On Giving Up: 7 Essays on the Real Freedom of Choice

To give up or not to give up—this is the real dilemma?
We are constantly told: “Never give up!” But what if, at times, stubbornness turns life into the endless, Sisyphean labor of pushing a futile stone up a hill? Where is the line between supportive persistence and self-destructive obstinacy? Why can giving up illusions, toxic relationships, or neurotic attachments turn out not to be a defeat, but a liberation?
Adam Phillips, one of the most unusual psychoanalysts of our time, offers a bold rethinking of the very concept of giving up. Drawing on the ideas of Freud and Jung and invoking the images of Kafka, Shakespeare, and Mann, he leads the reader to a paradoxical conclusion: the personality is shaped through a chain of retreats, capitulations, and losses. The ability to surrender at the right moment is not a sign of weakness, but a necessary part of growing up and a path to inner freedom.