David Whyte quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by David Whyte

David Whyte Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from David Whyte on Wise Famous Quotes.

David Whyte quotes: Wanting soul life without the dark, warming intelligence of personal doubt is like expecting an egg without the brooding heat of the mother hen.

Wanting soul life without the dark, warming intelligence of personal doubt is like expecting an egg without the brooding heat of the mother hen.

David Whyte quotes: I want to know if you are willing to live, day by day, with the consequence of love.

I want to know if you are willing to live, day by day, with the consequence of love.

David Whyte quotes: Honesty lies in understanding our close and necessary relationship with not wanting to hear the truth.

Honesty lies in understanding our close and necessary relationship with not wanting to hear the truth.

David Whyte quotes: No matter the self-conceited importance of our labors we are all compost for worlds we cannot yet imagine.

No matter the self-conceited importance of our labors we are all compost for worlds we cannot yet imagine.

David Whyte quotes: Read and admire, but then go back to first principles and ask the question yourself, in your own way. Dare to disagree.

Read and admire, but then go back to first principles and ask the question yourself, in your own way. Dare to disagree.

David Whyte quotes: But then we always knew heaven would be a desperate place. Everything you desired coming in one fearful moment to greet you.

But then we always knew heaven would be a desperate place. Everything you desired coming in one fearful moment to greet you.

David Whyte quotes: Absent the edge, we drown in numbness.

Absent the edge, we drown in numbness.

David Whyte quotes: Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.

Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.

David Whyte quotes: We're moving toward the kind of work world which has less security. But we hope it has more creativity and possibility of real engagement.

We're moving toward the kind of work world which has less security. But we hope it has more creativity and possibility of real engagement.

David Whyte quotes: We shape our self to fit this world and by the world are shaped again

We shape our self
to fit this world
and by the world
are shaped again

David Whyte quotes: Everyone casts a shadow. Everyone has a relationship with the fearful unknown.

Everyone casts a shadow. Everyone has a relationship with the fearful unknown.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry is language against which you have no defenses.

Poetry is language against which you have no defenses.

David Whyte quotes: Genius is becoming something you were all along.

Genius is becoming something you were all along.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry: Language against which we have no defences.

Poetry: Language against which we have no defences.

David Whyte quotes: The antidote to exhaustion isn't rest.It's wholeheartedness.

The antidote to exhaustion isn't rest.
It's wholeheartedness.

David Whyte quotes: The lost sense that we play out our lives as part of a greater story

The lost sense that we play out our lives as part of a greater story

David Whyte quotes: We speak continually of saving time, but time in its richness is most often lost to us when we are busy without relief.

We speak continually of saving time, but time in its richness is most often lost to us when we are busy without relief.

David Whyte quotes: The moment you've uttered the exact dimensionality of your exile, you're already turning towards home.

The moment you've uttered the exact dimensionality of your exile, you're already turning towards home.

David Whyte quotes: Art is the act of triggering deep memories of what it means to be fully human.

Art is the act of triggering deep memories of what it means to be fully human.

David Whyte quotes: We are the only species on earth capable of preventing our own flowering.

We are the only species on earth capable of preventing our own flowering.

David Whyte quotes: One small thingI've learned these years,how to be alone,and at the edge of alonenesshow to be found by the world.

One small thing
I've learned these years,
how to be alone,
and at the edge of aloneness
how to be found by the world.

David Whyte quotes: The great poems are not about experience, but are the experience itself, felt in the body.

The great poems are not about experience, but are the experience itself, felt in the body.

David Whyte quotes: Regret is a short, evocative and achingly beautiful word: an elegy to lost possibilities even in its brief annunciation.

Regret is a short, evocative and achingly beautiful word: an elegy to lost possibilities even in its brief annunciation.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry gives us courage and sets us straight with the world. Poems are great companions and friends.

Poetry gives us courage and sets us straight with the world. Poems are great companions and friends.

