The Best Quotes From Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers has often spoken of the control we have over our destiny. He spoke about experience and personal growth, as well as the value of people and relationships. Carl Rogers quotes make you think about life.

Since the 1950s, Carl Rogers has been an outstanding figure in the field of humanistic psychology. His most famous publications are  Client-Centered Therapy  (1951), and  Becoming a Person  (1961).

Along with Abraham Maslow, Rogers was a psychologist who placed great importance on personal development. Many Carl Rogers quotes focus on helping people think about their own lives. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of his best quotes for you in this article.

Empathy, one of Carl Rogers’ favorite subjects

Empathy is a fundamental concept from the perspective of Carl Rogers. In fact, he considered it one of the basic attitudes that a person must develop in order to achieve self-realization.

Now, according to Carl Rogers, being empathetic doesn’t mean putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Empathy requires serious work, reflection, and knowledge about how the other person perceives and experiences the world around them.

Empathy isn’t just what you would do in the other person’s situation. But it’s also how you would react in that situation based on their view of the world.

Direct experience is priority

This quote is controversial, but it also makes you think. Rogers emphasizes that our main guide is not others, not even faith. The most important guide is within you.

Rogers says that the highest authority is a person’s own experience. He thinks we should listen to the judgment of other people. But he says we shouldn’t take them as a guide.

Each person must therefore be treated as an individual who deserves respect. Each person has the right to evaluate his experience in his own way and with the power of autonomous choice.

Acceptance as a driver for change

For Rogers, acceptance is the foundation for change. If there is no acceptance, then there is no change because the mind is ‘lost’. So we need to see who we really are and get to know ourselves. This is the key to growing as a person.

The value of being yourself

Carl Rogers believes that people are as beautiful as sunsets—if they can be sunsets. By this we mean that he values ​​sincerity and authenticity above all else; the natural state of each of us.

Rogers learned in his relationships that it doesn’t help in the long run to pretend he’s someone he’s not. We cannot be happy if we show a false version of ourselves. Because then we really reject ourselves.

Admit our feelings

When we experience a feeling, the appropriate action is to accept it, not to avoid or suppress it. Because the feeling must be protected and heard.

What message does it carry? Only then will we be able to know ourselves and others. Only then will we get to know each other.

endure uncertainty

Fear and uncertainty are our comrades in life. You cannot control or predict everything. Not even everything is safe. Confusion and emotional ups and downs will happen. So we have to be prepared.

The idea that we have everything under control comes from the fear of not knowing how to react. It is the result of uncertainty. And even though it’s impossible to be prepared for everything, sometimes we act like we can. We thus become trapped in a spiritual rigidity.

If we want to live in the flow, we must learn to let go. This will open the way to flexibility and joy.

Learn to learn

Carl Rogers understood that, as an educated person, he was trying to grow and change. Self-knowledge and self-actualization go hand in hand on the path of life. To be evolved one has to be informed, think and question things.

We note that Carl Rogers left a legacy that is a formidable source of knowledge. It can really help people. In his early years as a professional psychologist, he kept asking himself the same question: how can I treat, cure or change this person?

But his experience eventually turned this question into: How can I create a relationship that this person can use for their own personal growth?

His numerous contributions to psychotherapy and his innovative view of therapeutic practice are still alive today. He developed many theories. But consider these quotes for a moment as they will no doubt help you understand his way of thinking. They make us think.