Maslow Quotes & Sayings

Shortsighted people make [experientialism and social reform] opposites, mutually exclusive. [...] The empirical fact is that self-actualizing people, our best experiencers, are also our most compassionate, our great improvers and reformers of society, our most effective fighters against injustice, inequality, slavery, cruelty, exploitation (and also our best fighters for excellence, effectiveness, competence). And it also becomes clearer and clearer that our best 'helpers' are the most fully human persons. What I may call the bodhisattvic path is an integration of self-improvement and social zeal, i.e., the best way to become a better 'helper' is to become a better person. — Abraham H. 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 H. Maslow

Besides writing music and surfing, I like to simply chill with my friends. Watching movies and going out to eat are often my prime choices for a day off. — James Maslow

What does 'happy' mean? Happiness is not a state like Vermont. — Abraham Maslow

Maslow's five values are the values for which people live when they have nothing to live for. Nothing has seized them, nothing has caught them, nothing has driven them spiritually mad and made them worth talking to. — Joseph Campbell

We need not take refuge in supernatural gods to explain our saints and sages and heroes and statesmen, as if to explain our disbelief that mere unaided human beings could be that good or wise. — Abraham H. Maslow

I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead. — 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 H. Maslow

Maslow might be speaking of clients I have known when he says, "self-actualized people have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy, however stale these experiences may be for other people." (4, p. 214) — Carl R. Rogers

What shall we think of a well-adjusted slave? — Abraham Maslow

Every age but ours has had its model, its ideal. All of these have been given up by our culture; the saint, the hero, the gentleman, the knight, the mystic. About all we have left is the well-adjusted man without problems, a very pale and doubtful substitute. — Abraham H. Maslow

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be — Abraham H. Maslow

It is unfortunate to consider all lawyers as natural Satanists many are just dumb. — Abraham Maslow

Education can become a self-fulfilling activity, liberating in and of itself. — Abraham Maslow

According to Maslow, I was stuck on the second level of the pyramid, unable to feel secure in my health and therefore unable to reach for love and respect and art and whatever else, which is, utter horseshit: The urge to make art or contemplate philosophy does not go away when you are sick. Those urges just become transfigured by illness.
Maslow's pyramid seemed to imply I was less human than other people, and most people seemed to agree with him. — John Green

Fear of knowing is very deeply a fear of doing. — Abraham Maslow

We fear our highest possibility. We are generally afraid to become that which we can glimpse in our most perfect moments. — Abraham Maslow

All of life is education and everybody is a teacher and everybody is forever a pupil. — Abraham Maslow

Even when adults do feel their safety to be threatened, we may not be able to see this on the surface. Infants will react in a fashion as if they were endangered, if they are disturbed or dropped suddenly, startled by loud noises, flashing light — Abraham Maslow

In a word if you tell me you have a personality problem I am not certain until I know you better whether to say "Good!" or "I'm sorry." It depends on the reasons. And these, it seems, may be good reasons, or they may be good reasons. — Abraham H. Maslow

Abraham Maslow, I present to you Augustus Waters, whose existential curiosity dwarfed that of his well-fed, well-loved, healthy brethren. — John Green

Education is learning to grow, learning what to grow toward, learning what is good and bad, learning what is desirable and undesirable, learning what to choose and what not to choose. — Abraham Maslow

If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail. — Abraham H. Maslow

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting. — Abraham Maslow

The major motivation theories by which most men live can lead them only to depression and cynicism. — Abraham Maslow

We are simultaneously gods and worms." - Abraham Maslow — Timothy Ferriss

The job is, if we are willing to take it seriously, to help ourselves to be more perfectly what we are, to be more full, more actualizing, more realizing in fact, what we are in potentiality. — Abraham Maslow

Innocence can be redefined and called stupidity. Honesty can be called gullibility. Candor becomes lack of common sense. Interest in your work can be called cowardice. Generosity can be called soft-headedness, and observe : the former is disturbing — Abraham Maslow

The empirical fact is that self-actualizing people, our best experiencers, are also our most compassionate, our great improvers and reformers of society, our most effective fighters against injustice, inequality, slavery, cruelty, exploitation (and also are best fighters for excellence, effectiveness, competence). And it also becomes clearer and clearer that our best 'helpers' are the most fully human persons. What I may call the bodhisattvic path is an integration of self-improvement and social zeal, i.e., the best way to become a better 'helper' is to become a better person. But one necessary aspect of becoming a better person is via helping other people. So one must and can do both simultaneously. — Abraham H. Maslow

The good or healthy society would then be defined as one that permitted people's highest purposes to emerge by satisfying all their basic needs. — Abraham Maslow

We crave and fear becoming truly ourselves — 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

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

It isn't normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological achievement. — Abraham H. Maslow

