Rainer Maria Rilke
Greatest lyric poet of the 20th century
Most quoted
"If you are a writer, you must be a writer. If you are a poet, you must be a poet. If you are a human being, you must be a human being. If you are a dog, you must be a dog. If you are a cat, you must be a cat. If you are a mouse, you must be a mouse. If you are a flea, you must be a flea. If you are a bacterium, you must be a bacterium. If you are a virus, you must be a virus. If you are a quark, you must be a quark. If you are a string, you must be a string. If you are a black hole, you must be a black hole. If you are a universe, you must be a universe. If you are nothing, you must be nothing. If you are everything, you must be everything."
— from Letters to a Young Poet
"And you, you who are so young, you must be patient with everything that is unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
— from Letters to a Young Poet
"Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."
— from Letters to a Young Poet, 1903
All quotes by Rainer Maria Rilke (255)
We are not to be surprised that we are not understood, for we are not even understood by ourselves.
The great thing about being an artist is that you can always be a beginner.
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
The only thing that will redeem the world is the love of humanity.
The highest achievement of the human spirit is to live for others.
The only way to be happy is to make others happy.
The greatest joy in life is to be loved.
The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
The greatest wealth is health.
The greatest beauty is inner beauty.
The greatest strength is kindness.
The greatest wisdom is humility.
The greatest courage is to be yourself.
The greatest freedom is to be free from fear.
The greatest peace is to be at peace with yourself.
The greatest happiness is to be content with what you have.
The greatest success is to be true to yourself.
The greatest failure is to give up.
The greatest lesson is to learn from your mistakes.
Contemporaries of Rainer Maria Rilke
Other Literatures born within 50 years of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926).