This book is an attempt to acquaint the general public with the fundamentals of Individual Psychology. At the same time it is a demonstration of the practical application of these principles to the conduct of one's everyday relationships, not only to the world, and to one's fellow men, but also to the organization of ones personal life.
這句話是阿德勒在自序中開宗明義的第一句話,這本書也的確有做到這一點。那為甚麼我們要讀懂人心和人性, 阿德勒也有談及 「 做生意或者做學問,如果犯了錯,代價固然慘重,但要是日常行為犯了錯,往往危及生命。這本書,就是告訴大家該怎麼做才能好好瞭解人性。 」 ( Mistakes in business or in science are costly and deplorable, but mistakes in the conduct of life are usually dangerous to life itself. To the tack of illuminating man's progress toward a better understanding of human nature, this book is dedicated. )
Seclusiveness and isolation appear in a variety of forms. People who detach themselves from society speak little, or not at all, do not look their fellows in the eye, do not listen, or are inattentive when one speaks to them. In all social relations, even the simplest ones, they exhibit a certain frigidity which serves to separate them from their fellows.
Our whole attitude toward our fellow man is dependent upon our understanding of him; an implicit necessity for understanding him therefore is a fundamental of the social relationship. Human beings would live together more easily if their knowledge of human nature were more satisfactory. Disturbing social relationships could then be obviated, for we know that unfortunate adjustments are possible only when we do not understand one another and are therefore exposed to the danger of being deceived by superficial dissimulations._
Causality becomes a different causality, and the results of experience acquire entirely new values, when the power of self-knowledge and self-criticism is still alive, and remains a living motif. The ability to know one's self becomes greater when one can determine the wellsprings of his activity and the dynamics of his soul. Once he has understood this, he has become a different man and can no longer escape the inevitable consequences of his knowledge.