Erik Erikson Quotes

My children, who are almost two: watching them develop has made me pay much closer attention to how we become who we are.

A child develops individuality long before he develops taste.

"The first awareness of the child comes with his ego. He becomes aware of the "I", not of the Self. Really, he becomes aware first of the "thou". The child first becomes aware of his mother. Then, reflectively, he becomes aware of himself. First he becomes aware of objects around him. Then, by and by, he begins to feel that he is separate. This feeling of separation gives the feeling of ego, and because the child first becomes aware of the ego, ego becomes a covering on the Self. "

The child becomes a person through work.

As a child, a person builds up an egoic sense - the child has a name, has an "I," has a mind. But then, to awaken, a person needs to completely transcend that sense of ego.

I guess there are a lot of people out there that think they're supposed to define themselves in isolation, but that's not necessarily the case.

You don't become a fully-formed human as a female, or even a male, until you're at least 30.

I'm very empathic to the construction of masculinity within our culture and how we build these identities up.

Identity is an assemblage of constellations.

I'm really trying to dredge up what one might call intellectual and moral material. For example, when do you realize that you are an American? What age does that happen to you? When do you realize what religion your parents practice? When does it all become conscious? I was interested in exploring all of that.

In fact, the socialization gives us the tools to fill our evolutionary roles. They are our building blocks.

My mother helped me identify myself the way the world would identify me. Bloodlines didn't matter as much as how I would be perceived.

The first half of life is spent mainly in finding out who we are through seeing ourselves in our interaction with others.

Cultures need stable families to raise stable children.

The fundamental purpose of schools is to grow adults.

Having an identity is one thing. Being born into an identity is quite a different matter.

I'm raising kids, and so much of American culture sustains me and gives me things to think about and work on.

I wanted to be liked when I was younger, which I think a lot of us do; I'm not ashamed to say it. I was a product of my environment, a product of my culture.

Our identities really are a constant negotiation between the story we tell about ourselves and the narrative our societies like to recite.

A child's character develops in accordance with the obstacles he has encountered... or the freedom favoring his development that he has enjoyed.

From the time that you are a child, you grow up repressing yourself.

We define our identity always in dialogue with, sometimes in struggle against, the things our significant others want to see in us. Even after we outgrow some of these others—our parents, for instance—and they disappear from our lives, the conversation with them continues within us as long as we live.

There was a child went forth everyday, And the first object he looked upon and received with wonder or pity or dread, that object he became, And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day... or for many years or stretching cycles of years.

Ego is an immature stage of development for humans, and that's what it will be recognized as when the consciousness changes on the planet. Children will develop an ego and quickly outgrow it. That's very different from developing an ego and being stuck with it for the rest of your life.

The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.