Diane Ackerman Quotes

For me, I saw a psychologist because I wanted to connect more with people, with the earth, my environment. I want to connect more to my family.

In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?

I'm insatiably curious about human nature.

I dislike the word 'self-help.' Self-awareness, yes, but not self-help.

Our minds influence the key activity of the brain, which then influences everything; perception, cognition, thoughts and feelings, personal relationships; they're all a projection of you.

You can be self-empowered and still learning about how you think about things daily.

Psychology is much bigger than just medicine, or fixing unhealthy things. It's about education, work, marriage - it's even about sports. What I want to do is see psychologists working to help people build strengths in all these domains.

Emotions are messy and hard to figure out. Hard to know where you start and the next person stops. Even as an adult, that's a hard thing to know. As a kid, it can be really confusing, because it's all new and you're trying to sort of make your map.

A person's current personality of love, hatred, jealousy, rage or a murderous intent and so on is formed upon genetic elements, education, the environment and a family a person grows in.

It's endless, the amount of things that music touches on that can help kids grow that are very, very practical.

My parents' generation didn't have any understanding of psychology or emotion or individual temperament. In fact, they were slightly embarrassed by all those words.

I have matured a lot.

When I was young, I couldn't process emotions well.

The mind shapes the body, and the body shapes the mind.

I taught myself German and psychology. Learning about psychology really helped me understand myself and the others around me and it helped keep me sane.

Finding real friends - that's something that was an obstacle for me. And learning how to deal with my problems and talking about them.

Subconsciously - I didn't know it then, I realize it today when I know a little bit more about the mind and the brain - I fought like I didn't deserve to live.

The goal, and the ultimate achievement, is to make people feel as well as think.

I want to encourage young people to have open and honest conversations with themselves, by doing so we proactively work on ourselves and create safe and caring environments that foster resiliency.

I think I'm working on being a lot more positive in my everyday life because I realize comments and things can hurt.

Which is why we have spouses and children and parents and colleagues and friends, because someone has to know us better than we know ourselves. We need them to tell us. We need them to say, "I know you, Al. You are not the kind of man who.

If we want to change what people think of us, then we have got to change.

By action and reaction do we become strong or weak, according to the character of our thoughts and mental states. Fear is the deadly nightshade of the mind.

My mother, she's like, She can work on herself.

If your emotional abilities aren't in hand, if you don't have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.