It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since man has no inborn skills, the survival of the species has depended on the ability to acquire and perfect skills. Hence the mastery of skills is a uniquely human activity and yields deep satisfaction.
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We have no assurance that half-truth will make us free.
We have no assurance that half-truth will make us free.
Thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to read more
Thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find,- nothing.
Probably the difference between man and the monkeys is that the monkeys are merely bored, while man has boredom plus read more
Probably the difference between man and the monkeys is that the monkeys are merely bored, while man has boredom plus imagination.
To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.
To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.
...there is no alienation that a little power will not cure.
...there is no alienation that a little power will not cure.
Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience's sake.
Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience's sake.
There are many who find the burdens, the anxiety, and the isolation of an individual existence unbearable. This is particularly read more
There are many who find the burdens, the anxiety, and the isolation of an individual existence unbearable. This is particularly true when the opportunities for self-advancement are relatively meager, and one's individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for. Such persons sooner or later turn their backs on an individual existence and strive to acquire a sense of worth and a purpose by an identification with a holy cause, a leader, or a movement. The faith and pride they derive from such an identification serve them as substitutes for the unattainable self-confidence and self-respect.
Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing read more
Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.
Psychoanalysis has changed American psychology from a diagnostic to a therapeutic science, not because so many patients are cured by read more
Psychoanalysis has changed American psychology from a diagnostic to a therapeutic science, not because so many patients are cured by the psychoanalytic technique, but because of the new understanding of psychiatric patients it has given us, and the new and different concept of illness and health.
