On Becoming a Person — Summary and Notes
‘On Becoming a Person’ is a book by psychologist Carl Rogers, originally written in 1956. In this page you can find the summary of the book and a link to the Notion page with detailed notes of the sentences and concepts from the book that resonated with me the most.
Book Summary
“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination. The direction which constitutes the good life is that which is selected by the total organism, when there is psychological freedom to move in any direction. ”
What does it mean to become a person? What constitutes an environment in which people can express themselves as ever-changing, free creatures? What is the role of psychotherapy in fostering the process of becoming a person and leading such a constant transformation which occurs in each of us?
To become a person “means that a person is a fluid process, not a fixed and static entity; a flowing river of change, not a block of solid material; a continually changing constellation of potentialities, not a fixed quantity of traits.”
There seems to be some fundamental, universally-valid characteristics which can be noticed in fully functioning individuals: they are completely acceptant of their feelings, thoughts, emotions as they arise. They are aware of the fact that in order to live the good life they need to acknowledge deeply that we are constantly changing, evolving, flowing creatures.
When it comes to relationships, the well-formed person lets go of any prejudice and preconception about others, and is fully congruent (i.e. experiencing the relationship being exactly what he/she is). The Person is truly interested in listening, rather than assume defensive positions.
Becoming a person corresponds to letting go of inner resistance and masks, digging deeper into your true nature.
“It seems that gradually, painfully, the individual explores what is behind the masks he presents to the world, and even behind the masks with which he has been deceiving himself. Thus on an increasing degree he becomes himself — not a façade of conformity to others, not a cynical denial of all feeling, not a front of intellectual rationality, but a living, breathing, feeling, fluctuating process — in short, he becomes a person.”
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