M. Scott Peck

Quotes

1. Who in the hell is Satan? I don't know.

   p. 225

2. 

   Whenever the roles of individuals within a group become specialized, it becomes both possible and easy for the individual to pass the moral buck to some other part of the group. In this way, not only does the individual forsake his conscience but the conscience of the group as a whole can become so fragmented and diluted as to be nonexistent.

   p. 249

3. 

   Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.

   p. 51

4. 

   If we attempt te deal with (human) evil by destroying it, we will also end up destroying ourselves, spiritually if not physcially. And we are likely to take some innocent people with us as well.

   p. 306

5. 

   It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn.

6. 

   It would, I believe, be quite appropriate to classify evil people as constituting a specific variant of the narcisstic personality disorder.

   p. 105

7. 

   The time is right, I believe, for psychiatry to recognize a distinct new type of personality disorder to encompass those I have named evil. In addition to the abrogation of responsibility that characterizes all personality disorders, this one would specifically be distinguished by:

   (a) consistent destructive, scapegoating behaviour, which may often be quite subtle.

   (b) excessive, albeit usually covert, intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury.

   (c) pronounced concern with a public image and self-image of respectability, contributing to a stability of life-style but also to pretentiousness and denial of hateful feelings or vengeful motives.

   d) intellectual deviousness, with an increased likelihood of a mild schizophreniclike disturbance of thinking at times of stress.

   p. 146

8. 

   It has often seemed to me that those who are most dedicated to the light are the ones most subject to assault by the forces of darkness. Evil always hates the light. And yet these attacks are not necessarily destructive. In the long run they may serve the purposes of grace. For through them the servants of the light may become more firmly committed to their cause, their dedication tested and refined.

   p. 212

9. 

   Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? Do we want to teach our children to solve them?

10. 

    Although the act of nurturing another's spiritual growth has the effect of nurturing one's own, a major characteristic of genuine love is that the distinction between oneself and the other is always maintained and preserved.

    p. 140

11. 

    Lying is both a cause and a manifestation of evil.

12. 

    Among the reasons that the Oedipus complex is so important in psychiatry is that adults who have failed to resolve it usually have great difficulty in accomplishing many of the renunciations required for successful adult adjustments. They still have not learned that they cannot have their cake and eat it too.

    p. 176