"The greater the feeling of inferiority that has been experienced, the more powerful is the urge to conquest and the more violent the emotional agitation."

Experience

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Experience as articulated by Alfred Adler. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Experience provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Alfred Adler

Alfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, and birth order set him apart from Freud and others in their common circle. He proposed that contributing to others was how the individual feels a sense of worth and belonging in the family and society. His earlier work focused on inferiority, coining the term "inferiority complex", an isolating element which he argued plays a key role in personality development. Adler considered a human being as an individual whole, and therefore he called his school of psychology Individual Psychology.

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More by Alfred Adler

"To be a human being means to possess a feeling of inferiority which constantly presses towards its own conquest. The greater the feeling of inferiority that has been experienced, the more powerful is the urge for conquest and the more violent the emotional agitation."

— Alfred Adler
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"Our modern states are preparing for war without even knowing the future enemy."

— Alfred Adler
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"The educator must believe in the potential power of his pupil, and he must employ all his art in seeking to bring his pupil to experience this power."

— Alfred Adler
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"No experience is a cause of success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences, so-called trauma - but we make out of them just what suits our purposes."

— Alfred Adler
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More about Experience

"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership."

— Harvey S. Firestone
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"Man has made use of his intelligence, he invented stupidity."

— Remy de Gourmont
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"I like poking my nose into other people's lives."

— Helen Garner
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"I was a lesbian for a semester at Wesleyan - it was a graduation requirement."

— Ayelet Waldman
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