Category: 2 – BUY it! (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)

Comments: This is a legendary psychology book for good reason. Some of the insights are truly profound. However, I found the first half of the book a LOT better than the second half. The second half starts delving into psychotherapy territory with Scott Peck’s thoughts on religion. I found this part less interesting.

All said and done, Scott Peck’s definition of love (below) has changed the way I think about it.

Top 3 Learnings:

1. “Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”

To love, then, requires us to use our will to extend ourselves to grow and to enable the growth of others. It begins with learning to love ourselves. To love ourselves, we have to sign up for a journey toward continuous growth of the mind and spirit. In doing so, we expand our capacity to love others. But, to truly love others, we must be able to help them on their own journeys.

2. “The best decision-makers are those who are willing to suffer the most over their decisions but still retain their ability to be decisive.”

3. “Life is difficult.
This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”

Book notes here (not much more beyond these notes above)