Rollo May's Quotes

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

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

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

Depression is the inability to construct a future.

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

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

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.

Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is.

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.

One does not become fully human painlessly.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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