Rollo May

Life comes from physical survival; but the good life comes from what we care about.

Depression is the inability to construct

Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

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.

One has to remain detached in order to triumph over others.

Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.

Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is.

Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one's identity as a being of worth and dignity.

It is dangerous to know but it is more dangerous not to know.

Depression is the inability to construct a future.

Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves.

The purpose of psychotherapy is to set people free.

Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.

Ecstasy is the accurate term for the intensity of consciousness that occurs in the creative act.

The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.

We must be fully committed but we must also be aware at the same time that we might possibly be wrong. People who claim to be absolutely convinced that their stand is the only right one... is a dead giveaway of unconscious doubt. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt.

Life comes from physical survival but the good life comes from what we care about.

It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.

Care is a state in which something does matter; it is the source of human tenderness.

The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice it is conformity.

Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and in that pause to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight. The capacity to create ourselves based upon this freedom is inseparable from consciousness or self awareness

Apathy adds up in the long run to cowardice.

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.

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.

The most effective way to ensure the value of the future is to confront the present courageously and constructively.

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.

There is no meaningful yes unless the individual could also have said no.

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.

The insight is born with anxiety, guilt and the joy and gratification that is inseparable from the actualizing of a new idea or vision.

Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.

Communication leads to community that is to understanding intimacy and mutual valuing

One does not become fully human painlessly.

A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.

It is amazing how many hints and guides and intuitions for living come to the sensitive person who has ears to hear what his body is saying.

If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself.

It requires greater courage to preserve inner freedom, to move on in one's inward journey into new realms, than to stand defiantly for outer freedom. It is often easier to play the martyr, as it is to be rash in battle.

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.

Many people suffer from the fear of finding oneself alone, and so they don't find themselves at all.

Vanity and narcissism the compulsive need to be admired and praised undermine ones courage for one then fights on someone elses conviction rather than ones own.

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.

The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it's not without doubt but in spite of doubt.