“We fear our highest possibilities as well as our lowest ones, just as we are attracted to evil as well as to good. Becoming fully human means developing every capacity the person has, even though this is frightening and painful.”
—
Abraham Maslow
The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (1971), Viking Press
Commentary
Maslow acknowledges a psychological paradox: we both desire and fear self-actualization. Growth is risky; it requires leaving behind known identities and defenses. Success, creativity, leadership, love all demand courage and expose one to failure, envy, and vulnerability.
This complicates the picture of self-actualization. It's not automatic or painless. It requires confronting fear, sustaining effort despite setbacks, and accepting isolation (not everyone celebrates your growth). This prefigures existential psychology's emphasis on authentic living as anxiety-provoking.
Commentary
Maslow acknowledges a psychological paradox: we both desire and fear self-actualization. Growth is risky; it requires leaving behind known identities and defenses. Success, creativity, leadership, love all demand courage and expose one to failure, envy, and vulnerability.
This complicates the picture of self-actualization. It's not automatic or painless. It requires confronting fear, sustaining effort despite setbacks, and accepting isolation (not everyone celebrates your growth). This prefigures existential psychology's emphasis on authentic living as anxiety-provoking.