Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and… try to love the questions themselves… Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them… Live the questions now.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Live the Questions
Topic: Spiritual Growth & Practice
I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to 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.
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was a renowned Austrian poet, recognized for his significant contributions to modern poetry. Born in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on December 4, 1875, he embarked on a literary journey that would leave an indelible mark on the world of letters. Rilke's early years were marked by a tumultuous childhood, characterized by strained family relations and frequent relocations. However, these experiences seemed to fuel his introspective and contemplative nature, evident in his later poetic works.
Rilke's poetry often delved into themes of existentialism, love, and the human condition. His writings, such as "Letters to a Young Poet" and the "Duino Elegies," are celebrated for their depth and exploration of inner life. Throughout his career, he traveled extensively, drawing inspiration from diverse cultures and landscapes, which enriched his poetic expressions. His lyrical and introspective style, combined with a profound sense of spirituality, continues to resonate with readers, making Rilke an enduring luminary in the world of literature. Rainer Maria Rilke passed away on December 29, 1926, leaving behind a legacy of poetic brilliance that continues to inspire and provoke contemplation to this day.
Letters to a Young Poet
Rilke, Rainer Maria. "Letters to a Young Poet." Trans. M. D. Herter Norton. Revised edition. Norton, New York, 1954. 50. Print.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Theme: Spiritual Growth
About This Rainer Maria Rilke Quotation [Commentary]
Rainer Maria Rilke’s profound insight, as expressed in this quote from “Letters to a Young Poet,” invites us into a deep contemplation of the mysteries of life and the human experience. He encourages us to embrace the uncertainties within ourselves, to approach them with patience and even affection, much like one would regard locked rooms or books written in a foreign language. In these words, Rilke emphasizes the importance of not rushing to seek definitive answers but rather, learning to coexist with the questions that reside within us.
Rilke’s counsel to “live the questions” resonates with a spiritual depth that mirrors the wisdom of contemplative traditions. It reminds us that life is a journey of exploration, and our questions serve as guides along the way. Seeking immediate answers can limit our growth and understanding. By patiently dwelling within the inquiries of our hearts, we open ourselves to the possibility of gradual revelation. Rilke’s message encourages us to find solace and even beauty in the uncertainty of existence, trusting that in time, the answers may unfold naturally as we live and learn from our experiences.
Maria Popova’s Commentary About Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet”
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (December 4, 1875–December 29, 1926). In this thoroughly elevating modern classic, the beloved poet makes a beautiful case for the importance of living the questions, embracing uncertainty, and allowing for intuition.
In a 1903 letter to his protégé, the 19-year-old cadet and budding poet Franz Xaver Kappus, Rilke writes:
“I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to 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.”
In another letter from November of the following year, Rilke revisits the subject:
“Your doubt may become a good quality if you train it. It must become knowing, it must become critical. Ask it, whenever it wants to spoil something for you, why something is ugly, demand proofs from it, test it, and you will find it perplexed and embarrassed perhaps, or perhaps rebellious. But don’t give in, insist on arguments and act this way, watchful and consistent, every single time, and the day will arrive when from a destroyer it will become one of your best workers—perhaps the cleverest of all that are building at your life.”
Additional Rainer Maria Rilke Poem with Commentary by Parker L. Palmer
Here’s a Rainer Maria Rilke poem that I find full of meaning—despite the fact that it’s one of the shortest poems I know. With highly distilled wisdom it reminds us that…
• We yearn “not to be cut off” from the source…
• Our inner lives are as vast and worthy of exploration as outer space…
• What we all seek is a sense that we’ve come home…
• Home is to be found “in here,” not somewhere “out there”…
• Our inner home is a place of beauty, “hurled through with birds and deep/with the winds of homecoming”…
And Rilke does it all in 39 words, about one-third of the number I used to write this post. Amazing!
—Parker J. Palmer (November 23rd, 2013).
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