Quotes by Bruno Bettelheim

“The question for the child is not Do I want to be good? but Whom do I want to be like?”

“The monster a child knows best and is most concerned with [is] the monster he feels or fears himself to be.”

“With the very disturbed child, understanding is essential, since we all know sadly that love is not enough.”

The ability to read becomes devalued when what one has learned to read adds nothing of importance to ones life.

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.

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 ones 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.

Even Aristotle, master of pure reason, said: The friend of wisdom is also a friend of myth.

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.

The last if not the greatest of the human freedoms: to choose their own attitude in any given circumstance.

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.

Raising children is a creative endeavor, an art rather than a science.

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.

“The child intuitively comprehends that although these stories are unreal, they are not untrue ...”