Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth- Abraham Maslow
The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative than on the positive side… It has revealed to us much about man’s shortcomings, his illnesses, his sins, but little about his potentialities, his virtues, his achievable aspirations, or his psychological health- Abraham Maslow
The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short- Abraham Maslow
A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself- Abraham Maslow
The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness- Abraham Maslow
If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail- Abraham Maslow
What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself- Abraham Maslow
What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization- Abraham Maslow
If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life- Abraham Maslow
The fact is that people are good, Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior- Abraham Maslow
If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim. And I’d despise the one who gave up- Abraham Maslow
But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives and thoughts, as language can be a way of hiding your thoughts and preventing communication- Abraham Maslow
Rioting is a childish way of trying to be a man, but it takes time to rise out of the hell of hatred and frustration and accept that to be a man you don’t have to riot- Abraham Maslow
Classic economic theory, based as it is on an inadequate theory of human motivation, could be revolutionized by accepting the reality of higher human needs, including the impulse to self actualization and the love for the highest values- Abraham Maslow
A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting- Abraham Maslow
We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves- Abraham Maslow
All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization- Abraham Maslow
If I were a Negro, I’d be fighting, as Martin Luther King fought, for human recognition and justice. I’d rather go down with my flag flying. If you’re weak or crippled, or you can’t speak out or fight back in some way, then people don’t hesitate to treat you badly- Abraham Maslow
Education can become a self-fulfilling activity, liberating in and of itself- Abraham Maslow
Work is that which you dislike doing but perform for the sake of external rewards. At school, this takes the form of grades. In society, it means money, status, privilege- Abraham Maslow
Marriage is a school itself. Also, having children. Becoming a father changed my whole life. It taught me as if by revelation- Abraham Maslow
Good psychology should include all the methodological techniques, without having loyalty to one method, one idea, or one person- Abraham Maslow
I was awfully curious to find out why I didn’t go insane- Abraham Maslow
What we need is a system of thought – you might even call it a religion – that can bind humans together. A system that would fit the Republic of Chad as well as the United States: a system that would supply our idealistic young people with something to believe in- Abraham Maslow
Good psychology should include all the methodological techniques, without having loyalty to one method, one idea, or one person- Abraham Maslow
The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short- Abraham Maslow
One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king- Abraham Maslow
We may define therapy as a search for value- Abraham Maslow
I was awfully curious to find out why I didn’t go insane- Abraham Maslow
We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in themselves- Abraham Maslow
Human nature is not nearly as bad as it has been thought to be- Abraham Maslow
I’m someone who likes plowing new ground, then walking away from it. I get bored easily. For me, the big thrill comes with the discovering- Abraham Maslow
With a tree, all the growth takes place at the growing tips. Humanity is exactly the same. All the growth takes place in the growing tip: among that one percent of the population. It’s made up of pioneers, the beginners. That’s where the action is- Abraham Maslow
I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail- Abraham Maslow
It isn’t normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological achievement- Abraham Maslow
Be independent of the good opinion of other people- Abraham Maslow
I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness- Abraham Maslow
What one can be, one must be!- Abraham Maslow
The sacred is in the ordinary…it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s own backyard…travel may be a flight from confronting the scared–this lesson can be easily lost. To be looking elsewhere for miracles is to me a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous- Abraham Maslow
If the essential core of the person is denied or suppressed, he gets sick sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes immediately, sometimes later- Abraham Maslow
Self-actualized people…live more in the real world of nature than in the man-made mass of concepts, abstractions, expectations, beliefs and stereotypes that most people confuse with the world- Abraham Maslow
The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy- Abraham Maslow
It looks as if there were a single ultimate goal for mankind, a far goal toward which all persons strive. This is called variously by different authors self-actualization, self-realization, integration, psychological health, individuation, autonomy, creativity, productivity, but they all agree that this amounts to realizing the potentialities of the person, that is to say, becoming fully human, everything that person can be- Abraham Maslow
It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually- Abraham Maslow
We fear our highest possibilities. We are generally afraid to become that which we can glimpse in our most perfect moments, under conditions of great courage. We enjoy and even thrill to godlike possibilities we see in ourselves in such peak moments. And yet we simultaneously shiver with weakness, awe, and fear before these very same possibilities- Abraham Maslow
False optimism sooner or later means disillusionment, anger and hopelessness- Abraham Maslow
Seeing is better than being blind, even when seeing hurts- Abraham Maslow
Every human being has both sets of forces within him. One set clings to safety and defensiveness out of fear, tending to regress backward, hanging on to the past, afraid to grow away from the primitive communication with the mother’s uterus and breast, afraid to take chances, afraid to jeopardize what he already has, afraid of independence, freedom and separateness. The other set of forces impels him forward toward wholeness of Self and uniqueness of Self, toward full functioning of all his capacities, toward confidence in the face of the external world at the same time that he can accept his deepest, real, unconscious Self- Abraham Maslow
The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s backyard- Abraham Maslow
Not allowing people to go through their pain, and protecting them from it, may turn out to be a kind of over-protection, which in turn implies a certain lack of respect for the integrity and the intrinsic nature and the future development of the individual- Abraham Maslow