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
Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True love is rooted in independence rather than dependence on another person.
Rollo May's quote emphasizes the distinction between love and dependence, asserting that genuine love flourishes when individuals have a strong sense of independence. The capacity to love is contingent upon one's ability to stand on their own, rather than relying on another person for emotional stability or fulfillment. This perspective challenges the common notion that love equates to attachment, advocating instead for a healthier, more autonomous understanding of love.
Themes
LoveIndependenceRelationshipSelf-RelianceEmotional Health
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a discussion on relationships to highlight the importance of personal autonomy.
More from Rollo May
All quotes βTerrorism 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
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
What I noticed, though, is almost every time I type the word love, it gets changed to the word live⦠I learned that fully loving and fully living are not only synonymous but the kind of life that Jesus invited us to be part of.
Bob GoffRead
Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time. - The Great Gatsby.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
True love makes the thought of death frequent, easy, without terrors; it merely becomes the standard of comparison, the price one would pay for many things.
StendhalRead
I love our shared island, our shared Ireland and its core decency. I love it for its imagination and its celebration of the endless possibilities for our people.
Michael D. HigginsRead
I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly, devotedly. If ever there were love in the world, I love her.
Charles DickensRead
The unicorn was white, with hoofs of silver and graceful horn of pearl... The glorious thing about him was his eye. There was a faint bluish furrow down each side of his nose, and this led to the eye sockets, and surrounded them in a pensive shade. The eyes, circled by this sad and beautiful darkness, were so sorrowful, lonely, gentle and nobly tragic, that they killed all other emotions except love.
T. H. WhiteRead