Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Rollo MayRead
Evil, in this system of ethics, is that which tears apart, shuts out the other person, raises barriers, sets people against each other.
Interpretation
Evil is defined as actions or behaviors that isolate and harm others, creating division and conflict.
In this quote, Rollo May emphasizes that evil is fundamentally linked to the act of creating separation and hostility between individuals. It highlights how behaviors that exclude or harm others contribute to societal discord and ethical failings, suggesting that true ethics involve fostering connection and understanding among people rather than division.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about social justice and the importance of inclusivity.
Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
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
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.
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.
Beauty is the experience that gives us a sense of joy and a sense of peace simultaneously.
The poet, like the lover, is a menace on the assembly line.
What should move us to action is human dignity: the inalienable dignity of the oppressed, but also the dignity of each of us. We lose dignity if we tolerate the intolerable.
Perspective [is] a luxury when your head [is] constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.
I know some of my memories are made up and they are far more powerful than the things that actually happened. For example, I always remember my brother posting me a copy of 'Dubliners' from Africa, but he says he never did.
Sometimes a journey arises out of hope and instinct, the heady conviction, as your finger travels along the map: Yes, here and here ... and here. These are the nerve-ends of the world.
Nobody can have the consolations of religion or philosophy unless he has first experienced their desolations.
The demands of Jesus are difficult just because they require us to do something extraordinary. At the same time he asks us to regard these as something usual, ordinary.
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