Author Description

Carl Gustav Jung, the great Swiss psychologist, who died in 1961 in his eighty-sixth year, was a profound thinker of extraordinary creativity. In the course of his medical practice he reflected deeply on human nature and human problems, and his prolific writings bear witness to his great wisdom and insight. For this completely revised edition, selections from publications of the years 1945-1961, the last fruitful years of Jung's life, have been added, and the book has been reset in a new compact format. The selections are arranged thematically under four main headings: The Nature and Activity of the Psyche, Man in His Relation to Others, The World of Values, and On Ultimate Things. Jung's reflections frequently have a penetrating relevance to today's (and tomorrow's) problems. On prejudice: "Our unwillingness to see our own faults and the projection of them is the beginning of most quarrels, and is the strongest guarantee that injustice, animosity, and persecution are not ready to die out." On sex: "We are not yet far enough advanced to distinguish between moral and immoral behavior in the realm of free sexual activity." On religion: "No one can know what the ultimate things are. We must therefore take them as we experience them. And if such experience helps to make life healthier, more beautiful, more complete, and more satisfactory to yourself and to those you love, you may safely say: 'This was the grace of God.'"