Quotes About Psychology

For better or for worse, my brother and I both have some Jungian leanings, so we're tempted to think that these bits and bobs of the past are knocking around in everyone's heads somehow to some degree, and they just need to be jiggled into the front of their head in the mind again.

My first book was called 'Buried Dreams,' about a serial-killer, which was probably about ten years ahead of the serial-killer curve. It was a national bestseller, but it was three years of living in the sewer of this guy's mind.

As an actor, I tend to enjoy going to the dark side.

I see tendencies, I see body language.

Psychologists and economists love to talk about the notion of two selves: present self and future self. It's a nice way to explain the tendency to have one preference about the future, but a very different preference when the future becomes the present.

I am told that the clinical definition of insanity is the tendency to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

The amygdala is one of those brain structures that a lot of people know a little bit about, and there's a definite tendency to conflate the amygdala and the fear response itself - as if the amygdala, and the amygdala alone, 'causes' fear.

Anger, and the self-righteousness that is both the cause and consequence of anger, tends to be easier on the psyche than personal responsibility.

The more self-aware an animal is, the more empathetic it tends to be.

Tennis is a mental game. Everyone is fit, everyone hits great forehands and backhands.

I think more of my tennis is more to do with the mental side of things rather than technique or, you know, tactics or anything like that.

It's not only about a game and tennis, but it's more about the mental things sometimes.

Everyone knows how to play tennis, but it's the mind that really controls everything.

The mental part of the game, being able to free up on the tennis court, is much easier said than done.

If I weren't a tennis player, I'd probably be a psychologist.

There is so much that goes in to being a good tennis player. It's not just what you can do well on the court, it's between the ears as well.

For me, 'choking' is just another term in golf.

I came up with the term 'mindfreak' because I didn't like the word 'magician.' I felt like I wanted to coin a term that would be basically the reaction to my art. It would be a mindfreak and so that's why I came up with that. But, many people say I'm really a student of humanity and psychology.

I don't like the term 'mental illness.' I'd rather just say 'mad.' Just like I always say 'loony bin,' not 'mental hospital.'

Defined in psychological terms, a fanatic is a man who consciously over-compensates a secret doubt.

Superheroes fill a gap in the pop culture psyche, similar to the role of Greek mythology. There isn't really anything else that does the job in modern terms. For me, Batman is the one that can most clearly be taken seriously.

My mom being a psychotherapist, I've been brought up with that whole psychoanalytical terrain.

My general philosophy of playing bad guys, which I've sort of done, you know, half the time is, you know, very few people who we view as bad guys get out of bed and think, 'What evil, terrible thing am I going to do today?' Most people see their motivations as justified - as, you know, justifying whatever they do.

Maybe philosophy - I love talking about ideas. Or maybe art history. I was thinking about psychology, then I got really afraid because everybody says it's terribly boring.