Strong beginning, end with a bing. It starts in the first of four parts with sagacity of tone, conservatively analyzing discipline and how this relates to happiness and mental illness. His ideas aren't entirely profound, but they snugly fit the psychiatric philosophy-wannabe tradition of the mid-twentieth century, which means that his writing is a literary analog of psychotherapy -- calm voice, gentle points (even if they're substantially hard to hear), patience in progression -- decked with truly interesting stories that flesh out his points nicely (the unique advantage of therapist authors). That's great, four-and-a-half to five stars, keep it going.

With each chapter change, however, another frightening head is added to the Medusa of pseudo-intellectual secular spirituality. He keeps the prose engaging in the second part, and it's nice to hear ruminations on the subject of love (especially the potent-but-romantic idea that psychotherapists should "love" their clients in the sense that they will the best for them), even if many of his thoughts are a little strange (like the idea that love is selfish). But by the third part and fourth parts (on growth and religion, and grace) he's completely in his own self-created New Age semi-mysticism, almost a pure non-sequitur in relation to the other two parts. It's not quite Christian. Actually, I don't know what it is. He arbitrarily adds the subject of grace as a finisher, which he implicitly defines as divine providence rather than anything remotely close to common theological interpretations. By now it's virtually over. "Love is conscious, grace is not." "God is the goal of evolution." "Original sin does exist; it is our laziness." All enough illogical metaphysical speculation to make a creationist blush, and have Carl Jung haunted with thoughts of a shrink crucifixion.

Still, I liked it, mostly for the first half, and even in the latter chapters there were fruits of independent thinking. But it's impossible to express how smoothly and subtlety the book progresses to a religious worldview. I felt during the latter half of the book that at any succeeding paragraph he would end one of his far-out contemplations with "Oh yeah, Jesus is God, you know." And in any other context that's fine, but here it's downright deceptive. The book starts so nicely thoughtful on daily problems and some of the steps needed to transcend them, holding to secular steering. Then one thing leads to another, and another, and before long you come to realize that the road less traveled is the road smoothly downhill to the land of blurry theology.

I’m seriously not sure how I failed to see the great life wisdom this book contains (upon my first reading many years ago.)

In spite of the book’s overwhelming success and acclaim, I remember curiously not feeling it myself. I had a vague sense of it being dry and lifeless material, and it seemed void of any helpful insights for me at that time of my life.
Reading it now, I’m overwhelmed with its amazing insight and wisdom. The book hasn’t changed. Clearly, at the time of my first reading, this student was not ready for the teacher to appear.
Upon reflection, I must ask myself:
At a a younger age, was I annoyed that this book offered no quick fixes, no shortcuts, no avoiding the necessary pain that comes with change and personal growth? I have to answer most definitely, yet compassionately, for my much younger self, unfortunately, Yes! All evidence points to the fact I was seeking to travel an easy path, without paying my dues, on a road I soon found to be leading Nowhere, fast.
In summary, IT WAS ME, NOT YOU,
The Road Less Traveled, ❤️
M. Scott Peck. ⭐️

,, Du žmonės myli vienas kitą tiktai tada, kai jie sugeba gyventi vienas be kito, tačiau pasirenka gyventi vienas su kitu "

,, Jeigu, žmogus nutarė gyventi atsisakydamas rizikos ( netekties, išsiskyrimų, ir t.t.) teikiamo skausmo, jis turi atsisakyti daugelio dalykų: vaikų, santuokos, ekstazę teikiančių intymių santykių, siekių ir vilties, draugystės, - visko, kas įprasmina gyvenimą ir daro jį reikšmingą ir svarbų. Tobulėdami ar judėdami bet kuria kryptimi, būsite apdovanoti ir skausmu, ir džiaugsmu. Visavertis gyvenimas taip pat visada kupinas skausmo. Alternatyva tik viena; gyventi nevisaverčiai arba negyventi išviso " ( nieko nedaryti,pasiduoti, bijoti, yra negyventi)

,, Nuoširdžiai mylintys ne tik gerbia, bet ir skatina kito sutuoktinio individualumą net su išsiskyrimo ar praradimo rizika "

This is a revisit but a perfect quarantine read as I have been thinking about life, personal growth, love, etc. as things slow down. The author, Scott Peck, is a Harvard grad and a renown psychiatrist. After seeing numerous patients, listening to their stories, and helping them out of the traps, Dr. Peck told us how deal with the imperfect self, other human beings, life and the spiritual world through stories of discipline, love, religion and grace.

