Welcome to a collection of insightful quotes by Rollo May, an influential American existential psychologist and author whose work has left an indelible mark on the fields of psychology and philosophy. Born in 1909, May’s profound understanding of human nature and the human condition is reflected in his writings, which explore themes such as freedom, anxiety, and the search for meaning in life. Throughout his career, May sought to illuminate the complexities of human existence, offering wisdom and guidance to those grappling with the fundamental questions of existence.
Drawing from his deep well of knowledge and experience, Rollo May’s quotes resonate with authenticity and depth, providing valuable insights into the human psyche and the challenges we face as individuals navigating the complexities of the modern world. Whether exploring the depths of existential angst or the potential for growth and self-discovery, his words have the power to provoke thought, inspire reflection, and offer solace in times of uncertainty. As you delve into the quotes below, you’ll find wisdom that transcends time and speaks to the universal truths of the human experience.
Many modern people have gone so far in their dependence on others for their feeling of reality that they are afraid that without it they would lose the sense of their own existence. Rollo May
In the utopian aim of removing all power and aggression from human behavior, we run the risk of removing self-assertion, self-affirmation, and even the power to be. Rollo May
I have long believed that love and will are interdependent and belong together. Both are conjunctive processes of being – a reaching out to influence others, molding, forming, creating the consciousness of the other. Rollo May
A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence. Rollo May
Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair. Rollo May
Depression is the inability to construct a future. Rollo May
The striking thing about love and will in our day is that, whereas in the past they were always held up to us as the answer to life’s predicaments, they have now themselves become the problem. Rollo May
Memory depends mainly upon myth. Some even occurs in our minds, in actuality or in fantasy; we form it in memory, molding it like clay day after day – and soon we have made out of that event a myth. We then keep the myth in memory as a guide to future similar situations. Rollo May
Care is a state in which something does matter; it is the source of human tenderness. Rollo May
It may sound surprising when I say, on the basis of my own clinical practice as well as that of my psychological and psychiatric colleagues, that the chief problem of people in the middle decade of the twentieth century is emptiness. Rollo May
Our particular problem in America at this point in history is the widespread loss of the sense of individual significance, a loss which is sensed inwardly as impotence. Rollo May
Freedom is man’s capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves. Rollo May
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. Rollo May
The cooperative, loving side of existence goes hand in hand with coping and power, but neither the one nor the other can be neglected if life is to be gratifying. Rollo May
Human dignity is based upon freedom, and freedom upon human dignity. The one presupposes the other. Rollo May
We are anxious because we do not know what roles to pursue, what principles for action to believe in. Our individual anxiety, somewhat like that of the nation, is a basic confusion and bewilderment about where we are going. Rollo May
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. Rollo May
Myths give us our sense of personal identity, answering the question, ‘Who am I?’ Rollo May
Freedom always deals with ‘the possible’; this gives freedom its great flexibility, its fascination, and its dangers. Rollo May
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. Rollo May
Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight. 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
Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is. Rollo May
Loneliness is such an omnipotent and painful threat to many persons that they have little conception of the positive values of solitude and even, at times, are frightened at the prospect of being alone. Rollo May
If we are to achieve freedom, we must do so with a daring and a profundity that refuse to flinch at engaging our destiny. Rollo May
Life comes from physical survival; but the good life comes from what we care about. Rollo May
It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way. Rollo May
If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself. Rollo May
It is an obvious fact that when an age is torn loose from its moorings and everyone is to some degree thrown on his own, most people can take steps to find and realize themselves. Rollo May
The human dilemma is that which arises out of a man’s capacity to experience himself as both subject and object at the same time. Rollo May
The compelling drive to get at the truth is what improves us all as psychologists and is part and parcel of intellectual integrity. But I do urge that we not let the drive for honesty put blinders on us and cut off our range of vision so that we miss the very thing we set out the understand – namely, the living human being. Rollo May
I believe that the therapist’s function should be to help people become free to be aware of and to experience their possibilities. Rollo May
Psychoanalysis – and any good therapy – is a method of increasing one’s awareness of destiny in order to increase one’s experience of freedom. Rollo May
I make no apologies in admitting that I take very seriously the dehumanizing dangers in our tendency in modern science to make man over into the image of the machine, into the image of the techniques by which we study him. Rollo May
Freedom is the possibility of development, of enhancement of one’s life – or the possibility of withdrawing, shutting oneself up, denying and stultifying one’s growth. Rollo May
One does not become fully human painlessly. Rollo May
Problems are the outward signs of unused inner possibilities. Rollo May
Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. Rollo May
Social acceptance, ‘being liked,’ has so much power because it holds the feelings of loneliness at bay. Rollo May
Political freedom is to be cherished indeed. But there is no political freedom that is not indissolubly bound to the inner personal freedom of the individuals who make up that nation: no liberty of a nation of conformists, no free nation made up of robots. Rollo May
The emergence of the Atomic Age brought the previously inchoate and ‘free-floating’ anxiety of many people into sharp focus. Rollo May
The problems of a period are the existential crises of what can be but hasn’t yet been resolved; and regardless of how seriously we take that word ‘resolved,’ if there were not some new possibility, there would be no crisis – there would be only despair. Rollo May
While one might laugh at the meaningless boredom of people a decade or two ago, the emptiness has for many now moved from the state of boredom to a state of futility and despair, which holds promise of dangers. Rollo May
The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity. Rollo May
Every being has the need not only to be but to affirm his own being. This is especially significant for the human organism, for it is gifted with, or condemned to, self-consciousness. Rollo May