I have had a long-time interest in psychology – even having studied it at university as part of my undergraduate degree. But Freud I have never found made much sense and Jung does seem to go off in odd directions of his own. It is Alfred Adler that I have found the most compatible with my own way of thinking.

I came across this which has only made me appreciate Adler even further: Alfred Adler Quotes That Will Make You Reflect. This is what it says about Adler himself:

Alfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology.

Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Alfred Adler are all giants in the world of psychology.

Adler was one of the original core members of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, which was led by Freud. His ideas were counter to Freud’s, and he split from the group and proposed an “individual psychology” based on his own original theories. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of inferiority, the inferiority complex, is recognized as an isolating element which plays a key role in personality development.

Adlerian psychology enjoys a broad base of support in Europe and the United States, and presents simple and straightforward answers to the philosophical question: How can one be happy?

I must admit, I didn’t even know of Alfred Adler or Adlerian psychology until I came across the book “The Courage To Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. It’s an excellent book and a great way to learn about the principles of Adlerian psychology in order to live a happy life.

Anyway, go to the quotes of which this one particularly stood out for me:

“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.”

The other 39 are amazingly insightful as well. Oh well, let me mention one more.

“What is courage? Courage is the willingness to risk failure… There is only one danger I find in life, and that, indeed, is a real one. You may take too many precautions.”

There are now the other 38 for you to investigate yourself.