The spiritual life is part of the human essence. It is a defining characteristic of human nature, without which human nature is not fully human.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of spirituality in defining what it means to be human.
Abraham Maslow expresses the notion that spirituality is a fundamental aspect of human existence. He suggests that without recognizing and nurturing our spiritual selves, we cannot fully understand or appreciate the essence of human nature. This perspective highlights the significance of spiritual exploration and development as integral to the human experience.
In practice
In a speech about personal growth, one might say: 'As Abraham Maslow noted, the spiritual life is essential to our humanity.'
It looks as if there were a single ultimate goal for mankind, a far goal toward which all persons strive. This is called variously by different authors self-actualization, self-realization, integration, psychological health, individuation, autonomy, creativity, productivity, but they all agree that this amounts to realizing the potentialities of the person, that is to say, becoming fully human, everything that person can be.
Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth.
The study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy
Marriage is a school itself. Also, having children. Becoming a father changed my whole life. It taught me as if by revelation.
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.
I was awfully curious to find out why I didn't go insane.
All the daily routine of life, our dressing and undressing, the coming and going from our work or carrying through of its various operations, is utterly without mental reference to pleasure and pain, except under rarely realized conditions.
No history can be a faithful mirror. If it were, it would be as long and as dull as life itself. It must be a selection, and, being a selection, must inevitably be biased.
Truth is mysterious, elusive, always to be conquered. Liberty is dangerous, as hard to live with as it is elating. We must march toward these two goals, painfully but resolutely, certain in advance of our failings on so long a road.
Countless religious innovators over the years have played the game of establishing an identity for themselves by accentuating their otherness.
REJECT ALL FORMS OF CORRUPTION THAT DIVERT RESOURCES FROM THE POOR
The motivation of all religious practice is similar: love, sincerity, honesty. The way of life of practically all religious persons is consistent. The teachings of tolerance, love, and compassion are the same.
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