Love is generally confused with dependence; but in point of fact, you can love only in proportion to your capacity for independence.
Rollo MayRead
Dogmatism of all kinds--scientific, economic, moral, as well as political--are threatened by the creative freedom of the artist. This is necessarily and inevitably so. We cannot escape our anxiety over the fact that the artists together with creative persons of all sorts, are the possible destroyer of our nicely ordered systems. (p. 76)
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists challenge established beliefs and systems through their creative expression.
In this quote, Rollo May highlights the inherent tension between artistic freedom and the conventional structures of society, such as scientific and moral dogmas. He suggests that artists, by their very nature, have the potential to disrupt and dismantle these orderly systems, provoking anxiety among those who adhere to established norms, as creativity poses a threat to dogmatic certainty.
Themes
ArtCreativityDogmatismFreedomAnxietyDisruption
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of art in society.
More from Rollo May
All quotes →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
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
I want to make films without a single clear message, and films that are as close as possible to what it feels like to be alive. At least to me.
Spike JonzeRead
I have a predilection for painting that lends joyousness to a wall.
Pierre-Auguste RenoirRead
Often, especially young artists, you feel like you should be doing something. And I think that can be very destructive because creativity is about connecting with the stuff that's deep inside you and making something out of that.
Max RichterRead
At the very beginning of my creative life I loved humanity. I wanted to do something good for mankind. Soon I understood that it isn't possible to save mankind.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’.... And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.
Maya AngelouRead
The poetry you read has been written for you, each of you - black, white, Hispanic, man, woman, gay, straight.
Maya AngelouRead