he or she should be doing in order to obtain his or her goals. Therefore, the charge is not to discover why whatever is wrong is wrong–that part is taken for granted–or to reach any deep understanding of the individual’s suffering. The goal is to get the patient to where he or she wants to be, or to get the patient what he or she wants by overcoming fears, so he or she can therefore live a happier, more productive life.
“So you don’t shit your pants anymore?” “Oh, I still shit my pants alright. But now I don’t care!”
The Buried Treasure
I realized that I’d spent a large part of my life searching for someone to tell me what was right and what was wrong. Looking for others to see me so that I could see myself. Searching outside for what was always, really, inside, under my own stove.
Gifts For The Maharaja
I realized that I had no obligation to take my friend the notes. I realized that Juan had lent me his help without expecting any sort of payback. And what’s more, if he had done it with the idea of me owing him one in return, then he was petty and I didn’t want to be doing him any favors.
The Hen And The Baby Ducks
“None of these characters is wrong. The thing is, they see reality from different positions. Almost always the only mistake is believing that the position I am in is the only one from where the truth can be seen.
The Pregnant Pot
you’re an adult now. And as such, no one has power over you. No one. Or at least no one has power over you that you don’t actually grant them.”
The Circle Of Ninety-Nine
We always need something more to be satisfied, and only if we are satisfied can we enjoy what it is that we do have.
The Lie Detector
Jorge was of the opinion that anger, love and sorrow are just the body’s batteries; that feelings provide the energy that precedes movement; that emotion is nothing without action; that trying to disconnect the two leads to becoming alienated, lost, out of whack …
The Execution
you’ll meet other men and women with whom you feel so liberated that you don’t need to lie. You’ll meet a few people who you want so much just to be who they are that it will never occur to them to lie to you. Those are your real friends.
The Man Who Planted Dates
I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve complete fulfillment in my lifetime, no matter how long I live. That is, experiencing a complete lack of expectations, enjoying the mindset of total acceptance