Ernest Becker lived from September 27, 1924, to March 6, 1974. He was an American Cultural anthropologist. He wrote The “Denial of death” in 1974, which won the Pulitzer Prize. He wrote around nine books, and his first book was based on his doctoral dissertation.
He put insistence on disciplinary work, and his lectures were marked with high levels of theatrics. This led to his rising popularity among his students, who flocked to his lectures. Due to this fact, he never endeared to his colleagues, who frequently criticized his works despite them being bestsellers.
His books, mainly “Escape from Evil” and “The Denial of Death”, have had a significant impact on religion and social psychology. A vital research program called the Terror Management Theory in Social Psychology has turned Becker’s views into over 200 published studies.
His perspectives on prejudice, self-esteem, and religion and the influence of death anxiety are remarkably turned into a scientific theory.
Ernest Becker Quotes
When people do not have self-esteem they cannot act, they break down.- Ernest Becker
To grow up at all is to conceal the mass of internal scar tissue that throbs in our dreams.- Ernest Becker
The road to creativity passes so close to the madhouse and often detours or ends there.- Ernest Becker
To grow up at all is to conceal the mass of internal scar tissue that throbs in our dreams.- Ernest Becker
Relationship is thus always slavery of a kind, which leaves a residue of guilt.- Ernest Becker
Better guilt than the terrible burden of freedom and responsibility.- Ernest Becker
It is fateful and ironic how the lie we need in order to live dooms us to a life that is never really ours.- Ernest Becker
Mother nature is a brutal bitch, red in tooth and claw, who destroys what she creates.- Ernest Becker
To live fully is to live with an awareness of the rumble of terror that underlies everything.- Ernest Becker
People create the reality they need in order to discover themselves.- Ernest Becker