Wilhelm Reich Quotes

Even if they don't know it, everyone has the instinct to survive.

It is ingrained in all living creatures, first of all, to preserve their own safety, to guard against what is harmful, to strive for what is advantageous.

If a man puts a lion's family in jeopardy, what would it do? Would it enjoy fighting? Of course it wouldn't, but it's going to fight.

It is a very natural human trait to destroy that which frightens us.

Survival is my primary instinct...it's out of my control. It's stronger than me. It's an outside force, a voice that says 'do this for your life or it will devour you.'

Fear is a healthy instinct, not a sign of weakness. It is a natural self-defense mechanism that is common to felines, wolves, hyenas, and most humans. Even fruit bats know fear, and I salute them for it. If you think the world is weird now, imagine how weird it would be if wild beasts had no fear.

The brain works fast when it thinks it’s about to be cut in half.

Self-preservation is the first law of nature.

When your life is being threatened there's an instinctive urge to fight. You fight for the time you have, for your relationships.

The first inclination which an animal has is to protect itself

When threatened, the nervous system sometimes goes into a 'freeze response.' You assess the risk and determine that fight or flight doesn't help you. Staying put does.

My first instinct is always to fight back because ever since I was a kid, that's what I've always had to do to survive.

When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival.

Self-Preservation is a full-time occupation.

Civilized people are taught by logic, barbarians, by necessity, communities by tradition; and the lesson inculcated even in wild beasts by nature itself. They learn that they have to defend their own bodies and persons lives from violence of any and every kind by all means within their power.

What don't kill me... Had better start running!

Insects sting, not from malice, but because they want to live. It is the same with critics; they desire our blood not our pain.

It's the same with men as with horses and dogs, nothing wants to die.

I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.

The intelligence of the mind can't think of any reason to live, but it goes on anyway because the intelligence of the cells can't think of any reason to die.

There's really nothing quite like someone's wanting you dead to make you want to go on living.

They want us dead,' said Bond calmly. 'So we have to stay alive.

Survival feels like cowardice.

Because of fear, they made shelter and found food and grew things. For the same reason, weapons were stored, waiting.

I believe my first duty is to survive. And I'm not just talking about criminals coming into my home. I once seriously considered getting a gun to protect myself from the police. If I need a weapon to continue living, I'll get one. And I'll use it.