We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.

The line contrasts two kinds of self-knowledge people resist: confronting their “lower” impulses and acknowledging their highest capacities. In Maslow’s humanistic psychology, this maps onto the tension between deficiency-based living (avoiding pain, shame, and anxiety) and growth-based living (embracing creativity, responsibility, and self-actualization). The paradox is that recognizing one’s potential can be more threatening than admitting one’s flaws, because it removes excuses and demands change. The “godlike” refers not to divinity in a theological sense but to peak possibilities—excellence, moral courage, and fuller being—which can provoke fear of success, isolation, or the burden of living up to what one could become.