“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 Maslow
Motivation and Personality (1954), Harper, Ch. 3; widely cited
Commentary
Maslow articulates self-actualization—the need to express one's unique potential and talents. This is not a luxury need but a fundamental psychological imperative. The artist who does not create, the intellectual who does not think deeply, suffers from existential dissatisfaction regardless of material comfort.
This frames human motivation beyond Freud's pleasure-principle and beyond simple need-satisfaction. Humans are driven toward the actualization of possibilities. This influenced humanistic psychology, career development theory, and modern organizational psychology.
Commentary
Maslow articulates self-actualization—the need to express one's unique potential and talents. This is not a luxury need but a fundamental psychological imperative. The artist who does not create, the intellectual who does not think deeply, suffers from existential dissatisfaction regardless of material comfort.
This frames human motivation beyond Freud's pleasure-principle and beyond simple need-satisfaction. Humans are driven toward the actualization of possibilities. This influenced humanistic psychology, career development theory, and modern organizational psychology.