--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Truth or reality is avoided when it is…" description: "\"“Truth or reality is avoided when it is painful. We can revise our maps only when we have the discipline to overcome that pain. To have such discipline..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed1/m-scott-peck-1921_discipline_truth-or-reality-is-avoided-when-it-is-p_3001091.jpg" --- # Truth or reality is avoided when it is painful. We can… ![“Truth or reality is avoided when it is painful. We can revise our maps only when we have the discipline to overcome that pain. To have such discipline, we must be totally dedicated to truth. That is to say that we must always hold truth, as best we can determine it, to be more important, more…” quote by M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed1/m-scott-peck-1921_discipline_truth-or-reality-is-avoided-when-it-is-p_3001091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed1/m-scott-peck-1921_discipline_truth-or-reality-is-avoided-when-it-is-p_3001091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed1/m-scott-peck-1921_discipline_truth-or-reality-is-avoided-when-it-is-p_3001091.jpg) > ““Truth or reality is avoided when it is painful. We can revise our maps only when we have the discipline to overcome that pain. To have such discipline, we must be totally dedicated to truth. That is to say that we must always hold truth, as best we can determine it, to be more important, more vital to our self-interest, than our comfort. Conversely, we must always consider our personal discomfort relatively unimportant and, indeed, even welcome it in the service of the search for truth. Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.”” [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Facing painful truths requires discipline; we must prioritize reality over comfort and treat discomfort as a catalyst for growth. **In simple terms:** Truth demands discipline over comfort. Key Takeaway Embrace discomfort to pursue truth. Themes truth discipline self‑interest mental health reality Mood reflective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - academic research - personal reflection - ethical decision‑making Key Concepts psychology philosophy self‑development Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance comfort with truth? - What habits help you welcome discomfort? A Different Perspective Painful truth can cause resistance and avoidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Hold Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-truth-353670/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Reality Avoided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-avoided-4764616/) [Search Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/search-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-mental-1427729/) [Truth Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-reality/) ## Related quotes > [Press Down if u think you are MAD. I can't Believe you Did that! Again? for God Sake! 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It must remove from us every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/as-we-lay-hold-upon-the-truth-of-god-its-influence-must-affect-us-it/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt. How accurate that is. The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/familiarity-breeds-contempt-how-accurate-that-is-the-reason-we-hold/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“People who are “nice” hold truth inside until they reach a breaking point and then they become dangerously inappropriate; I know because I used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-adele/people-who-are-nice-hold-truth-inside-until-they-reach-a-breaking/) [Deborah Adele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-adele/) > [“You say you are ready to deliver your knowledge to another person. 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Hold truth within yourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/be-lamps-unto-yourselves-be-your-own-confidence-hold-truth-within/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Question with boldness, hold to the truth, and speak without fear,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/question-with-boldness-hold-to-the-truth-and-speak-without-fear/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) ## More by M. Scott Peck > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [As I grow through love, so grows my joy, ever more present, ever more constant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/as-i-grow-through-love-so-grows-my-joy-ever-more-present-ever-more/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“Life is difficult.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/life-is-difficult/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“The second most common misconception about love is the idea that dependency is love...Its effect is seen most dramatically in an individual who makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/the-second-most-common-misconception-about-love-is-the-idea-that/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [Although I was raised in a profoundly secular home, I had a belief, an awareness of God, from as far back as I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/although-i-was-raised-in-a-profoundly-secular-home-i-had-a-belief-an/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [I've gone to great lengths not to be a guru. 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Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/benjamin-franklin-said-those-things-that-hurt-instruct/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers, and to begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the mystery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/abandon-the-urge-to-simplify-everything-to-look-for-formulas-and-easy/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [Listening well is an exercise of attention and by necessity hard work. It is because they do not realize this or because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/listening-well-is-an-exercise-of-attention-and-by-necessity-hard-work/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“It is not selfishness or unselfishness that distinguishes love from non-love; it is the aim of the action.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/it-is-not-selfishness-or-unselfishness-that-distinguishes-love-from/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [Love is too large, too deep ever to be truly understood or measured or limited within the framework of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/love-is-too-large-too-deep-ever-to-be-truly-understood-or-measured-or/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [There is no act of love that is not an act of work or courage. No exceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/there-is-no-act-of-love-that-is-not-an-act-of-work-or-courage-no/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [To be free people we must assume total responsibility for ourselves, but in doing so must possess the capacity to reject responsibility that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/to-be-free-people-we-must-assume-total-responsibility-for-ourselves/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) [Explore all 198 M. Scott Peck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) ## More Discipline quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Grit and self-control are related, but they're not the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-duckworth/grit-and-self-control-are-related-but-they-re-not-the-same-thing/) [Angela Duckworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-duckworth/) > [“Peace requires a discipline more iron than war. - Easter, 1939 ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-j-turner/peace-requires-a-discipline-more-iron-than-war-easter-1939/) [W.J. Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-j-turner/) > [You can't have the fruits without the roots. It's the principle of sequencing: Private Victories proceed Public Victories. Self-mastery and self-discipline are the foundation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/you-can-t-have-the-fruits-without-the-roots-it-s-the-principle-of/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Like a child exploring the attic of an old house on a rainy day, discovering a trunk full of treasure and then calling all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/like-a-child-exploring-the-attic-of-an-old-house-on-a-rainy-day/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [Exercise teaches you the pleasure of discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/exercise-teaches-you-the-pleasure-of-discipline/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [I'm always writing. I'm an obsessive. It's not because I'm a disciplined person. It's because I'm crazy about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-m-always-writing-i-m-an-obsessive-it-s-not-because-i-m-a/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [The undisciplined child enters into discipline by working in the company of others; not being told he is naughty.” “Discipline is, therefore, primarily a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-undisciplined-child-enters-into-discipline-by-working-in-the/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“Proverbs from the East: The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. Even though I make no special attempt to observe the discipline of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/proverbs-from-the-east-the-wind-howls-but-the-mountain-remains-still/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [To behave creatively in art means behavior with skill; and skill comes from discipline, not derangement. The artist who knows the rules -and proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burne-hogarth/to-behave-creatively-in-art-means-behavior-with-skill-and-skill-comes/) [Burne Hogarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burne-hogarth/) > [Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It require you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results. 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Its only people who jump off the roller coaster who get hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-harvey/stay-in-your-seat-come-times-of-trouble-its-only-people-who-jump-off/) [Paul Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-harvey/) [Browse all 5,597 Discipline quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Truth or reality is avoided when it is painful. We can revise our maps only when we have the discipline to overcome that pain. To have such discipline, we must be totally dedicated to truth. That is to say that we must always hold truth, as best we can determine it, to be more important, more vital to our self-interest, than our comfort. Conversely, we must always consider our personal discomfort relatively unimportant and, indeed, even welcome it in the service of the search for truth. 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