The thought is genuinely Maslow’s — he gave a whole chapter of Toward a Psychology of Being (1962), titled “Defense and Growth,” to the running choice between safety and growth. But this polished sentence is not his. Wikiquote ↗ does not record it at all; the closest line it does record sits in the Attributed section, cited not to Maslow but to a 2010 leadership book.
“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety” commonly credited to Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), but not found in anything he wrote. Wikiquote does not list this wording; the closest variant, "You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety," appears in its Attributed section, cited to Brian Tracy, How the Best Leaders Lead (New York: AMACOM, 2010), 35. Maslow's own documented sentence reads: "One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again." Verified via Quotle.info.
Can you use it?
? We couldn’t establish where this was first published, so there’s no rights status to give. Credit it as shown above — just don’t present it as public domain, and get permission for commercial or published reuse.
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In context
Evoking the themes of growth, courage and change. Theme: "In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
What the record actually shows
Popular wording
“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” — no Maslow text located
Closest documented line
“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.” — Wikiquote, Attributed
Wikiquote cites
Brian Tracy, How the Best Leaders Lead (AMACOM, 2010), p. 35
Maslow’s own book
Toward a Psychology of Being (1962), chap. “Defense and Growth”
One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.
Maslow’s own wording
This is not the quote on the poster. It is the sentence generally reproduced as Maslow’s own — shown here so the two can be compared. It appears verbatim in Scientific American ↗ and across many printed books, but we could not confirm an edition and page for it, and this page asserts none.
The popular wording circulates with no source attached. Goodreads ↗ shows it credited to Abraham H. Maslow with no book named, above its standing notice that quotes there are added by the community and not verified.
Wikiquote’s Maslow page ↗ does not list this wording anywhere. The nearest line it carries — “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety” — is in the Attributed section, with the citation “In Brian Tracy, How the Best Leaders Lead (2010), p. 35.”
That citation points at a business book, not a Maslow one: How the Best Leaders Lead ↗ was published in New York by AMACOM in 2010, four decades after Maslow’s death.
No rights status is asserted for this wording, because no author or first publication for it has been established — it is an unsourced modern paraphrase. Note separately that Maslow’s genuine writing on the subject is not public domain in the United States: Toward a Psychology of Being was first published in 1962, well after the 1931 line, and remains in copyright.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
How a chapter became a caption
This is not a quote that was stolen from someone else. It is a quote that was smoothed — a real Maslow argument compressed, rebalanced and handed back to him in words he never used. The trail runs from his 1962 book, through a rougher paraphrase that shows up in later self-help and leadership writing, to the caption-ready version on the poster.
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The wordingAbraham Maslow paraphrase
The sentence in circulation has no documented Maslow source. Wikiquote ↗ does not list it anywhere on its Maslow page, and Goodreads ↗ carries it with no book named and a standing notice that its quotes are community-added and unverified.
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The closest documented variantBrian Tracy, How the Best Leaders Lead (2010) cited source
The nearest wording Wikiquote does record — “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety” — sits in its Attributed section, cited to Brian Tracy’s 2010 AMACOM leadership book ↗, p. 35. That is a secondary book crediting Maslow, not a Maslow source.
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The source of the genuine lineThe Psychology of Science (1966) disputed source
Even Maslow’s real sentence is unevenly sourced: LibQuotes ↗ files it under The Psychology of Science (1966) while others point to Toward a Psychology of Being (1962). We could not confirm a page in either, and make no claim about which is right.
✓Maslow argued this at chapter length rather than in a caption: Toward a Psychology of Being (1962) ↗ contains a chapter called “Defense and growth,” and the sentence usually quoted as his own runs “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again” — blunter, and repeated, because the point was that the choice never stops coming.
Context
Why the smoother version won
Maslow’s real argument is less quotable and more interesting than the poster. In Toward a Psychology of Being he does not describe a single dramatic fork in the road; he describes a running tally, a choice that has to be made and re-made because the pull backwards never actually goes away. That is why his own most-repeated sentence ends the way it does — not with a triumphant step forward, but with a warning that the step has to be taken again tomorrow.
The version that travels on social media does the opposite. It compresses the whole chapter into one balanced clause, drops the repetition that carried Maslow’s point, and adds the tidy framing — “in any given moment,” “two options” — that quote graphics reward. It reads like Maslow because the idea is Maslow. It is simply not a sentence anyone has found in his writing.
Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.
Why even Maslow’s genuine sentence is hard to cite
The line usually presented as Maslow’s own — “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again” — is reproduced verbatim in Scientific American ↗ and in many printed books, but almost never with an edition and page.
The aggregators do not even agree on which book it came from. Goodreads ↗ names no source at all, while LibQuotes ↗ files it under The Psychology of Science (1966). We were unable to confirm a page in either book, so this page asserts none.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
1908–1970 · American psychologist · founder of humanistic psychology
Abraham Harold Maslow (born Brooklyn, 1 April 1908; died Menlo Park, California, 8 June 1970) built the hierarchy of needs and, with it, much of what became humanistic psychology. He taught at Brooklyn College and then Brandeis, and argued — against the behaviourist and Freudian grain of his day — that psychology should study healthy, thriving people rather than only sick ones. His two central books, Motivation and Personality (1954) and Toward a Psychology of Being (1962), are the source of nearly every Maslow line in circulation, and of a good many that are not.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Best available documentation
No primary source located. The closest documented wording — “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety” — is listed by Wikiquote under “Attributed” and cited to Brian Tracy, How the Best Leaders Lead: Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Yourself and Others (New York: AMACOM, 2010), 35. Maslow’s own treatment of the choice is Abraham H. Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand, 1962), chap. “Defense and Growth.”
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety’?” Last verified 24 Aug 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/in-any-given-moment-we-have-two-options-to-step-forward/