Rainer Maria Rilke
1875-1926 • Bohemian-Austrian
Perennial Philosophy
One of the most significant poets in the German language. His Letters to a Young Poet offers profound guidance on creativity and life.
Key Works
- Letters to a Young Poet
- Duino Elegies
- Sonnets to Orpheus
110
quotes in library
Quotes by Rainer Maria Rilke
110 quotes“To love is good, too: love being difficult.”
loveLetters to a Young Poet
“Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.”
loveLetters to a Young Poet
“It is in this difficult and hesitant time of life that one's solitude grows; for it is hard.”
solitudeLetters to a Young Poet
“Even between the closest people there are infinite distances.”
intimacyLetters to a Young Poet
“A wonderful side-by-side can grow up if they succeed in loving the expanse between them.”
loveLetters to a Young Poet
“Sex is difficult; yes. But it is the difficult that is laid upon us, almost everything serious is difficult, and everything is serious.”
depthLetters to a Young Poet
“You ask whether your verses are good. You send them to me. You also ask other people. You compare them with other poems, and you grow disturbed when certain editors reject your efforts.”
vocationLetters to a Young Poet
“Nobody can advise and help you, nobody. There is only one way: go into yourself.”
interiorityLetters to a Young Poet
“Search for the cause, find the impetus that bids you write.”
vocationLetters to a Young Poet
“Don't look for answers; they cannot now be given to you because you could not live them.”
patienceLetters to a Young Poet
“Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.”
patienceLetters to a Young Poet
“And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now.”
presenceLetters to a Young Poet
“Don't believe that your gift is a small thing.”
vocationLetters
“Always trust yourself and your own feeling, as opposed to argumentations.”
trustLetters to a Young Poet
“In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write.”
vocationLetters to a Young Poet
“Most people are nothing but particles of nature.”
individualityLetters
“For a long time I had not been able to dwell on anything.”
attentionNotebooks of Malte
“For the sake of a few lines, one must see many cities, men and things.”
experienceNotebooks of Malte
“One must have memories of many nights of love, none of which was like the others.”
experienceNotebooks of Malte
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