--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The striving for significance, this sense…" description: "\"The striving for significance, this sense of yearning, always points out to us that all psychological phenomena contain a movement that starts from a f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/alfred-adler-4921_compensation_the-striving-for-significance-this-sense_1299624.jpg" --- # The striving for significance, this sense of yearning… ![“The striving for significance, this sense of yearning, always points out to us that all psychological phenomena contain a movement that starts from a feeling of inferiority and reach upward. The theory of Individual Psychology of psychological compensation states that the stronger the feeling of…” quote by Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/alfred-adler-4921_compensation_the-striving-for-significance-this-sense_1299624.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/alfred-adler-4921_compensation_the-striving-for-significance-this-sense_1299624.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/alfred-adler-4921_compensation_the-striving-for-significance-this-sense_1299624.jpg) > “The striving for significance, this sense of yearning, always points out to us that all psychological phenomena contain a movement that starts from a feeling of inferiority and reach upward. The theory of Individual Psychology of psychological compensation states that the stronger the feeling of inferiority, the higher the goal for personal power.” [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Feelings of inferiority motivate individuals to strive for higher goals, shaping personal development. **In simple terms:** Inferiority drives ambition. Key Takeaway Channel inferiority into growth. Themes psychology self-improvement motivation Mood reflective hopeful Type psychological motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - skill learning - personal coaching Key Concepts individual psychology compensation self-esteem Questions to Reflect On - What personal goals stem from feeling inadequate? - How can you balance ambition with self‑acceptance? A Different Perspective Excessive inferiority can cause burnout or unhealthy competition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compensation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compensation/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Inferiority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferiority/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Personal power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-power/) [Psychological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/significance/) [Yearning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning/) ## Related quotes > [The Adlerians, in the name of "individual psychology," take the side of society against the individual. ... Adler's later thought succumbs to the worst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/the-adlerians-in-the-name-of-individual-psychology-take-the-side-of/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [When facts are few, speculations are most likely to represent individual psychology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/when-facts-are-few-speculations-are-most-likely-to-represent/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [On the other hand, ethnic psychology must always come to the assistance of individual psychology, when the developmental forms of the complex mental processes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-wundt/on-the-other-hand-ethnic-psychology-must-always-come-to-the/) [Wilhelm Wundt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-wundt/) > [I assume that the proper study of interaction is not the individual and his psychology, but rather the syntactical relations among the acts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erving-goffman/i-assume-that-the-proper-study-of-interaction-is-not-the-individual/) [Erving Goffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erving-goffman/) > [“The antidote, in so far as it is a matter of individual psychology, is to be found in history, biology, astronomy, and all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-antidote-in-so-far-as-it-is-a-matter-of-individual-psychology-is/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [No very sharp line can be drawn between social psychology and individual psychology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-very-sharp-line-can-be-drawn-between-social-psychology-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A person who has power has an open mind. Their mind is open and they can see on other levels. Seeing is a quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-person-who-has-power-has-an-open-mind-their-mind-is-open-and-they/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Selectively pick a teacher, one that you respect, not just someone who can talk with wonderful poetic figures about enlightenment, but someone who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/selectively-pick-a-teacher-one-that-you-respect-not-just-someone-who/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [By banishing doubt and trusting your intuitive feelings, you clear a space for the power of intention to flow through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/by-banishing-doubt-and-trusting-your-intuitive-feelings-you-clear-a/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [To be free is to put justice, truth and service to others over and above our personal gain or our need for recognition, power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/to-be-free-is-to-put-justice-truth-and-service-to-others-over-and/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [“A spiritual reinterpretation of events gives us miraculous authority to command the winds, to part the waters, and to break all chains that bind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/a-spiritual-reinterpretation-of-events-gives-us-miraculous-authority/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We possess within us a force of incalculable power, which if we direct it in a conscious and wise manner, gives us the mastery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-coue/we-possess-within-us-a-force-of-incalculable-power-which-if-we-direct/) [Emile Coue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-coue/) > [“Much of the ability to help other people arises from personal power, but it would be naive to assert that nothing else is required.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-m-weinberg/much-of-the-ability-to-help-other-people-arises-from-personal-power/) [Gerald M. Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-m-weinberg/) > [“we shouldn’t surrender our real world perception to a false reality too much or we may suffer the inevitable consequences of deluded thinking. Technology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-p-neary/we-shouldn-t-surrender-our-real-world-perception-to-a-false-reality/) M.P. Neary ## More by Alfred Adler > [Play is a child's work and this is not a trivial pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/play-is-a-child-s-work-and-this-is-not-a-trivial-pursuit/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [There is a law that man should love his neighbor as himself. In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/there-is-a-law-that-man-should-love-his-neighbor-as-himself-in-a-few/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [Nobody adopts antisocial behaviour unless they fear that they will fail if they remain on the social side of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/nobody-adopts-antisocial-behaviour-unless-they-fear-that-they-will/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [What person, confined in a small room with nothing but a tea-cosy, will not eventually put the tea-cosy on their head?