If we only arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us as the most alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience. How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses? Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.
Rainer Maria RilkeOnly those sadnesses are dangerous and bad which one carries about among people in order to drown them out.
Rainer Maria RilkeTo be loved means to be consumed. To love is to give light with inexhaustible oil. To be loved is to pass away, to love is to endure.
Rainer Maria RilkeItโs possible, Iโm moving through the hard veins of heavy mountains, like an arc, alone; Iโm so deep inside, I see no end in sight, and no distance: everything is getting near and everything near is turning to stone.
Rainer Maria RilkeJoy is a marvelous increasing of what exists, a pure addition out of nothingness.
Rainer Maria RilkeYou see, I want a lot. Perhaps I want everything the darkness that comes with every infinite fall and the shivering blaze of every step up. So many live on and want nothing And are raised to the rank of prince By the slippery ease of their light judgments But what you love to see are faces that do work and feel thirst. You love most of all those who need you as they need a crowbar or a hoe. You have not grown old, and it is not too late To dive into your increasing depths where life calmly gives out its own secret.
Rainer Maria Rilke