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We cannot even let the other person into our hearts or minds unless we empty ourselves. We can truly listen to him or truly hear her only out of emptiness.

M. Scott Peck

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M. Scott Peck
Age: 69 †
Born: 1936
Born: May 22
Died: 2005
Died: September 25
Psychiatrist
Psychologist
Psychotherapist
Writer
New York City
New York
Morgan Scott Peck
Person
Minds
Even
Empty
Heart
Truly
Mind
Unless
Listen
Hear
Cannot
Emptiness
Persons
Hearts

More quotes by M. Scott Peck

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Evil people hate the light because it reveals themselves to themselves. ... They will destroy the light, the goodness, the love in order to avoid the pain of self-awareness. ... [E]vil is laziness carried to its ultimate, extraordinary extreme.
M. Scott Peck
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I am dubious as to how far we can move toward global community-which is the only way to achieve international peace-until we learn the basic principles of community in our own individual lives and personal spheres of influence.
M. Scott Peck
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The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual - for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost.
M. Scott Peck
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Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will -- namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.
M. Scott Peck
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It is not easy for us to change. But it is possible and it is our glory as human beings
M. Scott Peck
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Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.
M. Scott Peck
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What does a life of total dedication to truth mean? It means, first of all, a life of continuous and never-ending stringent self-examination. We know the world only through our relationship to it. Therefore, to know the world, we must not only examine it but we must simultaneously examine the examiner.
M. Scott Peck
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Consciousness and Healing To proceed very far through the desert, you must be willing to meet existential suffering and work it through. In order to do this, the attitude toward pain has to change. This happens when we accept the fact that everything that happens to us has been designed for our spiritual growth.
M. Scott Peck
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An unconscious, gentle process whereby people who want to be loving attempt to be so by telling little white lies, by withholding some of the truth about themselves and their feelings in order to avoid conflict. Pseudocommunity is conflict-avoiding true community is conflict-resolving.
M. Scott Peck
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When we love someone our love becomes demonstrable or real only through our exertion - through the fact that for that someone (or for ourself) we take an extra step or walk an extra mile. Love is not effortless. To the contrary, love is effortful.
M. Scott Peck
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Falling in love is not an act of will. It is not a conscious choice. No matter how open to or eager for it we may be, the experience may still elude us. Contrarily, the experience may capture us at times when we are definitely not seeking it, when it is inconvenient and undesirable.
M. Scott Peck
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Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience.
M. Scott Peck
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Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs
M. Scott Peck
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Listening well is an exercise of attention and by necessity hard work. It is because they do not realize this or because they are not willing to do the work that most people do not listen well.
M. Scott Peck
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Doubt is often the beginning of wisdom.
M. Scott Peck
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In and through community lies the salvation of the world.
M. Scott Peck
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Let me simply state that it is wrong to regard any other human being, a priori, as an object, or an 'It.' This is so because each and every human being - you, every friend, every stranger, every foreigner - is precious.
M. Scott Peck
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Idealists are people who believe in the potential of human nature for transformation. . . . The most essential attribute of human nature is its mutability and freedom from instinct . . . it is always within our power to change our nature. So it is actually the idealists who are on the mark and the realists who are off base.
M. Scott Peck
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We are most often in the dark when we are the most certain, and the most enlightened when we are the most confused.
M. Scott Peck
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You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.
M. Scott Peck