If you love the truth, you'll trust it - that is, you will expect it to be good, beautiful, perfect, orderly, etc., in the long run, not necessarily in the short run. — Abraham Maslow

Maslow said sex is the primary need. Does that mean pornstars spend more money in books than anyone else? — Daniel Marques

The peaker learns surely and certainly that life can be worthwhile, that it can be beautiful and valuable. There are ends in life, i.e., experiences which are so precious in themselves as to prove that not everything is a means to some end other than itself. — Abraham Maslow

The chicken came first - God would look silly sitting on an egg. — Abraham Maslow

There are no perfect human beings! Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact, great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers ... even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it. — Abraham Maslow

One guiding post to determine where the distressing issues, needs and aspirations is Maslow's Needs Hierarchy. If you can identify their fears and concerns, you can choose a story that provides hope. — Gideon For-mukwai

One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again. — Abraham H. Maslow

Common sense means living in the world as it is today; but creative people are people who don't want the world as it is today but want to make another world. — Abraham Maslow

...the disappearance in our lives of a sense of the sacred. With nothing to evoke awe, wonder, or devotion, we inevitably feel empty within, Maslow contended, for these are intrinsic human needs. In a similar way, we have lost genuine heroes; the very concept of heroism has become suspect, old-fashioned, and seemingly obsolete. The same has occurred with such traditional virtues as courage, fidelity, and reverence. — Edward Hoffman

I enjoy running, especially in a new city, so when I'm on tour that's always a good option. — James Maslow

A child wants some kind of undisrupted routine or rhythm. He seems to want a predictable, orderly world. — Abraham Maslow

One can go back toward safety or forward toward growth. — Abraham Maslow

The most stable, and therefore, the most healthy self-esteem is based on deserved respect from others rather than on external fame or celebrity and unwarranted adulation. — Abraham H. Maslow

I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks.
All that is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes, or of appearing naive. — Abraham Maslow

Singing is what got me into everything and made me fall in love with this industry. — James Maslow

Even if you have just half an hour, you can get a good workout. So I try to make it count no matter where I am. — James Maslow

Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth). Make the growth choice a dozen times a day. — Abraham H. 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 H. Maslow

I think of the self-actualizing man not as an ordinary man with something added, but rather as the ordinary man with nothing taken away. The average man is a full human being with dampened and inhibited powers and capabilities. — Abraham Maslow

With my childhood, it's a wonder I'm not psychotic. I was the little Jewish boy in the non-Jewish neighborhood. It was a little like being the first Negro enrolled in the all-white school. I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends. — Abraham Maslow

When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain, or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love, and self-esteem. — 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

Good psychology should include all the methodological techniques, without having loyalty to one method, one idea, or one person. — Abraham Maslow

The loss of illusions and the discovery of identity, though painful at first, can be ultimately exhilarating and strengthening. — Abraham Maslow

Whereas the average individuals "often have not the slightest idea of what they are, of what they want, of what their own opinions are," self-actualizing individuals have "superior awareness of their own impulses, desires, opinions, and subjective reactions in general." — Abraham Maslow

If you think only of evil, then you become pessimistic and hopeless like Freud. But if you think there is no evil, then you're just one more deluded Pollyanna. — Abraham Maslow

I'd love to open up sessions at a Boys and Girls Club or something where kids can learn nutrition and how to exercise in a fun way. Especially for young guys. I'd love to be an inspiration. — James Maslow

No psychological health is possible unless this essential care of the person is fundamentally accepted, loved and respected by others and by himself. — Abraham Maslow

Plateau experiencing can be achieved, learned, earned by long hard work ... A transient glimpse is certainly possible in the peak experiences which may, after all, come sometimes to anyone. But, so to speak, to take up residence on the high plateau ... that is another matter altogether. That tends to be a lifelong effort. — Abraham Maslow

During a peak experience," Maslow explained, "the individual experiences an expansion of self, a sense of unity, and meaningfulness in life. The experience lingers in one's consciousness and gives a sense of purpose, integration, self-determination and empathy. — Steven Kotler

Let people realize clearly that every time they threaten someone or humiliate or unnecessarily hurt or dominate or reject another human being, they become forces for the creation of psychopathology, even if these be small forces. Let them recognize that every person who is kind, helpful, decent, psychologically democratic, affectionate, and warm, is a psychotheraputic force, even though a small one. — Abraham H. 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 H. Maslow

People are not evil; they are schlemiels. — Abraham Maslow

Everything for you stems from a physical need. Most of you think with either your belly or what's below it — Soroosh Shahrivar

We are not in a position in which we have nothing to work with. We already have capacities, talents, direction, missions, callings. — Abraham Maslow

