History of the Will

From WillProject

For groups or individual's theories on the will, please see the category Theories on the Will.

The following is based on work carried out by the co-creative group on the Will Project during the International Congress of Psychosynthesis in Canada from 11 to 15 September 1998. Initially this is provided to give some form of structure to pages. Please edit freely.

1. Develop an annotated bibliography of references to the will in historical writings.
2. Collect the material in 1. (above) in one place
3. Develop a bibliography of references to the will in current psychosynthesis literature
4. Create a college course on the will
5. Carry out research studies on various theories of the will.
   1. How the will is best developed
   2. How the will is used by various types
      1. Psychosynthesis types and will
      2. Enneagram types and will
      3. MBTI types and will
      4. TDF types and will
   3. How the will is present/absent/referred to in each religion
6. Fund grants to support research on the will (for example, dissertation grants)
7. Research available funding resources which might support 5. (above) and write grant requests to these sources of funding.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Laws of Imagination and the Will 3 Quotes Relating to the Will 3.1 Henry Adams 3.2 Leon Battista Alberti 3.3 Roberto Assagioli 3.4 Honore de Balzac 3.5 Benjamin Disraeli 3.6 Peter F. Drucker 3.7 Meister Eckhart 3.8 Ralph Waldo Emerson 3.9 Robert Frost 3.10 James Gordon 3.11 Al Gore 3.12 Victor Hugo 3.13 Alfredo Karras 3.14 Frederik Kerling 3.15 Eliphas Levi 3.16 Lord Moran 3.17 Proverb (English) 3.18 Proverb 3.19 Ameen Rihani 3.20 Jenni Robison 3.21 George Sheehan 3.22 Marcia Wieder

[edit] Etymology

According to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, the word Will derives from the Middle English willen, meaning to intend to. It can be traced back to wel-1 in Indo-European Roots. From the Latin velle the word volition is derived.

For more information see the Etymology entry.

[edit] Laws of Imagination and the Will

The following laws relating to Imagination and the Will were outlined by Émile Coué in his book Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion (ISBN 1-6020611-5-7):

1. When the will and the imagination are antagonistic, it is always the imagination which wins, without any exception.
2. In the conflict between the will and the imagination, the force of the imagination is in direct ratio to the square of the will.
3. When the will and the imagination are in agreement, one does not add to the other, but one is multiplied by the other.
4. The imagination can be directed.

(The expressions "In direct ratio to the square of the will" and "Is multiplied by" are not rigorously exact. They are simply illustrations destined to make my meaning clearer.)

[edit] Quotes Relating to the Will

[edit] Henry Adams

A boy's will is his life, and he dies when it is broken, as the colt dies in harness, taking a new nature in becoming tame. - source: The Education of Henry Adams

[edit] Leon Battista Alberti

• A man can do all things if he but wills them. - (source needed)

[edit] Roberto Assagioli

• Will to will! The Will must be: developed, grounded, re-oriented and used! - source: The Act of Will
• Since the outcome of successful willing is the satisfaction of one's needs, we can see that the act of will is essentially joyous. And the realization of ... being a self ... gives a sense of freedom, of power, of mastery which is profoundly joyous. - (original source needed - quoted in Purpose and the Creative Will)

[edit] Honore de Balzac

• There is not great talent without great will power. - (source needed)

[edit] Benjamin Disraeli

• Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose. - (source needed)

[edit] Peter F. Drucker

• What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that's another matter. - (source needed)

[edit] Meister Eckhart

• The man who has submitted his will and purposes entirely to God, carries God with him in all his works and in all circumstances. - (source needed)

[edit] Ralph Waldo Emerson

• The education of the will is the object of our existence. - (source needed)

[edit] Robert Frost

• The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them. - (source needed)

[edit] James Gordon

• It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. - (source needed)

[edit] Al Gore

• The will to act is a renewable resource. - (source needed)

[edit] Victor Hugo

• People do not lack strength; they lack will. - (source needed)

[edit] Alfredo Karras

• The stronger your will, the clearer and more defined your goals will be and the greater the ‘coincidences' that will appear in front of you, helping you get where you wish - Heaven or hell. You decide what you want. - source: Be

[edit] Frederik Kerling

• Love is probably the best example of how unreal our ego looks at our lives. Because we surrender ourselves to the fact that we cannot decide all future outcomes with only our own free will. - (source needed)

[edit] Eliphas Levi

• The magnum opus is pre-eminently the creation of man by himself, that is, the full and complete conquest which he can make of his faculties and his future; it is pre-eminently the perfect emancipation of his will. - (source needed)

[edit] Lord Moran

• Courage is a moral quality; it is not a chance gift of nature like an aptitude for games. It is a cold choice between two alternatives, the fixed resolve not to quit; an act of renunciation which must be made not once but many times by the power of the will. Courage is willpower. - (source needed)

[edit] Proverb (English)

• Where there's a will, there's a way. - (source needed)

[edit] Proverb

• When the will is ready the feet are light. - (source needed)

[edit] Ameen Rihani

• Light, Love, and Will – the one is as necessary as the other; the one is dangerous without the others. Light, Love, and Will are the three eternal, vital sources of the higher, truer, purer cosmic life. - (source needed)
• In the Lakes of Light, Love and Will, I would baptize all mankind. - (source needed)
• Training the will in trivial and grave matters increases its strength and flexibility, and enables man to constantly strive and persevere. - (source needed)
• The will is the spirit of perseverance, and perseverance holds clear success. - (source needed)
• Genius everywhere is one. In the Orient and in the Occident the deep thinkers are kin, the poets are cousins, the pioneers of the spirit are the messengers of peace and good will to the world. Their works are the open highways between nations, and they themselves are the ever living guardians and guides. - (source needed)

[edit] Jenni Robison

• the heart is the birth of will - (source needed)

[edit] George Sheehan

• Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be. - (source needed)

[edit] Marcia Wieder

• Willingness is essential in any initiation or in making an dream come true. I can't often means I won't. You can change I won't to I will with will power. - (source needed)