Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

The saying encapsulates a core Jungian insight: our strongest negative reactions to other people often reveal “projection,” the psyche’s tendency to attribute disowned traits, fears, or desires to someone else. What feels intolerable “out there” may be an unrecognized element of one’s own shadow—qualities the conscious ego rejects but that still seek acknowledgment. Read this way, irritation becomes diagnostic rather than merely interpersonal: it can be used as a prompt for self-inquiry (“What in me is being touched?”). The quote’s significance lies in reframing moral judgment as psychological data, encouraging individuation through greater self-knowledge and integration.