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/what-person-confined-in-a-small-room-with-nothing-but-a-tea-cosy-will/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [I am grateful for the idea that has used me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/i-am-grateful-for-the-idea-that-has-used-me/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [The feeling of inferiority rules the mental life and can be clearly recognized in the sense of incompleteness and un-fulfillment, and in the uninterrupted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/the-feeling-of-inferiority-rules-the-mental-life-and-can-be-clearly/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [Far more unwaveringly, the neurotic keeps before his eye his God, his idol, his ideal of personality and clings to his guiding principle, losing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/far-more-unwaveringly-the-neurotic-keeps-before-his-eye-his-god-his/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [The test of one's behavior pattern is their relationship to society, relationship to work and relationship to sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/the-test-of-one-s-behavior-pattern-is-their-relationship-to-society/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [There are thousands of degrees and variations, but it is always clearly the attitude of a person who finds his superiority in solving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/there-are-thousands-of-degrees-and-variations-but-it-is-always/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [You can be healed of depression if every day you begin the first thing in the morning to consider how you will bring a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/you-can-be-healed-of-depression-if-every-day-you-begin-the-first/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [It is very obvious that we are not influenced by "facts" but by our interpretation of the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/it-is-very-obvious-that-we-are-not-influenced-by-facts-but-by-our/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [In God's nature, religious mankind perceives the way to height. In His call it hears again the innate voice of life which must have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/in-god-s-nature-religious-mankind-perceives-the-way-to-height-in-his/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [Man knows much more than he understands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/man-knows-much-more-than-he-understands/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [Every pampered child becomes a hated child… There is no greater evil than the pampering of children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/every-pampered-child-becomes-a-hated-child-there-is-no-greater-evil/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [Every neurotic is partly in the right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/every-neurotic-is-partly-in-the-right/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) [Explore all 105 Alfred Adler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) ## More Compensation quotes > [The only place where compensation comes before service is in the dictionary or anywhere the government meddles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-woodward/the-only-place-where-compensation-comes-before-service-is-in-the/) [Orrin Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-woodward/) > [“Time wasted can never be compensated”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/time-wasted-can-never-be-compensated/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A contract is an ask game, and if it asks for an hour, and I submit to an hour, then it's an hour. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-berry/a-contract-is-an-ask-game-and-if-it-asks-for-an-hour-and-i-submit-to/) [Chuck Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-berry/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Because what happens is, as the economy suffers, tax revenues go down. But unlike businesses, where at least your variable costs go down, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-whitman/because-what-happens-is-as-the-economy-suffers-tax-revenues-go-down/) [Meg Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-whitman/) > [For the sacrificed, in the hour of sacrifice, only one thing counts: faith-alone among enemies and skeptics. Faith, in spite of the humiliation which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/for-the-sacrificed-in-the-hour-of-sacrifice-only-one-thing-counts/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [“In other words, what we seek is some kind of compensation for what we put up with”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/in-other-words-what-we-seek-is-some-kind-of-compensation-for-what-we/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-law-of-nature-we-overlook-that-intellectual-versatility-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only compensation, gained through the influence of nongovernmental organizations, consisted in slightly broadening for private individuals the possibility of access and appeal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-cassin/the-only-compensation-gained-through-the-influence-of-nongovernmental/) [Rene Cassin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-cassin/) > [Were God to show grace to all of Adam's descendants, men would at once conclude that He was righteously compelled to take them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/were-god-to-show-grace-to-all-of-adam-s-descendants-men-would-at-once/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [What we seek is some kind of compensation for what we put up with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/what-we-seek-is-some-kind-of-compensation-for-what-we-put-up-with/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [We also have no incentive compensation of any kind. And the reason we don’t is because it is detrimental to teamwork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bezos/we-also-have-no-incentive-compensation-of-any-kind-and-the-reason-we/) [Jeff Bezos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bezos/) > [Different artists are talking about the laws that exist and how they need to be fixed so that compensation does happen to a far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/different-artists-are-talking-about-the-laws-that-exist-and-how-they/) [Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/) [Browse all 369 Compensation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compensation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The striving for significance, this sense of yearning, always points out to us that all psychological phenomena contain a movement that starts from a feeling of inferiority and reach upward. 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