Rollo May — Quote from Man's Search for Himself
“Loneliness is such an omnipotent and painful threat to many persons that they have little conception of the positive values of solitude, and even at times are frightened at the prospect of being alone.”
Man's Search for Himself (1953)
Concepts: loneliness, conformity, authenticity
Resonant Quotes
- “Solitude is that human situation in which I keep myself company. Loneliness c...” — Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind Both quotes make the identical philosophical distinction between solitude as creative self-relation and loneliness as...
- “What makes loneliness so unbearable is the loss of one's own self which can b...” — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism May's observation about the fear of solitude illuminates why Arendt's distinction between constructive solitude and d...
- “Whoever has learned to be alone with himself knows only too well how hard it ...” — Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human Both philosophers recognize that the fear of solitude stems from the difficulty of confronting oneself, with May iden...
- “The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton, identic...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Both psychologists identify how fear of isolation drives people toward false solutions that ultimately compromise the...
- “Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous...” — Thomas Mann, Death in Venice May's recognition of solitude's positive values threatened by loneliness fears directly engages Mann's paradox that s...
- “I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to...” — Simone de Beauvoir, The Prime of Life De Beauvoir's explicit desire for loneliness alongside friendship directly challenges May's observation about people'...
- “No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” — Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own Woolf's celebration of unhurried selfhood directly addresses May's concern by suggesting that the fear of solitude st...
- “Writing — I can say this after years of practice — is a lonely business.” — Günter Grass, Peeling the Onion Both recognize that creative solitude requires confronting the very loneliness most people flee—Grass's writing pract...