The acorn becomes an oak by means of automatic growth; no commitment is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them.
ROLLO MAYThe amazing thing about love is that it is the best way to get to know ourselves.
More Rollo May Quotes
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The hallmark of courage in our age of conformity is the capacity to stand on one’s own convictions – not obstinately or defiantly
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Courage is necessary to make being and becoming possible.
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It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.
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What anxiety means is it’s as though the world is knocking at your door, and you need to create, you need to make something, you need to do something. I think anxiety, for people who have found their own heart and their own souls, for them it is a stimulus toward creativity, toward courage. It’s what makes us human beings.
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Ecstasy is the accurate term for the intensity of consciousness that occurs in the creative act.
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Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.
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The word courage comes from the same stem as the French word Coeur, meaning “heart.” Thus just as one’s heart, by pumping blood to one’s arms, legs, and brain enables all the other physical organs to function.
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Life comes from physical survival; but the good life comes from what we care about.
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So courage makes possible all the psychological virtues. Without courage other values wither away into mere facsimiles of virtue.
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The ultimate error is the refusal to look evil in the face.
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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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Deeds of violence in our society are performed largely by those trying to establish their self-esteem, to defend their self-image, and to demonstrate that they, too, are significant.
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Creativity is neither the product of neurosis nor simple talent, but an intense courageous encounter with the Gods.
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Mass communication–wonder as it may be technologically and something to be appreciated and valued–presents us wit a serious daner, the danger of conformism, due to the fact that we all view the same things at the same time in all the cities of the country. (p. 73)
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The essence of being human is that, in the brief moment we exist on this spinning planet, we can love some persons and some things, in spite of the fact that time and death will ultimately claim us all.
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A person can meet anxiety to the extent that his values are stronger than the threat.
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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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Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is.
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A mien which seems to say, “You are looking at somebody now.” For this inner sense of worth that comes with being in love does not seem to depend essentially on whether the love is returned or not.
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The first thing necessary for a constructive dealing with time is to learn to live in the reality of the present moment. For psychologically speaking, this present moment is all we have.
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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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It is well to remind ourselves that anxiety signifies a conflict, and so long as a conflict is going on, a constructive solution is possible.
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People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.
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One does not become fully human painlessly.
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To love means to open ourselves to the negative as well as the positive – to grief, sorrow, and disappointment as well as to joy, fulfillment, and an intensity of consciousness we did not know was possible before
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Understanding and love require a wisdom that comes only with age.
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