M. Scott Peck Quotes

The person with a secular mentality feels himself to be the center of the universe. Yet he is likely to suffer from a sense of meaninglessness and insignificance because he knows he’s but one human among five billion others - all feeling themselves to be the center of things - scratching out an existence on the surface of a medium-sized planet circling a small star among countless stars in a galaxy lost among countless galaxies. The person with the sacred mentality, on the other hand, does not feel herself to be the center of the universe. She considers the Center to be elsewhere and other. Yet she is unlikely to feel lost or insignificant precisely because she draws her significance and meaning from her relationship, her connection, with that center, that Other.

Life is difficult.

It is their attachment to us rather than their independence from us that we value in our pets.

It is in the whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn.

We cannot solve life's problems except by solving them.

Most people want peace without the aloneness of [spiritual] power. And they want the self-confidence of adulthood without having to grow up.

For any single thing of importance, there are multiple reasons.

Evil was defined as the use of power to destroy the spiritual growth of others for the purpose of defending and preserving the integrity of our own sick selves. In short, it is scapegoating. We scapegoat not the strong but the weak. For the evil to so misuse their power, they must have the power to use in the first place. They must have some kind of dominion over their victims. The most common relationship of dominion is that of parent over child. Children are weak, defenseless, and trapped in relation to their parents. They are born in thrall to their parents ... They are simply not free or powerful enough to escape.

Whatever action we take may influence the course of civilization.

Ultimately love is everything.

Not only do self-love and love of others go hand in hand but ultimately they are indistinguishable.

The only true end of love is spiritual growth or human evolution.

You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.

The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning.