Skip to main content

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Image
By on


 "If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable. If you will love what seems to be insignificant and will in an unassuming manner, as a servant, seek to win the confidence of what seems poor, then everything will become easier, more harmonious, and somehow more conciliatory, not for your intellect - that will most likely remain behind, astonished - but for your innermost consciousness, your awakeness, and your inner knowing."

"dear friend, embrace your solitude and love it."

"Your innermost happening is worth all your love."

"Do not expend too much courage or time to clarify your position to others."

"We must embrace struggle. Every living thing conforms to it. Everything in nature grows and struggles in its own way, establishing its own identity, insisting on it at all cost, against all resistance."

"To love is also good, for love is difficult. For one human being to love another is perhaps the most difficult task of all, the epitome, the ultimate test. It is that striving for which all other striving is merely preparation. For that reason young people -  who are beginners in everything - cannot yet love; they do not know how to love. They must learn it. With their whole being, with all strengths enveloping their lonely, disquieted heart, they must learn to love - even while their heartbeat is quickening."

"it is so important to be alone and observant when one is sad."

"It is always my wish that you might find enough patience within yourself to endure, and enough innocence to have faith. It is my wish that you might gain more and more trust in whatever is difficult for you, in your aloneness, among other things. Allow life to happen to you. Believe me, life is right in all cases."

My Favourite Quotes from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Circe

By on
 "When we are young, we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world." Not me. When I was young, it never occurred to me to think that way, or I don't remember now. But I can imagine how it can be true for others. By the way, this is a line from Circe by Madeline Miller, not the opening line. I've been reading books that are just there, available to me. But amid that, I felt like reading Circe, remembering a friend's recommendation from some time ago or maybe because I saw it mentioned in some Reddit thread.  Now I'm not well-versed in Greek mythology. It seems Circe is a side character in The Odyssey, which I have not read. But I very much prefer this retelling of the life of goddess Circe as the heroine of her own epic. I could relate to a few things here, learned a few things, or got reminded of things I was forgetting. I just love this kind of book. And no, I'm not going to write a review. Just some lines and my thoughts. "...in a s...
Post a Comment
Read more

September 2025 Reads—Toni Morrison, Madeline Miller, and More

By on
How I yearn for personal space and time alone! Long stretches of time alone to do nothing else but think, read, be creative and create. At the moment, that's not happening. But I have been reading as much as I can within the time I have. And I am grateful for what I have, and I know my time will come. I read some pretty good books in September. In order of my liking, starting with the one I like most, here they are: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (What a complete gem of a book!!🫶🏻) Circe by Madeline Miller The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison A Mercy by Toni Morrison Rosa Parks by Kristen Susieka The Cassandra Complex by Holly Smale Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison:  That feeling when you finish a book, think you've just read one of the best books ever, and know this is not the only time you'll read that book. Yup! I got that with Song of Solomon. I guess I have a thing for magical realism. But it's not just that. This book surprise...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Your Pet Dies

By on
August has not been very kind. Our Rex died. 23rd August 2025. A seven-year-old healthy Rottweiler. He was never once sick. How did this happen? I am having a hard time believing he's gone.  Every day, after I wake up, I let him out to do his nature business. Within our walls. As usual, he did and came back. Then later in the morning, I went to feed him. I saw that he had vomited everywhere. But he looked okay. He came out, did his business again, and came back. I took him up to the porch and sat him down on the sunny side. I thought he was cold and having indigestion. But he kept getting up. So I moved him to the shaded area. He drank some water and sat. I went into the room and read for some time. While reading, I could hear the sound of his chain jingling. That was normal. Maybe he was scratching himself, causing the sound. Nothing new to cause concern. I finished the book and went out to check. What I saw was horrible. He was seizing. I thought it was that. He was lying on his ...
Post a Comment
Read more