--- title: "4 Courageous Quotes By David Whyte" description: "4 Courageous quotes by David Whyte. Plus more from David Whyte and more Courageous sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/david-whyte-3502_breaking-heart_it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sinc_159181.jpg" --- > [It's my contention that there is no sincere path a human being can take without breaking his or her heart...so it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sincere-path-a-human-being-can/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/david-whyte-3502_breaking-heart_it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sinc_159181.jpg) > [The courageous conversation is the one you don't want to have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-courageous-conversation-is-the-one-you-don-t-want-to-have/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/david-whyte-3502_communication_the-courageous-conversation-is-the-one-y_1088937.jpg) > [Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future. To be courageous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/courage-is-the-measure-of-our-heartfelt-participation-with-life-with-2/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/david-whyte-3502_be-courageous_courage-is-the-measure-of-our-heartfelt_1808875.jpg) > [Whether we stay or whether we go - to be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/whether-we-stay-or-whether-we-go-to-be-courageous-is-to-stay-close-to/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a6/david-whyte-3502_be-courageous_whether-we-stay-or-whether-we-go-to-be-c_3187447.jpg) ## Other authors on Courageous - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-abhijit-naskar-99.jpg) Abhijit Naskar 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/abhijit-naskar/) - [Maya Angelou 13 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/maya-angelou/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-amit-kalantri-279.jpg) Amit Kalantri 12 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/amit-kalantri/) - [Israelmore Ayivor 9 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/israelmore-ayivor/) - [Mehmet Murat ildan 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/mehmet-murat-ildan/) - [Lailah Gifty Akita 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/lailah-gifty-akita/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-eleanor-roosevelt-32252.jpg) Eleanor Roosevelt 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/eleanor-roosevelt/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pope-francis-75890.jpg) Pope Francis 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/pope-francis/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-dranil-kr-sinha-102.jpg) DrAnil Kr Sinha 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/dranil-kr-sinha/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-tariq-ramadan-88946.jpg) Tariq Ramadan 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/tariq-ramadan/) - [Richelle E. Goodrich 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/richelle-e-goodrich/) ## More by David Whyte > [“The poet lives and writes at the frontier between deep internal experience and the revelations of the outer world. There is no going back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-poet-lives-and-writes-at-the-frontier-between-deep-internal/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [I returned to poetry as a more precise way to describe the world, more precise than science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/i-returned-to-poetry-as-a-more-precise-way-to-describe-the-world-more/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [What if the world is holding its breath - waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/what-if-the-world-is-holding-its-breath-waiting-for-you-to-take-the/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [What you plan is too small for you to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/what-you-plan-is-too-small-for-you-to-live/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with, it is the mother of the thing you fear. The very thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-is-not-the-thing-you-fear-that-you-must-deal-with-it-is-the-mother/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [Heartbreak is our indication of sincerity: in a love relationship, in a work, in trying to learn a musical instrument, in the attempt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/heartbreak-is-our-indication-of-sincerity-in-a-love-relationship-in-a/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [The frail, vulnerable sounds of which we are capable seem to be essential to a later ability to roar like a lion without scaring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-frail-vulnerable-sounds-of-which-we-are-capable-seem-to-be/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [A good poem has its own life. It's like bringing a child into the world. You, the poet, birthed the child, but the child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/a-good-poem-has-its-own-life-it-s-like-bringing-a-child-into-the/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“Work, like marriage, is a place you can lose yourself more easily perhaps than finding yourself. It is a place full of powerful undercurrents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/work-like-marriage-is-a-place-you-can-lose-yourself-more-easily/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [The moment you’ve uttered the exact dimensionality of your exile, you’re already turning towards home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-moment-you-ve-uttered-the-exact-dimensionality-of-your-exile-you/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“...wanting soul life without the dark, warming intelligence of personal doubt is like expecting an egg without the brooding heat of the mother hen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/wanting-soul-life-without-the-dark-warming-intelligence-of-personal/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [It's my contention that there is no sincere path a human being can take without breaking his or her heart...so it can be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sincere-path-a-human-being-can/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“FINISTERRE The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken, into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/finisterre-the-road-in-the-end-taking-the-path-the-sun-had-taken-into/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“We can never know in the beginning, in giving ourselves to a person, to a work, to a marriage or to a cause, exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/we-can-never-know-in-the-beginning-in-giving-ourselves-to-a-person-to/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/when-your-eyes-are-tired-the-world-is-tired-also-when-your-vision-has/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/david-whyte/#itemlist", "name": "4 Courageous Quotes By David Whyte", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's my contention that there is no sincere path a human being can take without breaking his or her heart...so it can be a lovely, merciful thing to think, 'Actually, there is no path I can take without having my heart broken, so why not get on with it and stop wanting these extra-special circumstances which stop me from doing something courageous?'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Whyte" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sincere-path-a-human-being-can/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/david-whyte-3502_breaking-heart_it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sinc_159181.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/david-whyte-3502_breaking-heart_it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sinc_159181.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/david-whyte-3502_breaking-heart_it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sinc_159181.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's my contention that there is no sincere path a human being can take without breaking his or her…” — David Whyte", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The courageous conversation is the one you don't want to have.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Whyte" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-courageous-conversation-is-the-one-you-don-t-want-to-have/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/david-whyte-3502_communication_the-courageous-conversation-is-the-one-y_1088937.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/david-whyte-3502_communication_the-courageous-conversation-is-the-one-y_1088937.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/david-whyte-3502_communication_the-courageous-conversation-is-the-one-y_1088937.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The courageous conversation is the one you don't want to have.” — David Whyte", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future. 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