How should we view depression?
Since mentally healthy human beings must grow, and since giving up or loss of the old self is an integral part of the process of mental and spiritual growth, depression is normal and basically healthy phenomenon. It becomes abnormal or unhealthy only when something interferes with the give-up process, with the result that the depression is prolonged and cannot be resolved by completion of the process.
How to get out of temporary depression?
Bracketing: balancing the need for stability and assertion of the self with the need for new knowledge and greater understanding by temporarily giving up one's self - putting one's self aside, to make room for the incorporation of new material into the shelf.

As Benjamin Franklin said, those things that hurt, instruct.
The best measure of a person's greatness is the capacity for suffering.

This book is such a classic! I would recommend this book as a spiritual serum to heal your wounds in your own battles against life, relationships, and growths.

I have this sparkly new massage therapist in my life now, in my new hometown, and the last time I went to her with my aches and pains, she noticed I was reading THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED. She's a young thirtysomething, and she wasn't familiar with the title, but when I explained that it was a famous bestseller from 1978 and probably the most influential book of psychotherapy ever to hit book stores, she took a picture of the cover and said, “I can't believe I don't know this book. I was raised by two psychotherapists.”

Whoa. Curious cat that I am, I immediately needed to know what that was like. I asked her, and she answered something like, “You know. . . far from perfect, but we were always resourced, that's for sure.”

Little did she know that her casual words sent my mind racing, and I was thinking of this term, resourced, for the next couple of weeks.

You see. . . I didn't know that I wasn't resourced until I was in my late 30s and setting out to adopt for the first time. We were already the proud parents of a preteen son, but because we were entering into the legal arena of adoption, we were suddenly required to take parenting classes and be evaluated by a social worker.

It was just an introduction to therapy for me, and a short-lived experience, but I became curious enough about this notion of being resourced to pursue a private therapist of my own a few years back.

I felt like a toddler, entering this world of human and spiritual growth. I still do, for the most part. There's a lot to learn about being human. Hell, there's a whole different language that marks the terrain, and much of it was foreign to me.

Fast forward to the current version of me, reading this “psychology classic” about being resourced, through discipline, love and grace, just as a new person in my life credited her parents for helping her to maintain equilibrium throughout her life, largely by being resourced.

As Dr. Peck writes in his book, “spiritual growth is an effortful and difficult one. This is because it is conducted against a natural resistance, against a natural inclination to keep things the way they were, to cling to the old maps and old ways of doing things, to take the easy path.”

Oh, for shit sure, Dr. Peck, and don't think I haven't kicked, screamed and cried throughout many a session, sir. It's not the easiest thing to realize that you were essentially raised by two eighth graders who would have rather been sitting, perpetually, on their cars in front of the Dairy Queen than parenting you. (We've all got our issues, now, don't we?).

Dr. Peck's ultimate goal for himself and his patients was “spiritual growth,” and by “spiritual growth,” he didn't mean that any of us needed to become a Methodist or a rabbi. This famous psychiatrist was interested, primarily, in our journey of “spiritual evolution.” This is a book about elevating humanity, for your own sake, and for the sake of others.

I would've had no interest in this material in my teens or twenties, when it was the most popular, (and when I thought I had life all figured out). To be honest, I probably wouldn't have had the emotional maturity or the mental bandwidth to read this before the age of 40, but I appreciated it so much now.

The final chapters in the final section on “Grace” are not for everyone, nor will every person who reads this book be prepared to tackle that material. Personally, my thoughts are aligned with these particular concepts, but I can also see that some of that material might be daunting for readers who aren't ready to "go there."

But, regardless of any reader's experience of Dr. Peck's final thoughts, I'd like to contribute that I found myself with more than 30+ status updates for a book of only 311 pages, and my copy is covered with post-it notes. It's a challenging and thoughtful work that is barely dated, despite the material being 45 years old.

This non-fiction work, prompted by my 1970s reading project, has turned out to be one of my most meaningful reads of all time.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost

I loved sections I-III. Section IV turned pretty biblical on me, and very fast, although I got the point. Going into section IV, it was a solid 4 stars.

Afterwards, I'm not sure so much. Maybe that might change as my spirituality grows, but it just seemed like I was reading the bible instead of a book on Psychology.

"What I Learned From This Book" - what a freaking loaded question this is - you always take out of something what you *want* to take out of it. As Mr. Pirsig would state, I took out of the book what I saw had value to me as I sit right now. Well, one big thing is that you need to constantly revise the map of your life. Think of drawing your map in pencil as opposed to pen (after reading this, I actually asked myself if I tend to write heavy handed?). To a lesser extent, another thing I remember is that I found it interesting that he points out that self-responsibility is key... in one chapter he mentioned that people tend to give away their freedom and happiness because they don't want to be responsible for their actions (instead, preferring to blame or delegate to someone else). One big thing I liked is that he mentioned that it's "lonely out on the growing edge." Another section, he talks about the difference between political power and spiritual power.

