Richard C. Erickson quote:

from "Pastoral Psychology"--

(pp. 168-169) "I am suggesting that it is not true that our primary moral responsibility is to feel good about ourselves. The worthwhileness of our lives is not measured by the level of our sef-sufficiency or self-esteem, but rather by the quality of our commitments and interrelationships with others. The establishment and maintenance of such commitments entails considerable risk and requires moral courage. With the task so construed, a sense of well-being and fulfillment is the fruit of a life lived courageously and well, not its precondition nor its goal...I would reaffirm the reality of human finiteness and vulnerability. Psychologies offering the key to dazzling heights of success and happiness are as preposterous as they are popular. Life is more uncertain than all that, and we cannot expect to avoid unhappiness and failure in the short run or the long run. Fortunately, a host of psychogists and pastors are not seduced. Instead, they quietly and courageously pursue more modest goals."

(typed while listening to Ladytron)