--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Creativity is a yearning for immortality" description: "\"Creativity is a yearning for immortality\" — Rollo May" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg" --- # Creativity is a yearning for immortality ![“Creativity is a yearning for immortality” quote by Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg) > “Creativity is a yearning for immortality” [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creativity expresses a deep desire to leave a lasting impact beyond one's lifespan. **In simple terms:** Creative work seeks lasting legacy. Key Takeaway Create with purpose. Themes creativity legacy existentialism Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - writing - painting - entrepreneurship - personal projects Key Concepts psychology artistic drive Questions to Reflect On - What does lasting impact mean to you? - How can you channel this yearning constructively? A Different Perspective May not always guarantee immortality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Creativity Yearning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity-yearning-5988595/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Yearning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning/) [Yearning Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning-immortality-3194094/) ## Related quotes > [Accustom yourself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply awareness, and death is the privation of all awareness;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/accustom-yourself-to-believe-that-death-is-nothing-to-us-for-good-and/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [Our love for our children springs from the soul's greatest yearning for immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/our-love-for-our-children-springs-from-the-soul-s-greatest-yearning/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“Nature has many tricks wherewith she convinces man of his finity, - the ceaseless flow of the tides, the fury of storm, the shock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/nature-has-many-tricks-wherewith-she-convinces-man-of-his-finity-the/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [“Of course, immortality of the soul-- the bare soul, cleansed of any personality traces-- is rarely what is desired in the yearning for immortality...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-p-carse/of-course-immortality-of-the-soul-the-bare-soul-cleansed-of-any/) [James P. Carse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-p-carse/) > [My hair would continue to gray, and then one day, it would fall out entirely, and then, on a day meaninglessly close to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/my-hair-would-continue-to-gray-and-then-one-day-it-would-fall-out/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [Presidential aspirants reach for the highest office to satisfy some yearning for greatness or even immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/presidential-aspirants-reach-for-the-highest-office-to-satisfy-some/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [“To call it yearning would be like calling the ocean water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-nelson/to-call-it-yearning-would-be-like-calling-the-ocean-water/) [R.A. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-nelson/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I’m scared I’m going to spend the rest of my life in a state of yearning, regardless of where I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/i-m-scared-i-m-going-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-in-a-state-of/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“The feelings that hurt most, the motions that sting most, are those that are absurd; the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/the-feelings-that-hurt-most-the-motions-that-sting-most-are-those/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [ “\[She was\] a creature full of eager, passionate longings for all that was beautiful and glad; thirsty for all knowledge; with an ear straining… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-was-a-creature-full-of-eager-passionate-longings-for-all-that-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-ayres/a-creative-man-is-motivated-by-the-desire-to-achieve/) [Alex Ayres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-ayres/) > [Every culture, if its natural development is not too much affected by political restrictions, experiences a perpetual renewal of the formative urge, and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/every-culture-if-its-natural-development-is-not-too-much-affected-by/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [MARVEL IS A CORNUCOPIA OF FANTASY, A WILD IDEA , A SWASHBUCKLING ATTITUDE , AN ESCAPE FROM THE HUMDRUM AND PROSAIC. IT'S A SERENDIPITOUS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/marvel-is-a-cornucopia-of-fantasy-a-wild-idea-a-swashbuckling/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) ## More by Rollo May > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Political freedom is to be cherished indeed. But there is no political freedom that is not indissolubly bound to the inner personal freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/political-freedom-is-to-be-cherished-indeed-but-there-is-no-political/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Joy is the effect which comes when we use our powers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/joy-is-the-effect-which-comes-when-we-use-our-powers/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [In religion, it is not the sycophants or those who cling most faithfully to the status quo who are ultimately praised. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/in-religion-it-is-not-the-sycophants-or-those-who-cling-most/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [One of the few blessings of living in an age of anxiety is that we are forced to become aware of ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/one-of-the-few-blessings-of-living-in-an-age-of-anxiety-is-that-we/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Artists do not run away from non-being, but by encountering and wrestling with it, force it to produce being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/artists-do-not-run-away-from-non-being-but-by-encountering-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [“Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we do not experience it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/technology-is-the-knack-of-so-arranging-the-world-that-we-do-not/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [By the creative act, we are able to reach beyond our own death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/by-the-creative-act-we-are-able-to-reach-beyond-our-own-death/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Joy is the zest that you get out of using your talents, your understanding, the totality of your being, for great aims...That's the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/joy-is-the-zest-that-you-get-out-of-using-your-talents-your/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [One must have at least a readiness to love the other person, broadly speaking, if one is to be able to understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/one-must-have-at-least-a-readiness-to-love-the-other-person-broadly/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Man is the "ethical animal" ethical in potentiality even if, unfortunately, not in actuality. His capacity for ethical judgment like freedom, reason and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/man-is-the-ethical-animal-ethical-in-potentiality-even-if/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Evil, in this system of ethics, is that which tears apart, shuts out the other person, raises barriers, sets people against each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/evil-in-this-system-of-ethics-is-that-which-tears-apart-shuts-out-the/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [We receive love — from our children as well as others — not in proportion to our demands or sacrifices or needs, but roughly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/we-receive-love-from-our-children-as-well-as-others-not-in-proportion/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/the-opposite-of-courage-in-our-society-is-not-cowardice-it-is/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Explore all 259 Rollo May quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## More Creativity quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) [Andrei Amalrik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-amalrik/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) [Christoph Niemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-niemann/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Creativity is a yearning for immortality", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rollo May" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creativity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/rollo-may-1295_creativity_creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality_1583877.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Creativity is a yearning for immortality” — Rollo May", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rollo May", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Creativity is a yearning for immortality", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/creativity-is-a-yearning-for-immortality/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```