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Quote by Rollo May

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Rollo May
Rollo May

Rollo May was an American psychologist born on April 21, 1909, and died on October 22, 1994. He was a significant figure in existential psychology and is considered one of the pioneers of the field. more

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“The individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others. He justifies his existence by a movement which, like freedom, springs from his heart but which leads outside of himself.”

WorldHeartIndividualExistenceMovementSpringDefinedJustifyExistentialTranscending
Book:The Philosophical Library Existentialism Collection: Essays in Metaphysics, The Ethics of Ambiguity, and The Philosophy of Existentialism
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“The notion of ambiguity must not be confused with that of absurdity. To declare that existence is absurd is to deny that it can ever be given a meaning; to say that it is ambiguous is to assert that its meaning is never fixed, that it must be constantly won. Absurdity challenges every ethics; but also the finished rationalization of the real would leave no room for ethics; it is because man's condition is ambiguous that he seeks, through failure and outrageousness, to save his existence.”

MenRealGivenChallengesRoomsExistenceConditionsEthicsNotionDenyFinishedAbsurdFixedConfusedExistentialAbsurdityAmbiguityAmbiguous
Book:The Philosophical Library Existentialism Collection: Essays in Metaphysics, The Ethics of Ambiguity, and The Philosophy of Existentialism
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“There is no doubt that healthy-mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine, because the evil facts which it refuses positively to account for are a genuine portion of reality; and they may after all be the best key to life's significance, and possibly the only openers of our eyes to the deepest levels of truth.”

MayFactsRealityEyeEvilLevelsDoubtKeysHealthyAccountsPhilosophicalRefuseGenuineDoctrineNo DoubtBeing The BestSignificancePortionsExistentialPositivelyInadequate
Book:The William James Reader
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“Therefore, it is we who are responsible for much of the evil in the world; and we are each morally required to accept rather than project that ponderous responsibility-lest we prefer instead to wallow in a perennial state of powerless, frustrated, furious, victimhood. For what one possesses the power to bring about, one has also the power to limit, Mitigate, counteract, or transmute.”

WorldStatesEvilResponsibilityAcceptingLimitsProjectsResponsibleFrustratedExistentialPowerlessFuriousVictimhood
Book:Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity
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