Rollo May Quotes

In the space between stimulus (what happens) and how we respond, lies our freedom to choose. Ultimately, this power to choose is what defines us as human beings. We may have limited choices but we can always choose. We can choose our thoughts, emotions, moods, our words, our actions; we can choose our values and live by principles. It is the choice of acting or being acted upon.

Man is pre-eminently endowed with the power of voluntarily and consciously determining his own point of view.

You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to, but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself.

A man can surely do what he wills to do, but cannot determine what he wills.

If I decide to be indecisive, that's my decision.

The range of choice open to the individual is not the decisive factor in determining the degree of human freedom, but what can be chosen and what is chosen by the individual.

Everything is something you decide to do, and there is nothing you have to do.

Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.

You decide the things that ultimately you do. You have choices in this world, and that's how I live.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space where we choose our response.

If we become aware of what's happening before we act, behaviour becomes a function of choice rather than a result of an impulse or trigger. You begin to control your world more as opposed to the outside world controlling you.

Fundamentally, we are a product of choice, not nature (genes) or nurture (upbringing, environment).

Honestly, I cannot understand what people mean when they talk about the freedom of the human will. I have a feeling, for instance, that I will something or other; but what relation this has with freedom I cannot understand at all. I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do it; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe ? Another act of willing?

Choice is the key, because human beings are the only creatures who can choose to evolve, who can shape their destiny. Furthermore, we have been given the gift of "self-awareness," which allows us to step back into our true selves to observe and use our brains to create the world we wish to live in.

If I decide to be an idiot, then I'll be an idiot on my own accord.

Do whatever you will, but first be such as are able to will.

A life lived of choice is a life of conscious action. A life lived of chance is a life of unconscious creation.

Every human has four endowments - self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.

A human being is a deciding being.

I am very comfortable with the idea that we can override biology with free will.

Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself.

I don't feel guilt. Whatever I wish to do, I do.

Obedience is detachment from the self. This is the most radical detachment of all. But what is the self? The self is the principle of reason and responsibility in us. It is the root of freedom, it is what makes us men.

I'm doing it because I choose it. And if it's not working, I can make a change.

I think it is important to remind people of the extent of our free will.