Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Rollo MayRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Joy transcends happiness by being rooted in our true identity and worth as human beings.
This quote by Rollo May emphasizes that the ultimate aim of life is to experience joy, which is deeper and more meaningful than mere happiness. Joy arises from fulfilling our true nature and recognizing our worth and dignity, suggesting that a profound sense of identity and self-awareness is essential for true contentment.
Themes
JoyHappinessLifeIdentityWorthDignity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to emphasize the importance of self-worth.
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
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.
Rollo MayRead
Similar quotes
If it be true that spirit is involved in Matter and apparent Nature is secret God, then the manifestation in the divine in himself and the realization of God within and without are the highest and most legitimate aim possible to man on earth.
Sri AurobindoRead
It seems to me there's this tyranny that's not accidental or incidental, to make women feel compelled to look like somebody they're not. I think the effort is being made to get us to turn our time and attention to this instead of important political issues.
Eve EnslerRead
Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.
James Russell LowellRead
In the moral sphere, every act of justice or charity involves putting ourselves in the other person's place and thus transcending our own competitive particularity.
C. S. LewisRead
Any faith that admires truth, that strives to know God, must be brave enough to accommodate the universe.
Carl SaganRead
O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations.
Saint BonifaceRead