For Goodness Sake

Coline Covington brings wisdom and fresh insights into a study of the question of identity, which has become, with the retreat of ideological politics, one of the most important factors in international affairs. She is fascinating in her discussion of the relationships between nationalism and patriotism and of courage – both physical and mental – with the wider question of identity. This is a relevant and thought-provoking book which looks beyond the familiar arguments about nation states and globalization.

-- Chris Patten, Chancellor of the University of Oxford

This is one of the most important books in the field of psychoanalytic studies to appear in many years. Bringing her penetrating insights and extensive clinical experience to bear on such fascinating topics as bravery and heroism, identity, belief systems, dissent, and the capacity for change, Coline Covington has explored the psychological roots of these important, but much neglected, issues in a way that is both illuminating and novel. Focusing on the strengths and resources of the human personality as well as its limitations, she has written a remarkable book, one that breaks new ground and presents us with a gift that we will long cherish.

-- Theodore J. Jacobs, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus), Albert Einstein College of Medicine; training and supervising analyst, the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and the Institute for Psychoanalysis

A fascinating and scholarly exploration of what it is to be alive in a world riven by moral and political disorder, and of how we navigate between our own natures and the dilemmas and pressures we are confronted with. Drawing on a wide range of literary, historical, and clinical sources, and on topics that range from nationalism to immigration, heroism to inequality, Coline Covington has written an important book on the steps we take to hold on to our own identity and sanity. For Goodness Sake is a celebration of the nature of courage.

-- Caroline Moorehead, OBE, historian and biographer; author of ‘The Resistance Quartet’ book series and ‘Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees’

In this powerful and subtle study, Coline Covington delves deeply into the individual and collective roots of bravery, and distinguishes between courage and recklessness, cowardice and self-preservation. Combining psychoanalytic insight and philosophical analysis, she eloquently explores our profound need for moral meaning, and for living in societies which permit its expression. A book for our time, reminding us of timeless values which we ignore at our peril.

-- Eva Hoffman, author of ‘After Such Knowledge’, ‘Exit Into History’, and ‘Human Time’; Visiting Professor, University College London European Institute

‘In this thought-provoking book, Coline Covington brings together her expertise as a fellow of Vamik Volkan’s International Dialogue Initiative with her considerable experience of working as an analyst. Using compassionate and exquisitely written case studies, she moves seamlessly from the personal to the political and vice versa. […] the book’s argument about the psychic consequences of being complicit in acts of harm is very prescient. I thoroughly recommend it.'

-- Jane Cooper, former senior counsellor at the University of Cambridge – BACP Therapy Today May 2021

'This is a highly textured and carefully thought through piece of writing that examines the nature of bravery as illustrated partly by clinical work and partly by cultural commentary informed by both psychoanalysis and the social sciences. Writing the book is itself brave in its attempt to understand the contemporary world holistically through the lens of what it means to act ethically and take responsibility.'

-- Nigel Williams, British Journal of Psychotherapy, 39:1 (2