5 Quotes & Sayings By Erving Polster

Erving Polster was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Los Angeles at age 16, where he attended Fairfax High School. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was discharged as a Captain in 1945. After graduation, Erving attended UCLA where he earned his B.A Read more

in 1959. He then attended Swarthmore College to earn his Ph.D. in American Literature in 1963 under the mentorship of noted literary critic Kenneth Burke, who would become a lifelong friend and mentor of Erving's.

At Swarthmore, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received his M.A. in English Literature in 1966, followed by his Ph.D. in English Literature in 1970 for his dissertation entitled "The Role of Symbolism in the Short Stories of William Faulkner." His dissertation was later published as "William Faulkner: The Short Stories."

1
A new question for the psychotherapist to ask is whether a theory can go beyond mere effectiveness in achieving either a so-called cure or even personal growth into its implications for the nature of an evolving society. Erving Polster
2
We want to hear the story first and let the meaning unfold, rather than to be present with expectations of a certain significance into which all behavior is then fitted. Erving Polster
3
Theory and knowledge remain suspect, not because of inherent worthlessness, but because of their historic isolation from action. Without theoretical orientation, however, action is vulnerable to oversimplified and glib imitativeness-even mimicry-and to the use of the gimmick. Erving Polster
4
When a person has swum, traveled, run a lathe, planted flowers, ridden a motorcycle, made wine, painted a picture, parachuted, he has increased the fund from which he may draw for new figural developments. In other words, as the background of his experience becomes more diversified, it also becomes potentially more harmonious with a whole range of happenings. Erving Polster