50+ Best Albert Ellis Quotes To Inspire You

This article is great for people who love to introspect about their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

Albert Ellis was a renowned American psychotherapist and psychologist. He pioneered the formulation of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), often known as the Albert Ellis theory.

Albert Ellis was born in 1913 in the bustling town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he passed away in the year 2007 at the age of 93. He made many advancements in the field of cognitive psychology and is one of the main reasons why cognitive-behavioral approaches are so prominent today.

The three pillars of REBT espouse the notion that a human being can develop three types of acceptance; unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance, and unconditional life acceptance.

Rational Emotive Therapy or Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), is a form of therapy created by Albert Ellis, that revolves around helping clients identify their irrational beliefs and negative thought cycles that have led to behavioral or emotional issues.

If you're looking for famous Albert Ellis quotes or quotes about psychology, you should give this article a go! We promise this list of Albert Ellis quotes won't disappoint.

If you're looking for more articles with quotes by prominent psychologists, you should check out Alfred Adler Quotes and David Thoreau Quotes.

Best Albert Ellis Quotes About Human Emotions and Behaviour

Famous psychologist quotes provide a lot of great insight into the human psyche and the underpinnings of individual and group behavior. These quotes from Albert Ellis about human emotions and behavior are sure to tug at your heartstrings!

1. "You have considerable power to construct self-helping thoughts, feelings, and actions as well as to construct self-defeating behaviors. You have the ability, if you use it, to choose healthy instead of unhealthy thinking, feeling and acting."

- 'Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviours: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy', p. 49, 2010.

2. "Happiness is experienced largely in striving towards a goal, not in having attained things because our nature is always to want to go on to the next endeavor."

- 'The Art & Science of Rational Eating', 1992.

3. "To err is human; to forgive people and yourself for poor behavior is to be sensible and realistic."

- Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper, 'A Guide to Rational Living', 1975.

4. "There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy."

- Albert Ellis.

5. "Rational beliefs bring us closer to getting good results in the real world."

- Albert Ellis.

6. "The emotionally mature individual should completely accept the fact that we live in a world of probability and chance, where there are not, nor probably will ever be any absolute certainties, and should realize, that it is not all horrible, indeed - such a probabilistic, uncertain world."

- Albert Ellis.

7. "The trouble with most therapy is that it helps you feel better. But you don't get better. You have to back it up with action, action, action."

- Albert Ellis.

8. "We can't change the past, so we change how people are thinking, feeling, and behaving today."

- Albert Ellis.

9. "I had used eclectic therapy and behavior therapy on myself at the age of 19 to get over my fear of public speaking and of approaching young women in public."

- Albert Ellis.

10. "People don't just get upset. They contribute to their upsetness."

- Albert Ellis.

11. "People and things do not upset us. Rather, we upset ourselves by believing they can upset us."

- Albert Ellis.

12. "You mainly feel the way you think."

- Albert Ellis.

13. "Even injustice has its good points. It gives me the challenge of being as happy as I can in an unfair world."

- Albert Ellis.

14. "If human emotions largely result from thinking, then one may appreciably control one's feelings by controlling one's thoughts - or by changing the internalized sentences, or self-talk, with which one largely created the feeling in the first place."

- Albert Ellis.

15. "Failure doesn't have anything to do with your intrinsic value as a person."

- Albert Ellis.

16."People got insights into what was bothering them, but they hardly did a damn thing to change."

- Albert Ellis.

17. "Too many people are unaware that it is not outer events or circumstances that will create happiness; rather, it is our perception of events and of ourselves that will create, or uncreate, positive emotions."

- Albert Ellis and Catherine MacLaren, 'Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy', 2005.

18. "If you elevate or defame yourself because of your performances, you will tend to be self-centered rather than problem-centered, and these performances will, consequently, tend to suffer."

- 'The Myth of Self Esteem: How Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy Can Change Your Life Forever', 2005.

19. "Assume that most times when you feel anxious, depressed, or angry you are not only strongly desiring but also commanding that something go well and that you get what you want."

- 'How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything - Yes, Anything!', 2019

20. "The next time you feel angry, try to become aware of some of the physical sensations and changes that are occurring in your body."

- Albert Ellis and Raymond Chip Trafate, 'How to Control Your Anger Before It Controls You', 2019.

21. "You can choose to 1) keenly dislike your, other people's, and life's happenings 2) and still accept those adversities that you cannot now change."

- 'The Myth of Self Esteem: How Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy Can Change Your Life Forever', 2005.

22. "Much of what we call emotion is nothing more or less than a certain kind - a biased, prejudiced, or strongly evaluative kind - of thought."

- 'Rational Psychotherapy and Individual Psychology', 1975.

23. "Our self or personhood was too complex to be given a global rating."

