Fear of Life: The Wisdom of Failure

When one stops struggling against fate, one loses his neurosis (internal conflict) and gains peace of mind.

The term neurotic character refers to a pattern of behavior based upon internal conflict and represents a fear of life, of sex, and of being.

The cultural process that gave rise to modern society and modern man was the development of the ego. This development is associated with the acquisition of knowledge and the gaining of power over nature. Man is part of nature like any other animal, fully subject to her laws; but he is also above nature, acting upon and controlling her. He does the

Strangely, through the acceptance of failure, we become free from our neurosis.

Struggling against fate only enmeshes one more deeply in its coils. Like an animal caught in a net, the more one struggles, the more tightly bound one becomes. Does this mean we are doomed? We are doomed only when we struggle against ourselves. The main thrust of therapy is to help a person stop struggling against himself. That struggle is self-des

Mothering a man is her way of attempting to overcome her sexual anxiety, for it allows her to deny her fear of surrendering to a man. By acting as a mother, she feels needed and superior.

When guilt or shame are attached to feelings, the conflict is internalized and creates a neurotic character.

One of the characteristics of fate is its predictability. Those of us who do not believe in fate or oracles might think that the future is unpredictable. To some extent this is true, but there is a greater measure of predictability in life than most people realize. Prediction is possible wherever there are structures, for structure determines funct

The defenses we erect to protect us create the very condition we are trying to avoid. Thus, when someone builds a castle to protect his liberty, he ends up as a prisoner in his own castle because he dares not leave it.