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The real intent of my writing is not to say, you must think in this way. The real intent is: here are some of the many important facets of this extraordinary Kosmos; have you thought about including them in your own worldview? My work is an attempt to make room in the Kosmos for all of the dimensions, levels, domains, waves, memes, modes, individuals, cultures, and so on ad infinitum. I have one major rule: Everybody is right. More specifically, everybody - including me - has some important pieces of truth, and all of those pieces need to be honored, cherished, and included in a more gracious, spacious, and compassionate embrace. To Freudians I say, Have you looked at Buddhism? To Buddhists I say, Have you studied Freud? To liberals I say, Have you thought about how important some conservative ideas are? To conservatives I say, Can you perhaps include a more liberal perspective? And so on, and so on, and so on... At no point I have ever said: Freud is wrong, Buddha is wrong, liberals are wrong, conservatives are wrong. I have only suggested that they are true but partial. My critical writings have never attacked the central beliefs of any discipline, only the claims that the particular discipline has the only truth - and on those grounds I have often been harsh. But every approach, I honestly believe, is essentially true but partial, true but partial, true but partial. And on my own tombstone, I dearly hope that someday they will write: He was true but partial...

Ken Wilber#4

TruthWisdomInclusionPerspective

About this quote

What does it mean?
Writing aims to expand worldviews by honoring all perspectives as containing pieces of truth.
In plain terms
Everyone has some truth; include different views in your worldview.
What can you take from it?
Honor every perspective as containing some truth.

Where it applies

  • debate
  • teaching
  • conflict resolution

Putting it to work

  • listening
  • integrating views
  • dialogue

Questions to consider

  • Whose truth are you missing?
  • How can you include opposing views?

Another view

Some views may be fundamentally incompatible or harmful.

More from Ken Wilber

  1. Prana is implicate to matter but explicate to mind; mind is implicate to prana but explicate to soul; soul is implicate to mind but explicate to spirit; and th…

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  2. My ankle hurts from dancing last night so there is pain. But the pain doesn't hurt me for there is no me.

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  3. Modern science is no longer denying spirit. And that, that is epochal. As Hans Kung remarked, the standard answer to 'Do you believe in Spirit?' used to be, 'O…

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