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.”

“Human dignity is based upon freedom, and freedom upon human dignity. The one presupposes the other.”

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

“If we are to achieve freedom, we must do so with a daring and a profundity that refuse to flinch at engaging our destiny.”

“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.”

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

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

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

“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.”

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

“Depression is the inability to construct a future.”

“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.”

“I believe that the therapist's function should be to help people become free to be aware of and to experience their possibilities.”

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