"Goals must never be from your ego, but problems that cry for a solution"
About this Quote
Schuller’s line is a piece of pastoral self-help with a scalpel tucked inside it. “Goals” are treated as suspect, almost vain by default: the modern, self-branded kind of ambition that’s less about building something than proving something. By contrast, “problems that cry for a solution” gives ambition an alibi. It turns desire into duty.
The intent is corrective. Schuller isn’t telling you to stop wanting; he’s telling you to launder wanting through service. In a culture that prizes personal aspiration, he re-frames motivation as moral stewardship: don’t chase a bigger life because you want applause, chase a better world because the need is audible. That verb, “cry,” is doing heavy lifting. It personifies the problem, makes it urgent, emotional, hard to ignore. The goal is no longer a trophy; it’s a response.
The subtext is also a quiet warning about the ego’s favorite disguise: even “good” goals can be narcissism with a halo. Schuller’s formulation preempts the spiritualized ambition trap by demanding an external referent. If a goal can’t be traced to a real wound in the world, it’s probably feeding the self.
Context matters: Schuller rose with America’s late-20th-century positive-thinking Christianity, a movement often criticized for baptizing success culture. This line reads like his attempt to discipline that tendency from within. It keeps the forward-drive of self-improvement, but insists the engine be compassion, not self-regard. It’s a sermon in one sentence: ambition, redeemed by necessity.
The intent is corrective. Schuller isn’t telling you to stop wanting; he’s telling you to launder wanting through service. In a culture that prizes personal aspiration, he re-frames motivation as moral stewardship: don’t chase a bigger life because you want applause, chase a better world because the need is audible. That verb, “cry,” is doing heavy lifting. It personifies the problem, makes it urgent, emotional, hard to ignore. The goal is no longer a trophy; it’s a response.
The subtext is also a quiet warning about the ego’s favorite disguise: even “good” goals can be narcissism with a halo. Schuller’s formulation preempts the spiritualized ambition trap by demanding an external referent. If a goal can’t be traced to a real wound in the world, it’s probably feeding the self.
Context matters: Schuller rose with America’s late-20th-century positive-thinking Christianity, a movement often criticized for baptizing success culture. This line reads like his attempt to discipline that tendency from within. It keeps the forward-drive of self-improvement, but insists the engine be compassion, not self-regard. It’s a sermon in one sentence: ambition, redeemed by necessity.
Quote Details
| Topic | Goal Setting |
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