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The Four Temperaments


 





Sanguine


  • Extremely happy by nature and openly emotional.
  • Wants to capture every possible enjoyment in life.
  • Never feels that life is boring.
  • Emotional life is usually the best developed, more active that the mind and the will. 
  • Does not spend a great deal of time in thought and reflection “Carpe diem”.
  • Easily demonstrates her own feelings and experiences others’ losses deeply.
  • Great difficulty taking positive action. Easily becomes involved in something new. 
  • Can snap back from failures and setbacks quickly.
  • Easily distracted so tasks are left unfinished. 
  • Wins friends easily and effortlessly.
  • Quickly forgets insults and offenses. 
  • Enjoys giving suggestions and helping people with their problems. 
  • Enjoys people and accepts them as they are.
  • Loves talking, even if just to chitchat.
  • Needs a profession where she can be creative, free from limitations and routine. 
  • Does not like people whose lives and schedules are all planned and never spontaneous.

Characteristics: hopeful, sentimental, affectionate, passionate, playful, openhearted, optimistic, restless, compassionate, adventurous, intuitive, forgiving, enthusiastic, friendly, loving, gentle. 
Weakness: can be careless, restless, dissatisfied, wasteful, impulsive, weak-willed, shallow, inconsistent, unreliable, unstable, fragile, dreamy.

Constitution most frequently associated: Phosphorus
Frequently encountered remedies: Lachesis, Ignatia

AS A FRIEND 


People’s person
They thrive on compliments
Neither faithful nor loyal as friends
No commitments
Has millions of friends and enjoys them all ,calls them all as her best friends and close confidants
Wins friend easily and effortlessly because she is very affectionate and pleasant
She rarely thinks about a friend who is away from her
When she loses one friend she soon finds another one.

AS A PARENT


They make living as fun at home 
They enjoy the company of friends of their children
They have the knack of turning a disaster into a funny situation.

Choleric

  • Has a lot of drive, very practical and not very sentimental or emotional.
  • Impatient, always on the go and thinks everyone is lazy because they don’t think, move and act as fast as he does. 
  • ”Straight ahead, top speed” and there’s no reverse gear in this car.
  • He can grasp a situation instantly and see at once what needs to be done, and then does it. 
  • Although he does not want others to make decision for him, he has no qualms about making decisions for others.
  • His greatest enjoyment in life comes from opportunities and success. 
  • Works very rapidly without sacrificing quality, can handle many things at the same time and do them all well. 
  • Independent and self-sufficient, which keeps him from having close friendships. 
  • People who are slow or can’t make up their mind irritate him. 
  • Has a special ability to evaluate other’s abilities and talents. 
  • Has a volcanic temper, touchy and hot-tempered; when he loses his temper he can get violent. 
  • Too busy to engage in small talk or idle chatter. 

Characteristics: daring, enterprising, aggressive, forceful, confident, decisive, determined, leader, witty, creative, logical, great memory, ambitious, faith. 
Weakness: stubborn, self-centered, careless, insensitive, inconsistent, temperamental, cruel, sharp-tongued, authoritarian, bossy, cocky, crafty, impetuous.

Constitution most frequently associated: Sulphur, Lycopodium
Frequently encountered remedies: Nux vomica, Chelidonium

TIP

How to deal with choleric temperament?

Below are some tips for how to deal with someone who has a choleric temperament:
Appreciate their drive and ambition.
Acknowledge their need for control.
Be patient and diplomatic in interactions.
Respect their need for independence.
Give them the space they need to cool down.

Phlegmatic

  • Slow, calm, steady and rather unemotional.
  • Prefers a placid uneventful life devoid of inner and outer turmoil “my home is my castle”.
  • May surprise everyone with exceptional insight and common sense.
  • The will-power is as often negative as positive: resistance to change rather than creating something new. 
  • The mind isn’t influenced by emotions or will. 
  • Has no trouble making decisions but takes his sweet time about it. 
  • Slowly but steadily makes progress towards a goal; temporary setbacks do not discourage him. 
  • Setbacks and faillure do not bother him.
  • Do not pressure him or he gets upsets. 
  • His happiness and contentment in life depend on his immediate family, not his friends.
  • Tends to observe people from a distance. 
  • Does not like people who are always in a hurry or fussing about something.
  • In crisis situation, acts as a peacemaker, calmly and tactfully behind the scenes trying to patch things up.  

Characteristics: pleasant, passive, serene, calm, cheerful, comforting, diplomatic, diligent, home-loving, efficient, virtuous, gently humorous, peaceful. 
Negatives: selfish, lazy, indecisive, faint-hearted, follower, dull, indifferent, self-righteous, meekness, procrastinator, introverted.

Most frequently associated constitutions: Calcarea, Baryta carb.
Other connected remedies: Pulsatilla, Sepia

Melancholic


  • Somewhat sad, deeply emotional.
  • His mind probes deeply to the point where too much time is spent thinking. 
  • Tends to withdraw into a world created by his hopes, dreams and aspirations.
  • Often gets stuck in the process of mulling over a problem, weighing all the pros and cons. 
  • Often frustrated because her goals seem so far off. 
  • Perfectionist at his job and very conscientious, sets high standards for himself. 
  • His greatest desire in life is perfection.
  • Does not like people who are shallow and superficial; prefers serious conversations about subjects that stimulate her. 
  • In crisis is too reserved to express her feelings publicly.
  • Allows her anger to build up until eventually it surfaces in a big blow-up. Tends to bear a grudge for a long time.  
  • In new projects, tend to be the inventor, the thinker. 

Characteristics: reserved, introspective, contemplative, self-controlled, strong-willed, patient, concrete, elegant, proud, resourceful and analytical.
Negatives: pessimistic, gloomy, cold, revengful, bored, self-centered, critical, suspicious, frugal, phobic, taciturn, arrogant. 
Associated remedies: Nat-mur., Arsenicum

Source: Dr. Luc de Schepper’s Hahnemann's Revisited.

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