The Road Less Traveled
M. Scott Peck's 1978 bestseller on discipline, love and spiritual growth.
At a glance
Key ideas
Discipline, Legitimate suffering, Love …
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- Peck describes what makes a fulfilled human being, drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist.
- It opens "Life is difficult" and argues that discipline is the means of spiritual growth.
- It then treats love as a conscious act of nurturing growth, rather than a feeling, before turning to religion and to grace, a force outside consciousness that aids growth.
- It became a bestseller only years after it appeared.
Why it matters
- It became one of the best-known self-help books, and its opening line is still widely quoted.
Key facts
- Author
- M. Scott Peck1
- Published
- 1978, Simon & Schuster, after Random House turned it down as "too Christ-y"1
- First printing
- 5,000 hardback copies, for a $7,500 advance1
- Bestseller
- Paperback in 1980; first on bestseller lists in 19841
- Parts
- Discipline; Love; Religion; Grace1
Key ideas
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Discipline1
Delaying gratification, accepting responsibility, dedication to truth and balancing.
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Legitimate suffering1
Avoiding the pain of problems leads to more suffering in the end.
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Love1
"Love is as love does": an action, not the feeling of falling in love.
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Grace1
Health, the unconscious and serendipity point to a force beyond our will.
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Sources
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