Why would a person prefer the accusations of guilt, unworthiness, ineptitude — even dishonor and betrayal — to real possibility? This may not seem to be the choice, but it is: complete self-effacement, surrender to the “others,” disavowal of any personal dignity or freedom — on the one hand; and freedom and independence, movement away from the others, extrication of oneself from the binding links of family and social duties-on the other hand. This is the choice that the depressed person actually faces.
Ernest BeckerMan's natural and inevitable urge to deny mortality and achieve a heroic self-image are the root causes of human evil.
Ernest BeckerWe might say that psychoanalysis revealed to us the complex penalties of denying the truth of man's condition, what we might call the costs of pretending not to be mad.
Ernest BeckerIt is fateful and ironic how the lie we need in order to live dooms us to a life that is never really ours.
Ernest Becker