Carl Gustav Jung quotes
1875 – 1961 · Late 19th–20th centuries · Psychiatrist, psychologist and author
About Carl Gustav Jung
Born 1875 in Kesswil, died 1961 in Küsnacht. Trained as a psychiatrist, Jung collaborated with Freud before founding analytical psychology. He introduced the collective unconscious, archetypes, psychological types, the shadow and the process of individuation, drawing on dreams, myth, alchemy and his own inner experiments (The Red Book).
Works: Psychology and Alchemy; Psychological Types; The Red Book (posthumous)
Quotes
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. They will practice Indian yoga and all its exercises, observe a strict regimen of diet, learn the literature of the whole world—all because they cannot get on with themselves and have not the slightest faith that anything useful could ever come out of their own souls.”
Source: Psychology and Alchemy, Collected Works vol. 12, para. 126 (1944/1953) · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The sentence is published in Psychology and Alchemy (Collected Works, vol. XII), paragraph 126, and is traceable in standard editions of Jung’s writings.
Jung criticizes using external practices as a shield: disciplines, diets and exotic techniques can mask a refusal to explore one’s own psyche. The line appears in Psychology and Alchemy and underlines that inner work, not technique, produces genuine change.