D.W. Winnicott

"The child plays life, not just for fun, but in order to solve emotional dilemmas."

"Psychotherapy is done in the overlap between two playing areas."

"We can trace directly to the experiences of immaturity many of the difficulties of adult life."

"There is no such thing as an infant; there is an infant and someone."

"The antisocial child is signaling a hope that someone will stop them."

"We fail to recognize that the task of reality-testing is endless."

"Creativity is universal in health."

"The destructive child and the constructive child are the same child at different times."

"Fear of breakdown in the present is the fear of a breakdown that has already happened."

"Human nature is fundamentally peaceful and constructive."

"The word 'play' leads to the understanding of cultural experience."

"Resilience is not the absence of distress, but the ability to recover."

"The capacity to be concerned is the pivot around which healthy development hangs."

"In the ordinary developmental process, the infant becomes familiar with the breast before knowing where the breast is."

"Disillusionment is a necessary part of mental growth."

"The ability to be genuinely alone is essential to emotional health."

"Human beings need to feel they have made a genuine contribution."

"Only from the private, personal, inner life of the individual can there be any contribution to the world."

"The development of the individual is a process of becoming independent."

"A person who has not learned to say no cannot say yes."

"The setting matters tremendously in allowing healing to occur."

"False self development interferes with the ability to live authentically."

"Every baby is a genius until they are socialized."

"The aggressive impulse is the same as the constructive one in origin."

"Environmental failure leads to defensive adaptation in children."

"Trust is the foundation upon which all genuine relating is built."

"Through play, the individual discovers their authentic self."

"The capacity to be depressed is a sign of mental health."

"Culture is an extension of the holding environment into adult life."

"Good enough is often better than perfect in parenting."