Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Rollo MayRead
A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Myths help us understand and find meaning in an otherwise chaotic world.
In this quote, Rollo May expresses the idea that myths serve as crucial narratives that provide order and meaning to human life. In a world filled with confusion and senselessness, these myths act as tools that help individuals and cultures derive significance from their experiences and existence, thereby giving a sense of purpose and understanding.
Themes
MythMeaningExistenceNarrativeSenseless
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about literature, you might reference this quote to highlight the importance of storytelling.
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
All this struggling and striving to make the world better is a great mistake. Not that it's wrong to try to improve the world if you know how but simply because struggling and striving are the worst possible ways to go about doing anything!
George Bernard ShawRead
Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers.
HeraclitusRead
I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state.
Roger EbertRead
For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Mankind censure injustice fearing that they may be the victims of it, and not because they shrink from committing it.
PlatoRead
Honestly, what can really be said about 'the Jewish people' as a whole? Is it not a lamentable stereotype to make large generalizations about all Jews, and to presume they all share the same political commitments?
Judith ButlerRead