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In a paper entitled ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ published in Psychological Review in 1943, Maslow arranged our longings and appetites in a pyramid-shaped continuum, ranging from what he called the lower needs, largely focused on the body, to the higher needs, largely focused on the psyche and encompassing such elements as the need for status, re
... See moreAlain De Botton • The School of Life: An Emotional Education


According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a sense of belonging comes third after physiological and safety needs.
Anna LeMind • The Power of Misfits
In 1943, the psychologist Abraham Maslow published his hugely influential paper “A Theory of Human Motivation,” which famously described people as having a hierarchy of needs. It is often depicted as a pyramid. At the bottom are our basic needs—the essentials of physiological survival (such as food, water, and air) and of safety (such as law, order
... See moreAtul Gawande • Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End (Wellcome Collection)
In 1954, a psychologist named Abraham Maslow surveyed the research in psychology about what motivates people. He boiled down volumes of existing research to a list of needs and desires that people try to fulfill: Transcendence: help others realize their potential Self-actualization: realize our own potential, self-fulfillment, peak experiences Aest
... See moreDan Heath • Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Reading Maslow is like putting on a new pair of glasses that allow you to see people more clearly. He says, “Although human beings are capable of being selfish, lustful, and aggressive, that is not what they are fundamentally. Beneath the surface, at the psychological and biological core of human nature, we find basic goodness and decency. When peo
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