- 'The Myth of Self Esteem: How Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy Can Change Your Life Forever', 2005.

24. "Feelings largely cause behavior. The way you feel, and how strongly, greatly influence how you will behave in a situation."

- Albert Ellis and Arthur Lange,'How To Keep People From Pushing Your Buttons', 2019.

Popular Dr. Albert Ellis Quotes About Love

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If you want to read love quotes by a psychologist, Albert Ellis is the man to go to. These quotes about love are eye-opening and will make you realize the importance of love and connection in one's life.

25. "The art of love is largely the art of persistence."

- Albert Ellis.

26. "Acceptance is not love. You love a person because he or she has lovable traits, but you accept everybody just because they're alive and human."

- Albert Ellis.

27. "Unless, of course, you insist on identifying yourself with the people and things you love; and thereby seriously disturb yourself."

- Albert Ellis.

28. "Give up the demand that you are only worthwhile if you are loved. Your worth does not change based on whether or not your beloved loves you back. Stop thinking that love gives you worth or value, instead, work to fully accept yourself."

- 'Conquering the Dire Need for Love', 1974.

Albert Ellis's Philosophy On Life

There are many delectable Albert Ellis quotes about choice present in this diverse list of quotes. These quotes will give you a lot of insight into the philosophy that Albert Ellis lived by.

29. "Worry about dying will hardly help you live."

- Albert Ellis.

30. "The goal of life is to have a ball."

- Albert Ellis.

31. "The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny."

32. "The easy way out is often just that - the 'easy' way out of the most rewarding lifestyle."

- Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper, 'A Guide to Rational Living', 1975.

33. "You only have to exist as you do and to live your life as best you can."

- 'Anger: How To Live With It And Without It', 2003.

34. "For a man there are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and women. It is often difficult to say which is the worst."

- Albert Ellis.

35. "If something is irrational, that means it won't work. It's usually unrealistic."

- Albert Ellis.

36. "Men are not disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of them."

- 'Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy'.

Thought-Provoking Quotes On Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

Here's a list of quotes that will help you attain a deeper understanding of the tenets of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.

37. "Because you upset yourself, therefore you, luckily can practically always un-upset the one person in the world whose thoughts and feelings you control - you!"

- Albert Ellis.

38. "Disputing your self-defeating, irrational beliefs is one of the main and most helpful methods of REBT."

- Albert Ellis, 'Techniques for Disputing Irrational Beliefs (DIBS)'.

39. "If you would stop, really stop, damning yourself, others, and unkind conditions, you would find it impossible to upset yourself emotionally - about anything. Yes, anything."

- Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper, 'A Guide to Rational Living'.

40. "It is impossible for you to be harmed by purely verbal or gestural attacks unless you specifically let yourself—or actually make yourself—be harmed.”

- Albert Ellis, 'Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy', 1994.

41. "REBT assumes that human thinking, emotion, and action are not really separate or disparate processes but that they all significantly overlap and are rarely experienced in a pure state."

- Albert Ellis.

42. "The solution to awfulizing? Convince yourself that badness is only bad, not awful."

- Albert Ellis, 'How To Make Yourself Happy and Remarkably Less Disturbable', 1999.

43. "REBT will lead to profound social concern because proving your trusted thoughts to be beneficial, constructive, and healthy will result in your personal and social attitudes also being constructive."

- Kevin Everett FitzMaurice.

44. "Keep my desires and goals in mind. Don't insist that they must or must not be fulfilled. Let me work unfrantically to achieve them. REBT."

- Albert Ellis, 'How To Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You', 2019.

45. 'To help people achieve the three basic REBT philosophies of unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance, and unconditional life-acceptance, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral methods, which are described in their monograph are used."

- Albert Ellis, 'Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy'.

47. "When people change their irrational beliefs to undogmatic flexible preferences, they become less disturbed."

- Albert Ellis.

48. "You never truly need what you want. That is the main and thoroughgoing key to serenity."

- Albert Ellis, 'Buddhism and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy'.

Prominent Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Quotes

Here's a list of prominent cognitive behavioral therapy quotes for your interest and learning.

49. "There are a variety of techniques to help people change the kind of thinking that leads them to become depressed. These techniques are called cognitive behavioral therapy."

- Irving Kirsch.

50. "Cognitive therapy seeks to alleviate psychological tensions by correcting misconceptions. By correcting erroneous beliefs, we can end the overreactions."

- Aaron Beck.

51. "If our thinking is bogged down by distorted symbolic meanings, illogical reasoning, and erroneous interpretations, we become, in truth, blind and deaf."

- Aaron Beck.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 50+ Albert Ellis Quotes then why not take a look at Alfred, Lord Tennyson Quotes, or Toni Morrison Quotes?