Gabor Maté

Gabor Maté

Hungarian-Canadian physician known for his work on trauma, addiction, stress, and child development. His teachings connect medical insight with deep psychological and spiritual understanding, particularly through compassion-based inquiry. Author of When the Body Says No, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and The Myth of Normal.

98

quotes in library

Quotes by Gabor Maté

98 quotes
“Safety is not the absence of threat. It is the presence of connection.”
safetyThe Myth of Normal
“The question is not why the addiction, but why the pain.”
addictionIn the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
“All emotions are healthy if expressed authentically.”
emotionWhen the Body Says No
“Children do not get traumatized because they are hurt. They get traumatized because they are alone with the hurt.”
traumaThe Myth of Normal
“Authenticity and attachment are the two essential needs of every child.”
essentialsHold On to Your Kids
“When attachment and authenticity collide, attachment wins — and authenticity is suppressed.”
authenticityThe Myth of Normal
“What we call disease is often the body saying what the mind cannot.”
bodyWhen the Body Says No
“Every painful symptom has a story. Listen to it.”
listeningWhen the Body Says No
“To heal is to recover the wholeness we were born with.”
healingThe Myth of Normal
“Compassionate inquiry is the path to the wound — and the path beyond.”
inquiryThe Myth of Normal
“All addictions originate in pain. The drug is the answer the pain is screaming for.”
addictionIn the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
“You cannot heal what you cannot feel.”
healingThe Myth of Normal
“Stress is the body's response to a perceived threat.”
stressWhen the Body Says No
“What we suppress, the body expresses.”
bodyWhen the Body Says No
“The compulsive driver of perfectionism comes from a young self that feared abandonment.”
perfectionismWhen the Body Says No
“To be authentic is to be true to your own internal experience.”
authenticityThe Myth of Normal
“Trauma severs us from ourselves. Healing reconnects us.”
healingThe Myth of Normal
“All children deserve to be seen as they actually are.”
seeingHold On to Your Kids
“The greatest damage done by neglect, trauma, or emotional loss is not the immediate pain they inflict, but the long-term distortions they induce.”
traumaIn the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
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