Dr. Carl Jung and a troubled clergyman...
Illustration
Dr. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, once had a troubled clergyman come to him for help. His work schedule was overwhelming. Dr. Jung suggested that he work eight hours a day, get eight hours of sleep at night, and spend the remaining hours in his study all alone in quiet. The clergyman agreed to follow this plan. He worked only eight hours and in the evening he went into his study, played a few Chopin etudes and finished a Herman Hesse novel. The next evening he read Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain and played a Mozart sonata.
Later he came to Dr. Jung and complained he didn't feel any better. He explained what he had been doing. The psychiatrist replied, "I didn't want you to be with Herman Hesse or even Mozart and Chopin. I wanted you to be alone with yourself." At this the minister looked terrified and gasped, "Oh, but I can't think of any worse company."
Dr. Jung's rejoinder was, "And yet this is the self you inflict on other people fourteen hours a day."
Later he came to Dr. Jung and complained he didn't feel any better. He explained what he had been doing. The psychiatrist replied, "I didn't want you to be with Herman Hesse or even Mozart and Chopin. I wanted you to be alone with yourself." At this the minister looked terrified and gasped, "Oh, but I can't think of any worse company."
Dr. Jung's rejoinder was, "And yet this is the self you inflict on other people fourteen hours a day."
