Too much harping upon the unhappy childhood or adolescence of a person, or upon his unfortunate adult experiences, all in the name of psychoanalysis, is a mistake. The negative things in a man's past should be impersonally examined, the lessons in them carefully extracted, and then he should be done with it. It is better for the analyst to lift him up than to keep on pressing him down in this way. Similarly, the idea of writing down one's past--whether in a diary or a book--to act as a safety valve and get rid of it, is erroneous. It merely makes the past more powerful when it ought to be forgotten. A more positive attitude to the present and the future ought to be built up, and this is not to be done by dwelling on the miserable periods of the past.
-- Notebooks Category 10: Healing of the Self > Chapter 4 : Healers of The Body and Mind > # 86
