Creativity is the encounter of the intensively conscious human being with his world.
ROLLO MAYHeroes are necessary in order to enable the citizens to find their own ideals, courage and wisdom in the society. The hero carries our hopes, our aspirations, our ideals, our beliefs. In the deepest sense the hero is created by us; he or she is born collectively as our own myth.
More Rollo May Quotes
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A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.
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When you are completely absorbed or caught up in something, you become oblivious to things around you, or to the passage of time. It is this absorption in what you are doing that frees your unconscious and releases your creative imagination.
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Every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, this is me and the damned world can go to hell.
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The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt.
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Freedom does not come automatically; it is achieved. And it is not gained in a single bound; it must be achieved each day.
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Memory is not just the imprint of the past time upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears.
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Many people feel they are powerless to do anything effective with their lives. It takes courage to break out of the settled mold, but most find conformity more comfortable. This is why the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it’s conformity.
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The ultimate error is the refusal to look evil in the face.
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A person can meet anxiety to the extent that his values are stronger than the threat.
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The creative act arises out of the struggle of human beings with and against that which limits them.
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Every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, “This is me and the world be damned!” Leaders have always been the ones to stand against the society – Socrates, Christ, Freud, all the way down the line.
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One does not become fully human painlessly.
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What if imagination and art are not frosting at all, but the fountainhead of human experience?
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Finding the center of strength within ourselves is in the long run the best contribution we can make to our fellow men. … One person with indigenous inner strength exercises a great calming effect on panic among people around him.
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Does not the possibility or the power to do something about the situation at hand confer on one the responsibility to do it?
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Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable. We cannot know at the outset how the relationship will affect us. Like a chemical mixture, if one of us is changed, both of us will be. Will we grow in self-actualization, or will it destroy us?
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Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is.
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There is an energy field between humans. And, when we reach out in passion, it is met with an answering passion and changes the relationship forever.
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One central need in life is to fulfill its own potential.
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Anxiety is essential to the human condition. The confrontation with anxiety can relieve us from boredom, sharpen the sensitivity and assure the presence of tension that is necessary to preserve human existence.
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Forge in the smithy of your soul.
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Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.
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There is no authentic inner freedom that does not, sooner or later, also affect and change human history.
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In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.
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Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.
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Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
ROLLO MAY