M. Scott Peck Quotes

94 Sourced Quotes

The difficulty we have in accepting responsibility for our behavior lies in the desire to avoid the pain of the consequences of that behavior.

M. Scott Peck
The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual - for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost.

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

M. Scott Peck
Good discipline requires time. When we have no time to give our children, or no time that we are willing to give, we don't even observe them closely enough to become aware of when their need for our disciplinary assistance is expressed subtley.

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

M. Scott Peck
All human interactions are opportunities either to learn or to teach.

M. Scott Peck
If you wish to discern either the presence or absence of integrity, you need to ask only one question. What is missing? Has anything been left out?

M. Scott Peck
Although the act of nurturing another's spiritual growth has the effect of nurturing one's own, a major characteristic of genuine love is that the distinction between oneself and the other is always maintained and preserved.

M. Scott Peck
Since the primary motive of the evil is disguise, one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal one's evil from oneself as well as from others than to be a deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture

M. Scott Peck
The principal form that the work of love takes is attention. When we love another person we give him or her our attention; we attend to that person's growth.

M. Scott Peck
Spiritually evolved people, by virtue of their discipline, mastery and love, are people of extraordinary competence, and in their competence they are called on to serve the world, and in their love they answer the call.

M. Scott Peck
What people get admired and appreciated for in community are their soft skills: their sense of humor and timing, their ability to listen, their courage and honesty, their capacity for empathy.

M. Scott Peck
The denial of suffering is, in fact a better definition of illness than its acceptance.

M. Scott Peck
If you are determined not to risk pain, then you must do without many things: having children, getting married, the ecstasy of sex, the hope of ambition, friendship-all that makes life alive, meaningful and significant.

M. Scott Peck
Our view of reality is like a map with which to negotiate the terrain of life. If the map is true and accurate, we will generally know how to get there. If the map is false and inaccurate, we generally will be lost.

M. Scott Peck
Examination of the world without is never as personally painful as examination of the world within.

M. Scott Peck
Genuine love not only respects the individuality of the other but actually cultivates it, even at the risk of separation or loss. The ultimate goal of life remains the spiritual growth of the individual, the solitary journey to peaks that can be climbed only alone.

M. Scott Peck
The major threats to our survival no longer stem from nature without but from our own human nature within. It is our carelessness, our hostilities, our selfishness and pride and willful ignorance that endanger the world.

M. Scott Peck
Do what you feel called to do, but also be prepared to accept that you don't necessarily know what you're going to learn. Be willing to be surprised by forces beyond your control, and realize that a major learning on the journey is the art of surrender.

M. Scott Peck
Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them?

M. Scott Peck
As human beings grow in discipline and love and life experience, their understanding of the world their place in it naturally grows apace…. This understanding is our religion.

M. Scott Peck
Self examination is the key to insight, which is the key to wisdom

M. Scott Peck
I have learned nothing in twenty years that would suggest that evil people can be rapidly influenced by any means other than raw power. They do not respond, at least in the short run, to either gentle kindness or any form of spiritual persuasion with which I am familiar.

M. Scott Peck
Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs

M. Scott Peck
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.

M. Scott Peck
Idealists are people who believe in the potential of human nature for transformation.... The most essential attribute of human nature is its mutability and freedom from instinct... it is always within our power to change our nature. So it is actually the idealists who are on the mark and the realists who are off base.

M. Scott Peck
Often the most loving thing we can do when a friend is in pain is to share the pain-to be there even when we have nothing to offer except our presence and even when being there is painful to ourselves.

M. Scott Peck
Worship is yet another paradox of the religious life: it is simultaneously the greatest duty and the greatest pleasure of faith. Worship is the act of truly loving God. Believe in this brilliant Being, this magnificent "higher power," who not only created us but nurtures us with care and intelligence beyond our imagination, and obviously we are called to worship Him.

M. Scott Peck
Let me simply state that it is wrong to regard any other human being, a priori, as an object, or an 'It.' This is so because each and every human being - you, every friend, every stranger, every foreigner - is precious.

M. Scott Peck
Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers, and to begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the mystery and paradoxes of life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of causes and consequences that are inherent in each experience — to appreciate the fact that life is complex.

M. Scott Peck