Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Rollo MayRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humor helps us gain perspective on our problems by creating emotional distance.
This quote by Rollo May suggests that humor serves as a psychological tool that allows individuals to detach themselves emotionally from their problems, thus providing a clearer perspective. By viewing challenges with a sense of humor, one can better cope with difficulties and see them more objectively, which can lead to healthier emotional responses and solutions.
Themes
HumorPerspectiveProblemsDistanceCoping
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of humor in coping strategies.
More from Rollo May
All quotes βTo 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.
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.
Rollo MayRead
Joy is the zest that you get out of using your talents, your understanding, the totality of your being, for great aims...That's the kind of feeling that goes with creativity. That's why I say the courage to create. Creation does not come out of simply what you're born with. That must be united with your courage, both of which cause anxiety, but also great joy.
Rollo MayRead
Similar quotes
Just making the crowd laugh is not really doing things for me anymore. That's just knowing how to kill; I've learned how to kill - but also learned when a crowd's laughter is meaningful.
Patrice O'NealRead
She is laughing up her sleeve at you.
MoliereRead
She was, in fact, quite a pleasant looking girl, even if her bosom had clearly been intended for a girl two feet taller; but she was not Her. The Egregious Professor of Grammar and Usage would have corrected this to "she was not she," which would have caused the Professor of Logic to spit out his drink.
Terry PratchettRead
The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become until he goes abroad.
Mark TwainRead
I'm offended by political jokes. Too often they get elected.
Henny YoungmanRead
McDonald's breakfast for under a dollar is actually more expensive than that. You have to factor in the cost of bypass surgery.
George CarlinRead