James HillmanI can no longer be sure whether the psyche is in me or whether I'm in the psyche...
About This Quote
The psyche, or the soul, is a principle that describes the innermost part of humanity, or one’s deepest self. The psyche is the principle of the mind. It is described as what lies within us, which is invisible to us, but available to us through introspection. It is another principle that gives meaning to life. The psyche is not objective, but it relates to our consciousness.
This world of ours is made up of many things, all of which are objective, but are never known to us unless we reflect upon them. Thus, they are not part of our psyche. The psyche has an appearance and a behaviour that differ from one person to another.
One can be shown in dreams and visions; another can be discovered by introspection; yet others can be uncovered by comparing notes with others. The psyche will also influence our actions and reactions during different situations in life. We will be influenced by the thoughts that arise in our mind without being conscious of it, so what takes place inside us will usually not be related to the outside world.
This means our actions and reactions are not always under our control or opinion, for what will occur inside us may appear very natural and right even though it's not actually so. The psyche is connected to one’s goals and aspirations. It influences what we wish for because it contains all our knowledge about how to achieve it. Therefore, it drives us towards goals that we should attain because they are within our grasp, but often we neglect them due to their difficulty or because we cannot come up with any plans for them at all. The psyche consists of certain qualities such as good-naturedness (which makes people loving), confidence (which makes people successful), perfectionism (which makes people determined), greed (which makes people stingy), selfishness (which makes people aggressive) and many more qualities.
It also includes positive qualities such as general kindness and good-heartedness – general kindness being a virtue – being a character trait that relates to these qualities and which helps them function properly within a person's nature and personality. We have a nature – a conscience – which guides us towards doing good deeds and avoiding bad ones. It provides us with moral guidance for most aspects of life that we have no choice but to follow or avoid doing so for personal or professional reasons. In essence, this nature has been inherited from our distant ancestors who had been brought up under certain religious principles based on their own cultural beliefs
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