Senge, P. M.
(1990).
The Fifth Discipline.
"Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist—someone who made the mistake of converting ideals into expectations. For example, many of those cynical about personal mastery once held high ideals about people. Then they found themselves disappointed, hurt, and eventually embittered because people fell short of their ideals. O'Brien used to point out that burnout does not just come from working too hard. 'There are teachers, social workers, and clergy,' says O'Brien, 'who work incredibly hard until they are 80 years old and never suffer "burnout"—because they have an accurate view of human nature, of our potential and limitations. They don't over-romanticize people, so they don't feel the great psychological stress when people let them down.'" (p. 135)