Commentary
If you have yet to read any book by this great pioneer of psychology (Carl Jung) then this is the book you need to get. Lots of pictures, and a progressive introduction to Jung's theories and ideas about the Unconscious and general human psychology. In my opinion, few people have discovered more about the Unconscious than Carl Jung. "Man and his Symbols" is a powerful summary of Jung's discoveries, and a great introduction to his most important ideas.
Quotes
"I have spent more than half a century in
investigating natural symbols,
and I have come to the conclusion that dreams and their symbols
are not stupid and meaningless." p10
"...the communications of the unconscious are of the highest
importance to the dreamer - naturally so, since the unconscious
is at least half of his total being - and frequently offer him advice
or guidance that could be obtained from no other source." p13
"We know the unconscious and communicate with it principally
by dreams; and all through this book you will find a quite remarkable
emphasis on the importance of dreaming in the life of the individual."
p12
"The language and the people of the unconscious are symbols,
and the means of communications dreams." p12
"Thus, part of the unconscious consists of a multitude of
temporarily obscured thoughts, impressions, and images that, in spite
of being lost, continue to influence our conscious minds." p32
"Because there are innumberable things beyond the range of human
understanding, we constantly use symbolic terms to represent
concepts that we cannot define or fully comprehend. This is one
reason why all religions employ symbolic languages or images." p21
"As a matter of history, it was the study of dreams that first enabled
psychologists to investigate the unconscious aspect of conscious psychic
events." p23
"After having an agreeable dream about somebody,
even without
interpreting the dream, I shall involuntarily look at that person with
more interest." p220
"The archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif
- representations that can vary a great deal in detail without
losing their basic pattern." p67
"Man also produces symbols unconsciously and
spontaneously,
in the form of dreams" p21
"The symbol is an object of the known world hinting at something
unknown: it is the known expressing the life and sense
of the inexpressible." p265
"Very often dreams have a definite, evidently purposeful structure,
indicating an underlying idea or intention - though, as a rule, the
latter is not immediately comprehensible." p28
"The two fundamental points in dealing with dreams are these: First,
the dream should be treated as a fact, about which one must make
no previous assumption except that it somehow makes sense; and
second, the dream is a specific expression of the unconscious." p32
"In such cases, we have to take into consideration the fact (first
observed and commented on by Freud) that elements often occur
in a dream that are not individual and that cannot
be derived from
the dreamer's personal experience." p67
"Whatever the unconscious may be, it is a natural phenomenon
producing symbols that prove to be meaningful." p102
"These godlike figures are in fact symbolic representatives of the whole
psyche, the larger and more comprehensive identity that supplies
the strength that the personal ego lacks." p112
"Life is a battleground. It always had been, and
always will be: and
if it were not so, existence would come to an end." p85
"Synchronistic events, moreover, almost invariably accompany the
crucial phases of the process of individuation. But too often they
passed unnoticed, because the individual has not learned
to watch for such coincidences and to make them meaningful
in relation to the symbolism of his dreams." p211
"Thus in the midst of ordinary outer life, one is suddenly
caught up in an exciting inner adventure; and because it is
unique for each individual, it cannot be copied or stolen." p212
"A work of art must relate something that does not appear
in its visible form." p254
"But modern evolutionists have pointed out that the selections of such
mutations by pure chance would have taken much longer
than the known age of our planet allows." p306
"It is with Ernst's
Natural History or Arp's compositions of chance
that the reflections of the psychologist begin. He is faced with
the question of what meaning a chance arrangement - wherever and
whenever it comes about - can have for the man who
happens on it." p260
"In the compositions it is chance that gives depth to the work
of art: it points to an unknown but active principle of order and meaning.
That becomes manifest in things a their "secret soul". p259
"...but such physical reactions are only one form in which the
problems that trouble us unconsciously may express themselves. They
more often find expressions in our dreams." p27
"But just as conscious contents can vanish into the unconscious, new
contents, which never yet been conscious, can
arise from it." p37
"The ability to reach a rich vein of such
material and to translate it
effectively into philosopy, literature, music, or scientific discovery
is one of the hallmarks of what is commonly called genius." p38
"In the case of such a sudden change one can
often prove
that an archetype has been at work for a long time in the unconscious,
skillfully arranging circumstances that will lead to the crisis."
p76
"But since nobody seems to know what to do, it might be
worthwhile for each of us to ask himself whether by any chance
his or her unconscious may know something that will help us." p101
"It seems almost incredible that though we receive signals from it
[the unconscious] every night, deciphering these communications seems too
tedious for any but a few people to be bothered with." p102
"The individual may feel that his dreams are spontaneous and disconnected.
But over a long period of time, the analyst can observe a series of dream
images and note that they have a meaningful pattern; and by understanding
this his patient may eventually acquire a new
attitude to life." p106
"Out of this union [unconscious ∓mp;mp; conscious] arises what Jung
called "the transcendent function of the psyche," by which
a man can achieve his highest goal: the full realization of
the potential of his individual self." p149
"If one watches this meandering design [by the unconscious] over
a long period of time, one can observe a sort of hidden regulating or
directing tendency at work, creating a slow, imperceptible
process of psychic growth - the process of individuation." p161
"It is, moreover, useless to cast furtive glances at the
way someone else is developing, because each of us has a
unique task of self-realization." p164
"This is the moment when attention to the
unconscious brings
the greatest help, for dreams show the dreamer how each
detail of his life is interwoven with the most significant
realities." p218