Boris Sidis - Life Quotes

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It is time that the medical and teaching profession should realize that functional neurosis is not congenital, not inborn, not hereditary, but is the result of a defective, fear-inspiring education in early child life.

Boris Sidis

Not purpose but chance is at the heart of mental life.

Boris Sidis

The tendency of life is not the preservation of the species, but solely the preservation of each individual organism, as long as it is in existence at all, and is able to carry on its life processes.

Boris Sidis

Self-preservation is the central aim of all life-activities.

Boris Sidis

Superstitions, and especially the early cultivation of religion, with its fear of the Lord and of unknown mysterious agencies, are especially potent in the development of the instinct of fear. Even the early cultivation of morality and conscientiousness, with their fears of right and wrong, often causes psychoneurotic states in later life. Religious, social, and moral taboos and superstitions, associated with apprehension of threatening impending evil, based on the fear instinct, form the germs of psychopathic affections.

Boris Sidis