--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Intimacy requires courage because risk is…" description: "\"Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.\" — Rollo May" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg" --- # Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable. ![“Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.” quote by Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg) > “Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.” [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. Intimacy demands bravery because exposing oneself inevitably invites vulnerability and uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Courage needed for deep connection Key Takeaway Risk is inherent in closeness Themes vulnerability courage relationships psychology trust Mood hopeful reflective Type aphor insight When to use this quote - starting a new relationship - confessing feelings - therapeutic disclosure Key Concepts intimacy risk courage Practical Applications - relationship counseling - personal growth workshops Questions to Reflect On - What fears hold you back from intimacy? - How can you reframe risk as opportunity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actualization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actualization/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) ## Related quotes > [Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable. We cannot know at the outset how the relationship will affect us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable-we-cannot-know-2/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable. We cannot know at the outset how the relationship will affect us. Like a chemical mixture, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable-we-cannot-know/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [“Growth requires courage, risk and the willingness to go beyond fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-louise-birmingham/growth-requires-courage-risk-and-the-willingness-to-go-beyond-fear/) [Catherine Louise Birmingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-louise-birmingham/) > [Intimacy requires an ability to both merge and be separate, to come together and be apart, like oscillating on a giant swing from oneness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-sophia-kasl/intimacy-requires-an-ability-to-both-merge-and-be-separate-to-come/) [Charlotte Sophia Kasl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-sophia-kasl/) > [The hardest thing about leadership is the intimacy it requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/the-hardest-thing-about-leadership-is-the-intimacy-it-requires/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [If you follow your bliss...the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-follow-your-bliss-the-life-that-you-ought-to-be-living-is-the/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [It was psychobabbler Abraham Maslow who wrote of the phenomena of self-actualization. What Maslow failed to grasp is that reaching true self-actualization can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/it-was-psychobabbler-abraham-maslow-who-wrote-of-the-phenomena-of/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [Money cannot buy the self-actualization of one's feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-t-usha/money-cannot-buy-the-self-actualization-of-one-s-feelings/) [P. T. Usha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-t-usha/) > [“Victor Frankl: By declaring that man is responsible and must actualize the potential meaning of his life, I wish to stress that the true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/victor-frankl-by-declaring-that-man-is-responsible-and-must-actualize/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualizat ion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/what-a-man-can-be-he-must-be-this-need-we-call-self-actualizat-ion/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) > [“There is no greater moment in life than that when we discover the unique design which has shaped our lives from the moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-nordby/there-is-no-greater-moment-in-life-than-that-when-we-discover-the/) [Jacob Nordby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-nordby/) > [To achieve self actualization, do good things for other people that you would want to be done onto yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/to-achieve-self-actualization-do-good-things-for-other-people-that/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [My mom says you only need three people you can rely on to achieve self-actualization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/my-mom-says-you-only-need-three-people-you-can-rely-on-to-achieve/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I taught myself to write in order to understand who I was and so yes, writing was an act of self-actualization in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-trussoni/i-taught-myself-to-write-in-order-to-understand-who-i-was-and-so-yes/) [Danielle Trussoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-trussoni/) > [It looks as if there were a single ultimate goal for mankind, a far goal toward which all persons strive. This is called variously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/it-looks-as-if-there-were-a-single-ultimate-goal-for-mankind-a-far/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [The personal freedom to think & feel & speak authentically & to be conscious of so doing is the quality that distinguishes us as human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/the-personal-freedom-to-think-feel-speak-authentically-to-be/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Explore all 259 Rollo May quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## More Actualization quotes > [It was psychobabbler Abraham Maslow who wrote of the phenomena of self-actualization. What Maslow failed to grasp is that reaching true self-actualization can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/it-was-psychobabbler-abraham-maslow-who-wrote-of-the-phenomena-of/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [Money cannot buy the self-actualization of one's feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-t-usha/money-cannot-buy-the-self-actualization-of-one-s-feelings/) [P. T. Usha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-t-usha/) > [If you follow your bliss...the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-follow-your-bliss-the-life-that-you-ought-to-be-living-is-the/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The horror no less than the charm of real life consists precisely in the recurrent actualization of the inconceivable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-horror-no-less-than-the-charm-of-real-life-consists-precisely-in/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I taught myself to write in order to understand who I was and so yes, writing was an act of self-actualization in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-trussoni/i-taught-myself-to-write-in-order-to-understand-who-i-was-and-so-yes/) [Danielle Trussoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-trussoni/) > [My mom says you only need three people you can rely on to achieve self-actualization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/my-mom-says-you-only-need-three-people-you-can-rely-on-to-achieve/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The bible is a source of great inspiration to me. It is a textbook of metaphysics. Within the bible are keys to personal growth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fante/the-bible-is-a-source-of-great-inspiration-to-me-it-is-a-textbook-of/) [John Fante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fante/) > [“Human beings have an extraordinary capacity to imagine possibilities and then turn those possibilities into realities. Evident in the gifts of civilization—in our arts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-edmund-miller/human-beings-have-an-extraordinary-capacity-to-imagine-possibilities/) [Scott Edmund Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-edmund-miller/) > [It looks as if there were a single ultimate goal for mankind, a far goal toward which all persons strive. This is called variously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/it-looks-as-if-there-were-a-single-ultimate-goal-for-mankind-a-far/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) > [To achieve self actualization, do good things for other people that you would want to be done onto yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/to-achieve-self-actualization-do-good-things-for-other-people-that/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [“There is no greater moment in life than that when we discover the unique design which has shaped our lives from the moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-nordby/there-is-no-greater-moment-in-life-than-that-when-we-discover-the/) [Jacob Nordby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-nordby/) > ["Teachers"... treat students neither coercively nor instrumentally but as joint seekers of truth and of mutual actualization. They help students define moral values not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-macgregor-burns/teachers-treat-students-neither-coercively-nor-instrumentally-but-as/) [James MacGregor Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-macgregor-burns/) > [“The leader’s joy is the success of change, the evidence of progress and the actualization of a better life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-leader-s-joy-is-the-success-of-change-the-evidence-of-progress/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualizat ion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/what-a-man-can-be-he-must-be-this-need-we-call-self-actualizat-ion/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) > [“We cannot define ourselves without negating the alternatives that we do not become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/we-cannot-define-ourselves-without-negating-the-alternatives-that-we/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) [Browse all 71 Actualization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actualization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rollo May" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Actualization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/rollo-may-1295_actualization_intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-i_90483.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.” — 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": "Intimacy requires courage because risk is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable/#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 } } ] } ```