“For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies, First Elegy (1922), as translated by Stephen Mitchell

About Rainer Maria Rilke

1875 – 1926

Austro-Bohemian poet, best known for 'Letters to a Young Poet' (written 1903–1908, published 1929) and 'Duino Elegies'.

“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves.”

“A good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude.”

“I could give you no advice but this: to go into yourself and to explore the depths where your life wells forth.”

“Courage is of the heart by derivation, and great it is. But fear is of the soul.”

“Let those flatter who fear; it is not an American art.”

“When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes.”

“There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger.”

“The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”

“The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.”