The Road Less Traveled

496 Words2 Pages
XXXX XXXXX Mr. Berry Doctrine 17 November, 2008 The Road Less Traveled The Road Less Traveled is a spiritually centered self-help book that was written in 1978 by author M. Scott Peck. According to Peck the road less traveled is a “rocky and strenuous one” and “Personal growth is a complex, arduous and lifelong task, in which Love is the fuel to keep us going”. In this book, Peck tells stories that help to demonstrate his points and solidify his opinions. He uses stories that illustrate events from his own personnel past as well as those from a few of his previous patients (anonymously of course). In The Road Less Traveled Peck focuses on the three attributes of grace, love, and discipline. I believe that Peck is trying say that these three attributes are the pillars upon which a successful and fulfilling life can be built. The first section of Peck’s book is about discipline, which peck believes is “essential for emotional, spiritual, and psychological growth as a human being”. He also states that there are four main elements of discipline which include: delaying gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and balancing. Peck also talks about how self-discipline is necessary to help us deal with life and the difficulties it tends to present us with. The second section of The Road Less Traveled focuses on love. Peck believes love to be the driving force behind all spiritual development. One of the main focuses of this section is the dispersing of all the “myths” of love. Peck considers the notion of romantic love to be a myth, and a very destructive one at that. According to Peck, true love is "extending one's ego boundaries to include another." So in laments terms, Peck is admitting that love is effort. Peck also states that love does not exist as a feeling, but as an investment. The Third and final section of The
Open Document