Book Review of "The Courage to Create" by Rollo May
Review by
Bill Schaeffer
copyright(c)2014
William Schaeffer
*****
p.1
"We are living at a time when one age is dying and the new age is not yet born. We cannot doubt this as we look about us to see the radical changes in sexual mores, in marriage styles, in family structures, in educatioon, in religion, technology, and almost every other aspect of modern life. And behind it all is the threat of the atom bomb, which recedes into the distance but never disappears. To live with sensitivity in this age of limbo indeed requires courage."
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p. 18
"... George Bernard Shaw... Having attended a concert given by the violinist Heifitz, he wrote the following letter when he got home:
My dear Mr. Heifitz,
My wife and I were overwhelmed by our concert. If you continue to play with such beauty, you will certainly die young. No one can play with such perfection without provoking the jealousy of the gods. I earnestly implore you to play something badly every night beforegoing to bed..."
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p. 32
"When we define creativity, we must make the distinction between its pseudo forms, on the one hand -- that is, creativity as a superficial aestheticism. And, on the other, its authentic form -- that is, the process of 'bringing something new into being'. The crucial distinction is between art as artificiality (as in "artifice" or "artful") and genuine art.
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p. 33
"Now we must make the above distinction clear..."
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p. 35
"Escapist creativity is that which lacks encounter."
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p.77
"Creativity occurs in an act of encounter and is to be understood with this encounter as its center."
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p. 93
"...Giacometti started gasping and stamping his foot:
"Your head is going away!" he exclaimed. "It's going away completely!"
"It will come back again," I said.
He shook his head. "Not necessarily. Maybe the canvas will become completely empty. And then what will become of me? I'll die of it" ...
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his handkerchief, stared at it for a moment, as though he didn't know what it was, then with a moan threw it onto the floor. Suddenly he shouted very loudly, "I shriek! I scream!"
***
"... and that beauty in every form is one and the same." - Plato
