Many psychoanalysts refused to let me speak at their meetings. They were exceptionally vigorous because I had previously been an analyst and they were very angry at my flying the coop. – Albert Ellis
I thought foolishly that Freudian psychoanalysis was deeper and more intensive than other, more directive forms of therapy, so I was trained in it and practiced it. – Albert Ellis
I get people to truly accept themselves unconditionally, whether or not their therapist or anyone loves them. – Albert Ellis
People could rationally decide that prolonged relationships take up too much time and effort and that they’d much rather do other kinds of things. But most people are afraid of rejection. – Albert Ellis
Acceptance is not love. You love a person because he or she has lovable traits, but you accept everybody just because they’re alive and human. – Albert Ellis
Let’s suppose somebody abused you sexually. You still had a choice, though not a good one, about what to tell yourself about the abuse. – Albert Ellis
I had a great many sex and love cases where people were absolutely devastated when somebody with whom they were compulsively in love didn’t love them back. They were killing themselves with anxiety and depression. – Albert Ellis
The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny. – Albert Ellis
I had used eclectic therapy and behavior therapy on myself at the age of 19 to get over my fear of public speaking and of approaching young women in public. – Albert Ellis
I wrote several articles criticizing psychoanalysis, but the analysts weren’t listening to my objections. So I finally quit after practicing it for six years. – Albert Ellis
As a result of my philosophy, I wasn’t even upset about Hitler. I was willing to go to war to knock him off, but I didn’t hate him. I hated what he was doing. – Albert Ellis
I think the future of psychotherapy and psychology is in the school system. We need to teach every child how to rarely seriously disturb himself or herself and how to overcome disturbance when it occurs. – Albert Ellis
I started to call myself a rational therapist in 1955; later I used the term rational emotive. Now I call myself a rational emotive behavior therapist. – Albert Ellis
You largely constructed your depression. It wasn’t given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it. – Albert Ellis
By not caring too much about what people think, I’m able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed. – Albert Ellis
We teach people that they upset themselves. We can’t change the past, so we change how people are thinking, feeling and behaving today. – Albert Ellis
People got insights into what was bothering them, but they hardly did a damn thing to change. – Albert Ellis
I think it’s unfair, but they have the right as fallible, screwed-up humans to be unfair; that’s the human condition. – Albert Ellis
There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy. – Albert Ellis