10 Quotes & Sayings By Bruno Bettelheim

Bruno Bettelheim is a psychologist, who was born in 1923 in Vienna, Austria. He is a Holocaust survivor and emigrated to the United States in 1939. He became a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago in 1947, where he remained until his retirement in 1996. His published works include The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976), The Informed Heart: On the Nature of True Feeling (1977), Therapy and Supervision: An Introduction to Group Analysis (1963), Childhood and Society (1961), and Symbolic Wounds: Puberty Rites and the Enactment of Power (1979).

1
The ability to read becomes devalued when what one has learned to read adds nothing of importance to one's life. Bruno Bettelheim
2
The unrealistic nature of these tales (which narrowminded rationalists object to) is an important device, because it makes obvious that the fairy tales’ concern is not useful information about the external world, but the inner process taking place in an individual. Bruno Bettelheim
3
The myth of Oedipus. arouses powerful intellectual and emotional reactions in the adult-so much so, that it may provide a cathartic experience, as Aristotle taught all tragedy does. [A reader] may wonder why he is so deeply moved; and in responding to what he observes as his emotional reaction, ruminating about the mythical events and what these mean to him, a person may come to clarify his thoughts and feelings. With this, certain inner tensions which are the consequence of events long past may be relieved; previously unconscious material can then enter one's awareness and become accessible for conscious working through. This can happen if the observer is deeply moved emotionally by the myth, and at the sametime strongly motivated intellectually to understand it. Bruno Bettelheim
4
Even Aristotle, master of pure reason, said: 'The friend of wisdom is also a friend of myth. Bruno Bettelheim
5
Since there are thousands of fairy tales, one may safely guess that there are probably equal numbers where the courage and determination of females rescue males, and vice versa. Bruno Bettelheim
6
The last if not the greatest of the human freedoms: to choose their own attitude in any given circumstance. Bruno Bettelheim
7
But had Minkowski and Einstein not recognized it long before us, our schizophrenic children would have taught us that space-time is a unity that precedes any separate understanding of either category; just as grasping this unity is a precondition for understanding causality. Bruno Bettelheim
8
Raising children is a creative endeavor, an art rather than a science. Bruno Bettelheim
9
Punishment may make us obey the orders we are given, but at best it will only teach an obedience to authority, not a self-control which enhances our self-respect. Bruno Bettelheim