Rollo May — Quote from The Courage to Create
“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life.”
The Courage to Create (1975)
Concepts: agency, meaning, authenticity
Resonant Quotes
- “I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I...” — Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali May's definition of creativity directly diagnoses Tagore's predicament: endless preparation lacks the passion and com...
- “The new always happens against the overwhelming odds of statistical laws and ...” — Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition May's definition of creativity as bringing something new into being directly illuminates Arendt's concept of natality...
- “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.” — Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death Both suggest that authentic creation and authentic existence require the same fundamental act: bringing forth what is...
- “Existence precedes essence. Man first of all exists, encounters himself, surg...” — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism Both quotes illuminate how human existence is fundamentally creative—Sartre's self-definition after existence and May...
- “The miracle that saves the world, the realm of human affairs, from its normal...” — Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition Both ground human dignity in the capacity to initiate something genuinely new—Arendt's political natality and May's c...
- “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa May's definition of creativity as revelation of the hidden directly parallels Camus's discovery of an "invincible sum...
- “Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.” — Albert Camus, The Rebel Both quotes understand authentic creation as requiring total commitment to the immediate moment, with Camus's 'giving...
- “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Ju...” — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus Camus's fundamental question about life's worth finds direct answer in May's creative imperative—both locate authenti...