Humans enjoy challenges. We may find ourselves attempting to run a faster mile, enrolling in a challenging college course, or building a taller skyscraper. Corresponding to our enjoyment of challenges is our dissatisfaction with our lives. Personal dissatisfaction is a common theme in all religions. It is also a theme running through psychotherapy, self-help books, diet programs, exercise programs, changing dress styles, and much of consumerism. In a similar way, when we look at our inner selves and at our beliefs, we often feel dissatisfied. We want to strive toward some higher standard of experience or knowledge. In this chapter, we will consider some of the ideals which writers have proposed for themselves and others.

A brief look at the life of Thomas Jefferson reveals how he strove to reach a number of higher goals. He was a leader in America&rsquo...