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Carl Rogers Quotes

1902–1987 United States

Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology.

United States
Psychologists

Random Carl Rogers quote

14 quotes

The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it.

On Becoming a Person (1961)

It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried.

On Becoming a Person (1961)

The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.

Person to person: The problem of being human: A new trend in psychology (1967)

There is in every organism, at whatever level, an underlying flow of movement toward constructive fulfillment of its inherent possibilities.

Carl Rogers on Personal Power (1977)

Don't be the ammunition wagon, be the rifle … knowledge exists primarily for use.

On Becoming a Person (1961)

Allowance of the freedom of choices in direction, either for the group or individuals particularly in the near future

Carl Rogers on Personal Power (1977)

Freedom from a desire to control the outcome, and respect for the capacity of the group, and skills in releasing individual expression

Carl Rogers on Personal Power (1977)

Acceptance of the problems experienced by the group where they are clearly defined as issues

Carl Rogers on Personal Power (1977)

Facilitative attitudes (and skills) can help a therapist gain entry into the group

Carl Rogers on Personal Power (1977)

Openness to all attitudes no matter how extreme or unrealistic they may seem

Carl Rogers on Personal Power (1977)

What I am and what I feel are good enough to be a basis for therapy, if I can transparently be what I am and what I feel in relationshipto him. Then perhaps he can be what he is, openly and without fear.

On Becoming a Person (1961)

Managers today come up against a few more communication barriers. One is the pressure of time. Listening carefully takes time, and managers have little of that to spare. In today’s business culture especially, with its emphasis on speed, already pressed managers may give short shrift to the slower art of one-on-one communication.

People are just as wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be... When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner"… I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.

Freedom to learn (1969)

If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.

On Becoming a Person (1961)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Carl Rogers (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.