M. Scott Peck
Also known as Morgan Scott Peck
American psychiatrist (1936 to 2005) who wrote The Road Less Traveled.
At a glance
Main ideas
Life is difficult, Four tools of discipline, Love is action …
See all 5Criticism
His own life
Books to start with
The Road Less Traveled, People of the Lie, In Search of Stones
See all 3Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Peck was a psychiatrist whose 1978 book The Road Less Traveled, on discipline, love, religion and grace, became a long-running bestseller.
- He combined his clinical experience with a religious outlook, and made a Christian commitment in 1980.
- People of the Lie (1983) proposed a psychology of evil.
- He co-founded the Foundation for Community Encouragement.
Why it matters
- His opening line, "Life is difficult", and his definition of love as action made him one of the most widely read self-help writers.
Key facts
- Born
- 22 May 1936, New York City1
- Died
- 25 Sep 2005, at his home in Connecticut1
- Education
- BA, Harvard (1958); MD, Case Western Reserve University (1963)1
- Army
- Rose to lieutenant colonel; chief of psychology at the Army Medical Center in Okinawa1
- Founded
- The Foundation for Community Encouragement, in December 1984, as co-founder1
Main ideas
-
Life is difficult1
Life is a series of problems to be solved or ignored.
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Four tools of discipline1
Delaying gratification, accepting responsibility, dedication to truth and balancing.
-
Love is action1
"The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."
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Evil as militant ignorance1
Evil is an active refusal to face one's own imperfection, projected onto scapegoats.
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Four stages of spiritual growth1
From chaotic self-centredness, through blind faith in authority and then scepticism, to a sense of the mystery of existence.
Criticism
-
His own life1
His writing praised discipline, but he acknowledged affairs and estrangement from two of his children.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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The line under a date fills as time passes: empty when new, then one equal share each for a day, a week, a month and a year. For episodes and other items it is full at 2 years; for "last checked", at a year. A striped line means the date is known only to the month or year.