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.

Meaning of the quote

Maslow believes that the way economists think about people's needs and desires is not complete. He thinks that people have deeper needs, like wanting to reach their full potential and caring about important values. If economists accepted these higher needs, it could completely change how they understand and study the economy.

About Abraham Maslow

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.

More about the author

More quotes from Abraham Maslow

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

We may define therapy as a search for value.

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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)

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)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (1908-1970)

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)