I strongly disagreed with Peck's statement that Good always triumphs Evil. I'll write more about this after my copy comes in the mail.

All in all, I think that if Psychology is your bag, this is an interesting read. You might not agree with everything, but, well, regardless, you'll be more rounded. //

Peck begins well, citing the first of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths, "Life is Suffering". And what we all need is a discipline instilled in our childhood by a love which teaches us to face our problems instead of ducking them in procrastination, denial, and the like. Sounds fine, but there seems to this reader to be something missing....a mythic element, perhaps. Life will be beautiful if only we get ourselves under control and work hard, etcetera, etcetera.... It feels to me as if all wonder has been replaced by a kind of Victorian stoicism, a Protestant ethic of duty and responsibility....Do your homework BEFORE you watch TV, for example. This is maturity, getting rid of the misery first before your play.... But what of the math geek who loves homework ? The great arc of Peck's undertaking, what he calls more than once "the only way to live" seems after a while to devolve into the same shoulder-to-the-wheel Volga boatman's creed delivered in kind language that all our teachers back in the Eisenhower 50's kept hammering us with. What about dreams, Mr. Peck ? What of the libido ? It may be the screwball Celt in me that fears coming to the end of my life with all my homework done but with, Starry Night, say, unpainted.

Wonderful book filled with great explanations on life in general. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to consuming more of Dr. Peck’s works

"The Road Less Traveled" will make you realize that you CAN take charge of your life and your destiny. It is a journey toward self-acceptance that will affirm that life is worth living. It is one of the best books I have ever read.

I was introduced to the book when I first began 12-step recovery over twenty years ago. I have had a long road to travel in coming to terms with my past and learning to accept myself. This is a powerful book for anyone who has come from a troubled background and who wants to achieve self-esteem.

I have built a wonderful new life for myself and I can thank the author for providing practical insights that have led toward my self transformation. I am now an author myself.

My life journey has been one of discovering and affirming my spirit. The Road Less Traveled was an important stepping stone for me. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is on a spiritual quest.

Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"

I cherish this book and give praise to Scott Peck for writing this masterpiece, a wealth of knowledge and wisdom.
The first time I read it I was in my early 30's. It changed my life, encouraged me to live authentically and with courage. when your raising a family one needs to follow their conscience and make tough decisions. Peck teaches and encourages this process. I have followed up with Peck's subsequent books in the last few years.
I recomend this to any adult searching for a better life but particularly if your raising a family.

I read this book because it was recommended to me by a girl I was dating. I found Section I on Discipline to be eh and there were some parts I flat out disagreed with and found his rationale for some of his conclusions very questionable. Section II on Love grew on me. Sections III and IV on Growth and Religion, and Grace (respectively) won me over. And that's hard to do especially on the topics of religion/spirituality. My biggest takeaway was had my ex followed this guidance better, she likely wouldn't have run away! And on the flip side, had I read this book earlier, maybe I wouldnt have run away from some good situations as well. LOL.

As other readers have pointed out, this book started really well but later became dated hogwash and pseudo-spiritual psychobabble. The author supports his statements by presenting a number of case studies in his psychotherapy practice where he often uses the interpretation of dreams and Freudian’s slips as evidence of deeply buried issues with his patients. He mixes psychoanalysis (many references to Carl Jung), mysticism, philosophy and religion.

I personally found the first section, on discipline, excellent; section two, on love, was OK, I started to lose interest on section 3, on growth and religion, by section 4, when he mentioned the paranormal ,such as telepathy, I was ready to throw the book against the wall.
There were interesting points early on, and some sections that I found useful, but this is not a book that I would recommend.

Fav quotes:

We cannot solve a problem by saying “It’s not my problem.” We cannot solve a problem by hoping that someone else will solve it for us. I can solve a problem only when I say “This is my problem and it’s up to me to solve it.” But many, so many, seek to avoid the pain of their problems by saying to themselves: “This problem was caused me by other people, or by social circumstances beyond my control, and therefore it is up to other people or society to solve this problem for me. It is not really my personal problem.”

A life of total dedication to the truth also means a life of willingness to be personally challenged. The only way that we can be certain that our map of reality is valid is to expose it to the criticism and challenge of other map-makers.

The reason people lie is to avoid the pain of challenge and its consequences.

When you require another individual for your survival, you are a parasite on that individual. There is no choice, no freedom involved in your relationship. It is a matter of necessity rather than love. Love is the free exercise of choice. Two people love each other only when they are quite capable of living without each other but choose to live with each other.

If we want to be heard we must speak in a language the listener can understand and on a level at which the listener is capable of operating. If we are to love we must extend ourselves to adjust our communication to the capacities of our beloved.