David Whyte quotes: Heartbreak is how we mature ... There is almost no path a human being can follow that does not lead to heartbreak.

Heartbreak is how we mature ... There is almost no path a human being can follow that does not lead to heartbreak.

David Whyte quotes: There are millions of people living Thoreau's life of quiet desperation, and they do not have the language to escape from that desperation.

There are millions of people living Thoreau's life of quiet desperation, and they do not have the language to escape from that desperation.

David Whyte quotes: It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with, it is the mother of the thing you fear. The very thing that has given birth to the

It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with, it is the mother of the thing you fear. The very thing that has given birth to the nightmare.

David Whyte quotes: The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by the answering.

The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by the answering.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry is the art of overhearing ourselves say things from which it is impossible to retreat.

Poetry is the art of overhearing ourselves say things from which it is impossible to retreat.

David Whyte quotes: When I'm working with German audiences, I will call on my Rilke and Goethe in the original.

When I'm working with German audiences, I will call on my Rilke and Goethe in the original.

David Whyte quotes: What you plan is too small for you to live.

What you plan is too small for you to live.

David Whyte quotes: The severest test of work today, is not of our strategies, but of our imaginations and identities.

The severest test of work today, is not of our strategies, but of our imaginations and identities.

David Whyte quotes: A soul-based workplace asks things of me that I didn't even know I had. It's constantly telling me that I belong to something large in the world.

A soul-based workplace asks things of me that I didn't even know I had. It's constantly telling me that I belong to something large in the world.

David Whyte quotes: There's a fierce practicality and empiricism which the whole imaginative, lyrical aspect of poetry comes from.

There's a fierce practicality and empiricism which the whole imaginative, lyrical aspect of poetry comes from.

David Whyte quotes: If in your mind it was possible to take a year's sabbatical from work to reassess your life, what would you do and where would you go?

If in your mind it was possible to take a year's sabbatical from work to reassess your life, what would you do and where would you go?

David Whyte quotes: Sometimes everything has to be inscribed across the heavens so you can find the one line already written inside you.

Sometimes everything has to be inscribed across the heavens so you can find the one line already written inside you.

David Whyte quotes: To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings.

To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings.

David Whyte quotes: The courageous conversation is the one you don't want to have.

The courageous conversation is the one you don't want to have.

David Whyte quotes: But what would that be likefeeling the tide riseout of the numbness inside

But what would that be like
feeling the tide rise
out of the numbness inside

David Whyte quotes: What you can plan is too small for you to live. What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough for the vitality hidden in your sleep.

What you can plan is too small for you to live. What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough for the vitality hidden in your sleep.

David Whyte quotes: You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in. Give up all the other worlds Except the one in which you belong.

You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in. Give up all the other worlds Except the one in which you belong.

David Whyte quotes: I want to knowif you knowhow to melt into that fierce heat of livingfalling towardthe center of your longing.

I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living
falling toward
the center of your longing.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry carries the imagery which is large enough for the kind of life we want for ourselves.

Poetry carries the imagery which is large enough for the kind of life we want for ourselves.

David Whyte quotes: Let the apple ripenon the branch beyond your needto take it down.

Let the apple ripen
on the branch
beyond your need
to take it down.

David Whyte quotes: I returned to poetry as a more precise way to describe the world, more precise than science.

I returned to poetry as a more precise way to describe the world, more precise than science.

David Whyte quotes: Shyness means you are in the hallway of a greater presence. You just don't know how to take the conversation another step. It's a lovely indication.

Shyness means you are in the hallway of a greater presence. You just don't know how to take the conversation another step. It's a lovely indication.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry for me has been a long pilgrimage, a journey and a growing relationship with the unknown.

Poetry for me has been a long pilgrimage, a journey and a growing relationship with the unknown.

David Whyte quotes: The greatest tragedy is to live out someone else's life thinking it was your own.

The greatest tragedy is to live out someone else's life thinking it was your own.

David Whyte quotes: Stop trying to change reality by attempting to eliminate complexity.

