3 Quotes About Faustian Bargain

One of the most compelling expositions on life and its meaning is found in the works of the 16th century German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe’s portrayal of the Faustian bargain that people make with themselves explains why some people succeed while others fail. This collection of quotes on the deal we strike with ourselves is guaranteed to motivate you to improve your life.

1
In all those stories about people who sold their souls to the devil, I never quite understood why the devil was the bad guy, or why it was okay to screw him out of his soul. They got what they wanted: fame, money, love, whatever–though usually it turned out not to be what they really wanted or expected. Was that the devil's fault? I never thought so. Like John Wayne said, "Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid. Unknown
2
Psychology’s service to U.S. national security has produced a variant of what the psychiatrist Robert Lifton has called, in his study of Nazi doctors, a “Faustian bargain.” In this case, the price paid has been the American Psychological Association’s collective silence, ethical “numbing, ” and, over time, historical amnesia. 3 Indeed, Lifton emphasizes that “the Nazis were not the only ones to involve doctors in evil”; in defense of this argument, he cites the Cold War “role of …American physicians and psychologists employed by the Central Intelligence Agency…for unethical medical and psychological experiments involving drugs and mind manipulation.” 4 . Alfred W. McCoy