Knots: Selected Works of RD Laing: Vol 7

RD Laing

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781134640812
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicina
• Subtopic: Prestazione di assistenza sanitaria

Originally published in 1970, Knots consists of a series of dialogue-scenarios that can be read as poems or brief plays, each complete in itself. Each chapter describes a different kind of relationship: the "knots" of the title: bonds of love, dependency, uncertainty, jealousy. The dialogues could be those between lovers, between parents and children, between analysts and patients or all of these merged together. Each brilliantly demonstrates Laing's insights into the intricacies of human relationships.

1

They are playing a game. They are playing at not playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me.

I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.

They are not having fun.

I can’t have fun if they don’t.

If I get them to have fun, then I can have

fun with them.

Getting them to have fun, is not fun. It is

hard work.

I might get fun out of finding out why

they’re not.

I’m not supposed to get fun out of working

out why

they’re not.

But there is even some fun in pretending

to them I’m not

having fun finding out why they’re not.

A little girl comes along and says: let’s

have fun.

But having fun is a waste of time, because

it doesn’t

help to figure out why they’re not having

fun.

How dare you have fun when Christ died

on the Cross

for you! Was He having fun?

It is our duty to bring up our children

to love,

honour and obey us.

If they don’t, they must be punished,

otherwise we would not be doing our duty.

If they grow up to love, honour and obey us

we have been blessed for bringing them up

properly.

If they grow up not to love, honour and

obey us

either we have brought them up

properly

or we have not:

if we have

there must be something the matter

with them;

if we have not

there is something the matter with us.

A son should respect his father

He should not have to be taught to respect

his father

It is something that is natural

That’s how I’ve brought up my son

anyway.

Of course a father must be worthy of

respect

He can forfeit a son’s respect

But I hope at least that my son will

respect me, if

only for leaving him free to respect me or

not.

There must be something the matter with

him

because he would not be acting as he

does

unless there was

therefore he is acting as he is

because there is something the matter

with him

He does not think there is anything the

matter with him

because

one of the things that is

the matter with him

is that he does not think that there is

anything

the matter with him

therefore

we have to help him realize that,

the fact that he does not think there is

anything

the matter with him

is one of the things that is

the matter with him

there is something the matter with him

because he thinks

there must be something the matter

with us

for trying to help him to see

that there must be something the matter

with him

to think that there is something the

matter with us

for trying to help him to see that

we are helping him

to see that

we are not persecuting him

by helping him

to see we are not persecuting him

by helping him

to see that

he is refusing to see

that there is something the matter with

him

for not seeing there is something the

matter

with him

for not being grateful to us

for at least trying to help him

to see that there is something the

matter with

him

for not seeing that there must be

something the

matter with him

for not seeing that there must be

something the

matter with him

for not seeing that there is something the

matter

with him

for not seeing that th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
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