Ego is to the true self what a flashlight is to a spotlight.

There are plenty of quacks in the field. Fewer than you'd expect, though still plenty (in alternative medicine).

Chronically dysfunctioning families are also delusional. Delusion is sincere denial.

Guilt says I've done something wrong; ... shame says there is something wrong with me. Guilt says I've made a mistake; ... shame says I am a mistake. Guilt says what did was not good; ... shame says I am no good.

Ego is to the true self what a flashlight is to a spotlight.

The more we know about how we lost our spontaneous wonder and creativity, the more we can find ways to get them back.

The most paradoxical aspect of neurotic shame is that it is the core motivator of the superachieved and the underachieved, the star and the scapegoat, the righteous and the wretched, the powerful and the pathetic.