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Musings

The Uses of Enchantment

Volume · Bruno Bettelheim · 10 passages

  1. We are mistaken if we think we must hold on to something in the external world to succeed in life.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  2. Only being true to oneself, as cinderella is, succeeds in the end.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  3. For one’s inner security and feeling of self-worth, no externals compensate for not having basic trust in infancy. We can gain basic trust through changes in the inner structure of the mind and personality, never through things that look good.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  4. One must leave home to find one’s kingdom; that it cannot be gained immediately; that risks must be taken, trials submitted to; that it cannot be done all by oneself, but that one needs helpers; and that to secure their aid, one must meet some of their demands

    The Uses of Enchantment

  5. The difficulties one encounters on life’s voyage: coming into sexual maturity, gaining independence and self realization. Dangers must be overcome, ordeals endured, decisions made; but the story tells that if one reminds true to oneself and one’s values, then, despite how desperate things may look for a while, there will be a happy ending.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  6. There is no greater threat in life than that we will be deserted, left all alone. Psychoanalysis has named this—man’s greatest fear, separation anxiety, and the younger we are, the more excruciating is our anxiety when we feel deserted.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  7. Naive as it may seem. The prince and princess getting married and inserting the kingdom, ruling it in peace and happiness, symbolized to the child the highest possible form of existence because this is al he desires for himself: to run his kingdom—his own life—successfully, peacefully, and to be happily united with the most desirable partner who will never leave him.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  8. Every child at some time wishes he were a prince or princess—and at times, in his unconscious , the child believes he is one, only temporarily degraded by circumstances.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  9. One succeeds in gaining independence only by working through one’s inner conflicts, which children usually try to project onto their parents.

    The Uses of Enchantment

  10. One gains selfhood through learning to understand and master the inner as well as the outer world.

    The Uses of Enchantment

Up to 10 passages are published from each source.

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