You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety. — Abraham Maslow

I was friends with all different people and all different groups. And that led me to being friends with a few people who didn't even go to my school. Now I have the most amazing collection of friends of all ethnic backgrounds and upbringing and financial backgrounds. — James 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

To some extent this area was foreshadowed by pioneering humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow, who wrote about the self-actualized or fulfilled person, and Carl Rogers, who once noted that he was pessimistic about the world, but optimistic about people. — Tom Butler-Bowdon

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 H. Maslow

The person in peak-experiences feels himself, more than other times, to be the responsible, active, creating center of his activities and of his perceptions. He feels more like a prime-mover, more self-determined (rather than caused, determined, helpless, dependent, passive, weak, bossed). He feels himself to be his own boss, fully responsible, fully volitional, with more "free-will" than at other times, master of his fate, an agent. — Abraham Maslow

The best product should be bought, the best man should be rewarded more. Interfering factors which befuddle this triumph of virtue, justice, truth, and efficiency, etc., should be kept to
an absolute minimum or should approach zero as a limit. — Abraham Maslow

I rarely use product in my hair, and when I do I have no idea which ones, nor does it matter all that much to me. And I can't remember the last time I even used a comb, much less carried one around. — James Maslow

Abraham Maslow became a towering figure in my life. He was the inspiration for me to look at psychology from a 180-degree-turnabout position. Rather than studying what was weak, infirm, or limited in clients and make an assessment based on overcoming ailments, I began looking for the highest qualities of self-actualization and encouraging clients - and ultimately readers and listeners - to seek their own innate greatness and aspire to these pinnacles. I reasoned that if some among us could be self-actualized, then so could I and anyone else who understood that it was possible. This became a major focus of my professional life and the compass I set for myself to live the principles that Maslow delineated in his writing. — Wayne W. Dyer

One thing I love is to do children's hospital visits. — James Maslow

While I still did not know what self- actualization that sat on the top level of the pyramid meant, I could believe
that if I knew I would be able to say something positive about it as well in
my life. — Vann Chow

Most people experience both tragedy and joy in varying proportions. Any philosophy which leaves out either cannot be considered to be comprehensive. — Abraham H. Maslow

If both the physiological and the safety needs are fairly well gratified, then there will emerge love and affection and belongingness needs, and the whole cycle already described will repeat itself with this new centre. Now the person will feel keenl — Abraham Maslow

I would like to attend college in the future when I have time. I have always been interested in architecture, so perhaps I would pursue a degree in that or business. — James Maslow

When we free ourselves from the constraints of ordinary goals and uninformed scoffers we will find ourselves roaring off the face of the earth. — 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 H. Maslow

When all you own is a hammer, every problem starts looking like a nail. — 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

To the extent that language forces experiences into categories it is a screen between reality and the human being. In a word, we pay for its benefits ... Therefore, while using language, as we must of necessity, we should be aware of its shortcomings. — 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 H. Maslow

The waitress walk away. Everyone look's at each other and then laugh. The laugh it feel so cathartic. It break the ice and sudenly the mood feel like old times. They may not have money now to aford food, but they still have each other. And forget what Maslow's "heirarchey of needs" say: some time's freindship is more important than nutrient's. — Seinfeld 2000

Maslow notes that the self-actualized person has a strong desire for privacy; vehemently resists enculturation, but always has a freshness of appreciation; and has a genuine desire to help the human race. Yet when it comes down to it, in certain basic ways he is like an alien in a strange land. Very few really understand him, however much they may like him. — Wayne W. Dyer

The desire to know and to understand are themselves conative, i.e., have a striving character, and are as much personality needs as the "basic needs" we have already discussed. — Abraham H. Maslow

There seems no intrinsic reason why everyone shouldn't be (self-actualising). Apparently every baby has possibilities for self-actualisation, but most get it knocked out of them ... I think of the self-actualising man not as an ordinary man with something added, but rather as the ordinary man with nothing taken away. — Abraham Maslow

False optimism sooner or later means disillusionment, anger and hopelessness. — Abraham H. Maslow

Religion becomes a state of mind achievable in almost any activity of life, if this activity is raised to a suitable level of perfection. — Abraham Maslow

What one can be, one must be! — Abraham H. Maslow

Every person is, in part, 'his own project' and makes himself. — Abraham Maslow

We cannot study creativeness in an ultimate sense until we realize that practically all the definitions that we have been using of creativeness are essentially male or masculine definitions of male or masculine products. We've left out of consideration almost entirely the creativeness of women. — Abraham Maslow

It is as necessary for man to live in beauty rather than ugliness as it is necessary for him to have food for an aching belly or rest for a weary body. — Abraham Maslow

Maslow did not make two different pyramids, one for men and one for women. He did not differentiate in identifying what men want and what women want. — Shahla Khan