Eating is always a decision, nobody forces your hand to pick up food and put it into your mouth.

People don't just get upset. They contribute to their upsetness. They always have the power to think, and to think about their thinking, and to think about thinking about their thinking, which the goddamn dolphin, as far as we know, can't do. Therefore they have much greater ability to change themselves than any other animal has, and I hope that REBT teaches them how to do it.

If the Martians ever find out how human beings think, they'll kill themselves laughing.

The goal...is not to change your desires and wishes but to persuade you to stop demanding that you absolutely must have what you wish-from yourself, from others, and from the world. You can by all means keep your wishes, preferences, and desires, but unless you prefer to remain needlessly anxious, not your grandiose demands.

For that again, is what all manner of religion essentially is: childish dependency.

The world consists mainly of love slobs who need other people's approval. Most people don't live their own lives very well.

I'm one of the best-loved psychologists in the United States, but I'm also probably the most hated one.