Stop trying to change reality by attempting to eliminate complexity.

David Whyte quotes: What I have not seenor failed to seeI leave as a gift.

What I have not seen
or failed to see
I leave as a gift.

David Whyte quotes: Work and life are not separate things and therefore cannot be balanced against each other except to create further trouble.

Work and life are not separate things and therefore cannot be balanced against each other except to create further trouble.

David Whyte quotes: It is difficult to be creative and enthusiastic about anything for which we do not feel affection.

It is difficult to be creative and enthusiastic about anything for which we do not feel affection.

David Whyte quotes: A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain.

A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain.

David Whyte quotes: The frail, vulnerable sounds of which we are capable seem to be essential to a later ability to roar like a lion without scaring everyone to death.

The frail, vulnerable sounds of which we are capable seem to be essential to a later ability to roar like a lion without scaring everyone to death.

David Whyte quotes: The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears

The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears

David Whyte quotes: What if the world is holding its breath - waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill?

What if the world is holding its breath -
waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill?

David Whyte quotes: The fear of loss, in one form or another, is the motivator behind all conscious and unconscious dishonesties.

The fear of loss, in one form or another, is the motivator behind all conscious and unconscious dishonesties.

David Whyte quotes: Inside everyone is a great shout of joy waiting to be born.

Inside everyone is a great shout of joy waiting to be born.

David Whyte quotes: To be human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.

To be human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.

David Whyte quotes: There is no house like the house of belonging.

There is no house like the house of belonging.

David Whyte quotes: Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone.

Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone.

David Whyte quotes: Vulnerability is not a weakness but a faculty for understanding.

Vulnerability is not a weakness but a faculty for understanding.

David Whyte quotes: Sometimes you have to make a complete disaster of your life in such an epic way that it will be absolutely clear to you what you've been doing.

Sometimes you have to make a complete disaster of your life in such an epic way that it will be absolutely clear to you what you've been doing.

David Whyte quotes: Honesty is reached through the doorway of grief and loss.

Honesty is reached through the doorway of grief and loss.

David Whyte quotes: Honesty is grounded in humility and indeed in humiliation, and in admitting exactly where we are powerless.

Honesty is grounded in humility and indeed in humiliation, and in admitting exactly where we are powerless.

David Whyte quotes: The greatest luxury of having money should be not having to worry about it.

The greatest luxury of having money should be not having to worry about it.

David Whyte quotes: Poetry is a break for freedom.

Poetry is a break for freedom.

David Whyte quotes: The truth about our own modest contribution might immobilize us: much easier then, to tell ourselves a story about how much we make our own reality.

The truth about our own modest contribution might immobilize us: much easier then, to tell ourselves a story about how much we make our own reality.

David Whyte quotes: Stop trying to change reality by eliminating complexity.

Stop trying to change reality by eliminating complexity.

David Whyte quotes: Walking the roads is enough today, I'll follow the dark line of receding sun

Walking the roads is enough today, I'll follow the dark line of receding sun

David Whyte quotes: Gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without us.

Gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without us.

David Whyte quotes: Whether we stay or whether we go - to be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.

Whether we stay or whether we go - to be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.

David Whyte quotes: To remember the other world in this world is to live in your true inheritance.

To remember the other world in this world is to live in your true inheritance.

David Whyte quotes: Therefore, at any time of life, follow your own questions; don't mistake other people's questions for your own.

Therefore, at any time of life, follow your own questions; don't mistake other people's questions for your own.

David Whyte quotes: The thing about great poetry is we have no defenses against it.

The thing about great poetry is we have no defenses against it.

David Whyte quotes: Without the compassionate understanding of the fear and trepidation that lie behind courageous speech, we are bound only to our arrogance.

Without the compassionate understanding of the fear and trepidation that lie behind courageous speech, we are bound only to our arrogance.

David Whyte quotes: What is precious inside us does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence.

What is precious inside us does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence.