Rollo May

Psychologist American 1909 – 1994

American existential psychologist who emphasized freedom, responsibility, and creativity.

374 quotes

"We cannot serve freedom by enslaving ourselves to ideology."
Freedom
"The quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our lives."
Wisdom
"Love grows in the space between vulnerability and trust."
Love
"True strength lies not in domination but in the capacity to be affected by others."
Strength
"The future belongs to those who have faith in the beauty of their dreams."
Dreams
"We are each responsible for creating beauty and meaning in our corner of the world."
Beauty
"The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity."
Courage
"Freedom is a 24-hour-a-day job."
Freedom
"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."
Creativity
"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, we feel a responsibility for the actions of others."
Relationships
"The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love."
Solitude
"Maturity is not the end of growth, but the beginning of it."
Wisdom
"Our task is not to fight against evil, but to create the good."
Hope
"The greatest care should be taken in the education of youth."
Education
"Passion and violence are the same thing, just channeled differently."
Power
"Anxiety is the price one pays for creativity."
Creativity
"The only real failure is the failure to grow."
Perseverance
"Truth is like the sun; you can shut it out for a time, but it isn't going away."
Truth
"Love is the bridge between two souls."
Love
"Symbols are the language of the soul."
Art
"The unconscious mind is the driving force in human behavior."
Philosophy
"We are our choices."
Freedom
"The paradox is that we must be free from fear to be courageous."
Fear
"Consciousness cannot exist without unconsciousness."
Wisdom
"Art is a way of making meaning in an otherwise meaningless universe."
Art
"The person without hope is already dead."
Hope
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less."
"The creative person is one who experiences the fullness of being."
Creativity
"Leadership is not about power; it's about influence."
Leadership
"Time is the ultimate teacher; those who fail to learn from it are doomed to repeat it."
Time