Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson
Erik Hamburger Eriksonwas a German-born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychosocial development of human beings. He may be most famous for coining the phrase identity crisis. His son, Kai T. Erikson, is a noted American sociologist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth15 June 1902
CityFrankfurt, Germany
CountryUnited States of America
children successful reality
The growing child must derive a vitalizing sense of reality from the awareness that his individual way of mastering experience (his ego synthesis) is a successful variant of a group identity and is in accord with its space-time and life plan.
children reality playing-outside
The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.
encouragement children real
Children cannot be fooled by empty praise and condescending encouragement. They may have to accept artificial bolstering of their self-esteem in lieu of something better, but what I call their accruing ego identity gains real strength only from wholehearted and consistent recognition of real accomplishment, that is, achievement that has meaning in their culture.
dim homage inclusive knowledge leaders men paying purest rules shown simplest taught
Men have always shown a dim knowledge of their better potentialities by paying homage to those purest leaders who taught the simplest and most inclusive rules for an undivided mankind.
future save species
The only thing that can save us as a species is seeing how we're not thinking about future generations in the way we live.
cannot entirely history observers
We cannot leave history entirely to nonclinical observers and to professional historians.
history
The way you 'take history' is also a way of 'making history.'
A man's conflicts represent what he 'really' is.
disrupted loses nourished sequence time
Man's true taproots are nourished in the sequence of generations, and he loses his taproots in disrupted developmental time, not in abandoned localities.
The psychoanalytic method is essentially a historical method.
destroy notice
He who is ashamed would like to force the world not to look at him, not to notice his exposure. He would like to destroy the eyes of the world.
against defeats follower forms mass measured member triumphs whether
Every adult, whether he is a follower or a leader, a member of a mass or of an elite, was once a child. He was once small. A sense of smallness forms a substratum in his mind, ineradicably. His triumphs will be measured against this smallness; his defeats will substantiate it.
almost certain conviction guiding meaning represent ways
Parents must not only have certain ways of guiding by prohibition and permission, they must also be able to represent to the child a deep, almost somatic conviction that there is meaning in what they are doing.
hope miracle responsibility vigorous
There is in every child at every stage a new miracle of vigorous unfolding, which constitutes a new hope and a new responsibility for all.