Nathaniel Branden
Nathaniel Branden
Nathaniel Brandenwas a Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem. A former associate and romantic partner of Ayn Rand, Branden also played a prominent role in the 1960s in promoting Rand's philosophy, Objectivism. Rand and Branden split acrimoniously in 1968, after which Branden focused on developing his own psychological theories and modes of therapy...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPsychologist
Date of Birth9 April 1930
CountryUnited States of America
I cannot remember a time when the question of why people behave as they do was not intensely interesting to me. The desire to understand was very important. When I was young, I was aware of the fact that much of the time, the reasons a person gave for his actions were not the actual reasons.
Live with integrity, respect the rights of other people, and follow your own bliss.
High self esteem people can surely be knocked down by an excess of troubles, but they are quickerto pick themselves up again.
It is true that people are sometimes hit by adversities beyond their control. But those so affected are better helped when they are awakened to the resources they do possess than when they are told they don't have any.
The tragedy of too many people is that they cannot allow happiness just to be there; they cannot leave it alone. Their sense of who they are and of what their destiny is cannot accommodate happiness. So they are drive to find ways to sabotage it.
If we attach more importance to what other people believe than to what we know to be true - if we value belonging over being - we will not attain authenticity.
Out of fear, out of the desire for approval, out of the misguided notions of duty, people surrender themselves-their convictions and their aspirations-every day. There is nothing noble about it. It takes far more courage to fight for your values than to relinquish them.
Most of the time, I regard the judgment of people as a waste of time. I regard the judgment of behavior as imperative.
You are not likely to bring out the best in people or nurture their creativity if every time you hear about their problems you instantly offer a solution Encourage people to look for their own solutions-and project the knowledge that they are capable of doing so.
Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations.
We tend to feel most comfortable, "most at home", with people whose self esteem level resembles our own.
When people are not accepting toward themselves they are often obsessed with acceptance by others.
Productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of health, self-esteem, not its cause
Sometimes the subconscious mind manifests a wisdom several steps or evenyears ahead of the conscious mind, and has its own way of leading us toward ourdestiny.