Attention Seeking Quotes

“Shame, in other words, is conservative in the fullest sense; it is there to conserve our privacy, to conserve ourselves as we would prefer to be seen; to conserve our belief that we can conceal ourselves. Because shame is what is felt when we fail to perform well enough (think of potential humiliation of the stand-up comic). If shame is always possible, performance is everything. Our capacity for shame is a horrifying reminder of what we believe our preferred self really is - and that there is one - however much of a strain it may be to sustain it.”
― Adam Phillips, Attention Seeking

“In shame there is a loss of interest in the external world, and a loss of interest in what is or may be good about the self. Shame is the ethnic cleansing of the self.”
― Adam Phillips, Attention Seeking

“It is as though there were a figure inside us – call it ‘the dream-maker’ – who is interested in our day on our behalf, but without our ever realising what is of interest, what might be of use, in that day.”
― Adam Phillips, Attention Seeking