"At a certain time in the life of many individuals, generally toward the middle years but at times as early as the middle twenties, a sense of discouragement prevails. The individual feels he will never be able to create. He must give up. Often, on closer examination, we recognize that persons of this type have been handicapped by a grandiose image of themselves... Early in life they conceived of a grandiose self that would live up to great ambitions and expectations... with the passage of time the person realizes that he will not accomplish these great deeds: he then considers himself a failure, and lives the rest of his days in a state of renunciation..." --From Procrustes to Proteus: Disempowerment, Actualization, and Empowerment