Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

Abraham Maslow was an influential American psychologist who developed the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. He was a professor at several prestigious universities and is known for his positive approach to psychology, focusing on people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. Maslow’s work has had a lasting impact on the field of psychology and personal development.

About the Abraham Maslow

Abraham Harold Maslowwas an American psychologist who created Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. Maslow was a psychology professor at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research, and Columbia University. He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a “bag of symptoms”. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Maslow as the tenth most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Frequently Asked Questions

Abraham Maslow was born on April 1, 1908, and passed away on June 8, 1970.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of psychological health that states people have innate needs that must be fulfilled in a specific order, culminating in self-actualization.

Maslow was a professor at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research, and Columbia University.

Maslow stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, rather than treating them as a ,bag of symptoms,, which was the more common approach at the time.

According to a 2002 survey, Abraham Maslow was ranked as the tenth most cited psychologist of the 20th century, demonstrating his significant impact on the field.

Maslow believed in a positive approach to psychology, focusing on people’s strengths and fulfilling their innate needs in order to achieve self-actualization.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has had a lasting impact on the field of personal development, as it provides a framework for understanding and fulfilling the fundamental needs of individuals.

20 Quotes by Abraham Maslow

  1. 1.

    If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  2. 2.

    What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  3. 3.

    What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  4. 4.

    We may define therapy as a search for value.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  5. 5.

    The fact is that people are good, Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  6. 6.

    A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  7. 7.

    A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  8. 8.

    One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  9. 9.

    We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  10. 10.

    If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim. And I’d despise the one who gave up.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  11. 11.

    If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  12. 12.

    But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives and thoughts, as language can be a way of hiding your thoughts and preventing communication.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  13. 13.

    If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  14. 14.

    The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  15. 15.

    He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  16. 16.

    Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  17. 17.

    All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  18. 18.

    The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  19. 19.

    I was awfully curious to find out why I didn’t go insane.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)

  20. 20.

    Classic economic theory, based as it is on an inadequate theory of human motivation, could be revolutionized by accepting the reality of higher human needs, including the impulse to self actualization and the love for the highest values.

    Abraham Maslow

    American psychologist (1908-1970)