Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Rollo MayRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Anxiety stems from uncertainty regarding our roles and guiding principles in life.
This quote by Rollo May highlights the root of anxiety as a lack of clarity about our purpose and values. It suggests that both individual and collective anxiety arise from confusion about direction, emphasizing the importance of understanding our roles and the principles that guide our actions.
Themes
AnxietyPurposeUnderstandingConfusionDirection
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the challenges of college freshmen who feel lost about their future.
More from Rollo May
All quotes →To love means to open ourselves to the negative as well as the positive - to grief, sorrow, and disappointment as well as to joy, fulfillment, and an intensity of consciousness we did not know was possible before
Rollo MayRead
Terrorism and the whole drug scene are vivid examples of the fact that what persons abhor most of all in life is the possibility that they will not matter.
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Humor is the healthy way of feeling "distance" between one's self and the problem, a way of standing off and looking at one's problem with perspective.
Rollo MayRead
Beauty is the experience that gives us a sense of joy and a sense of peace simultaneously.
Rollo MayRead
The poet, like the lover, is a menace on the assembly line.
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