Famed psychologist Abraham Maslow was born on April 1, 1908, Brooklyn, New York. A practitioner of humanistic psychology, he is known for his theory of “self-actualization.” In the books Motivation and Personality and Toward a Psychology of Being, Maslow argued that each person has a hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied. He died in Menlo Park, California, on June 8, 1970.

Abraham Maslow was perhaps best known as one of the founders of humanistic psychology and for his famous hierarchy of needs. Maslow felt that Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and Skinner’s behavioral theory were too focused on the negative or pathological aspects of existence and neglected all of the potential and creativity that human beings possess.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggested that people have a number of needs, and as these needs are met they are able to go on to pursue other needs. The needs at the base of his hierarchy are more basic in nature, gradually moving up into more social, emotional and self-actualizing needs as one moves up the hierarchy.

The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short. – Abraham Maslow