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This personal freedom to think and feel and speak authentically and to be conscious of so doing is the quality that distinguishes us as human.

Rollo May

Creativity is not merely the innocent spontaneity of our youth and childhood; it must also be married to the passion of the adult human being, which is a passion to live beyond one’s death.
ROLLO MAY

Adult Being Childhood Creatively Human Innocent Marry Merely Passion Youth
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.
ROLLO MAY

Deep Feeling Hope Imprint Keeper Meaningful Memory Past Time Upon
Creativity is neither the product of neurosis nor simple talent, but an intense courageous encounter with the Gods.
ROLLO MAY

Courageous Creativity Encounter God Intense Neither Neurosis Product Simple Talent
We define religion as the assumption that life has meaning. Religion, or lack of it, is shown not in some intellectual or verbal formulations but in one’s total orientation to life.
ROLLO MAY

Assumption Define Meaning Region
A dynamic struggle goes on within a person between what he or she consciously thinks on the one hand and, on the other, some insight, some perspective that is struggling to be born.
ROLLO MAY

Between Consciously Dynamic Hand Insight One Other Person Perspective Some Struggle Think
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.
ROLLO MAY

Against Being Culture Every Human Me Must Point Say Stand
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.
ROLLO MAY

Anxiety Conflict Constructive Going Long Ourselves Remind Signify So Solution Well
Vanity and narcissism – the compulsive need to be admired and praised – undermine one’s courage, for one then fights on someone else’s conviction rather than one’s own.
ROLLO MAY

Admire Compulsive Fight Narcissism Ned One Praise Underminem Courage Vanity
Understanding and love require a wisdom that comes only with age.
ROLLO MAY

Age Come Love Only Require Understanding Wisdom
The mature person becomes able to differentiate feelings into as many nuances, strong and passionate experiences, or delicate and sensitive ones, as in the different passages of music in a symphony. Unfortunately, many of us have feelings limited like notes in a bugle call.
ROLLO MAY

Become Differentiate Experience Feeling Many Mature Nuance Passionate Person Strong
Real freedom is the ability to pause between stimulus and response, and in that pause, choose.
ROLLO MAY

Ability Choose Freedom Pause Real Response Stimulus
All our feelings, like the artist’s paints and brush, are ways of communicating and sharing something meaningful from us to the world.
ROLLO MAY

Artist Brush Communicating Feeling Like Meaningful Paint Share Something Way World
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.
ROLLO MAY

Answer Between Change Energy Field Human Met Passion Reach Relationship
The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.
ROLLO MAY

Conformity Courage Cowardice Opposite Society
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.
ROLLO MAY

Deed Establish Esteem Largely Perform Self Society Those Try Violence
What if imagination and art are not frosting at all, but the fountainhead of human experience?
ROLLO MAY

Art Experience Fountainhead Frost Human Imagination
Depression is the inability to construct a future.
ROLLO MAY

Construct Depression Future Inability
Creativity is the encounter of the intensively conscious human being with his world.
ROLLO MAY

Being Conscious Creativity Encounter Human Intensively World
All people are struggling to be creative in some way, and the artist is the one who has succeeded in this task of life.
ROLLO MAY

All Artist Ecraetive Life One People Some Struggle Succeeded Task Way
Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.
ROLLO MAY

Courage Inescapable Intimacy Require Risk
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.
ROLLO MAY

Anything Effective Feel Live Most People Powerless
Courage is necessary to make being and becoming possible.
ROLLO MAY

Being Courage Make Necessary Possible
The danger always exists that our technology will serve as a buffer between us and nature, a block between us and the deeper dimensions of our own experience.
ROLLO MAY

Always Between Buffer Danger Exist Nature Our Service Technology
Competitive individualism militates against the experience of community, and that lack of community is a centrally important factor in contemporaneous anxiety.
ROLLO MAY

Against Aleck Community Competitive Contemporary Experience Factor Important Individualism Militate
It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.
ROLLO MAY

Habit Human Being Ironic Lost Way
Courage is required not only in a person’s occasional crucial decision for his own freedom, but in the little hour-to-hour decisions which place the bricks in the structure of his building of himself into a person who acts with freedom and responsibility.
ROLLO MAY

Courage Crucial Decision Freedom Hour Little Occasional Only Own Person Place REquired
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.
ROLLO MAY

Depend Essentially Fall Inner Look Love Men Now Return Seem Sense Somebody Sudden Today

This personal freedom to think and feel and speak authentically and to be conscious of so doing is the quality that distinguishes us as human.

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This personal freedom to think and feel and speak authentically and to be conscious of so doing is the quality that distinguishes us as human.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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