“the lost sense that we play out our lives as part of a greater story” — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future. — David Whyte Copy Share Image
The greatest tragedy is to live out someone else's life thinking it was your own. — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Art is the act of triggering deep memories, of what it means to be fully human. — David Whyte Copy Share Image
A good poem has its own life. It's like bringing a child into the world. You, the poet, birthed the child, but… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
It might be liberating to think of human life as informed by losses and disappearances as much as by gifted appearances, allowing… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Our work is to make ourselves visible in the world. This is the soul's individual journey, and the soul would much rather… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“...wanting soul life without the dark, warming intelligence of personal doubt is like expecting an egg without the brooding heat of the… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew. It is a learned skill to force… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
It is the province of poetry to be more realistic and present than the artificial narratives of an outer discourse, and not… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
The outlaw is the radical, the one close to the roots of existence. The one who refuses to forget their humanity and,… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Enough. These few words are enough If not these few words, this breath If not this breath, this sitting here This opening… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Desire demands only a constant attention to the unknown gravitational field which surrounds us and from which we can recharge ourselves every… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future. To be courageous,… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“Self-knowledge is not clarity or transparency or knowing how everything works, self-knowledge is a fiercely attentive form of humility and thankfulness, a… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
To have a firm persuasion in our work - to feel that what we do is right for ourselves and good for… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
If in your mind it was possible to take a year's sabbatical from work to reassess your life, what would you do… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“To quote a Shakespearean cliché, repeated to death because it is so stubbornly true: “All the world’s a stage.” Work is theater.… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain. — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Some things cannot be spoken or discovered until we have been stuck, incapacitated, or blown off course for awhile. Plain sailing is… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
We sabotage our creative possibilities because the world revealed by our imagination may not fit well with the life we have taken… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
See, even if you're stuck in life, if you can describe just exactly the way you're stuck, then you will immediately recognise… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“The poet lives and writes at the frontier between deep internal experience and the revelations of the outer world. There is no going back… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
I returned to poetry as a more precise way to describe the world, more precise than science. — David Whyte Copy Share Image
What if the world is holding its breath - waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill? — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with, it is the mother of the thing you fear. The very thing… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
Heartbreak is our indication of sincerity: in a love relationship, in a work, in trying to learn a musical instrument, in the attempt to… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
The frail, vulnerable sounds of which we are capable seem to be essential to a later ability to roar like a lion without scaring… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
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… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“Work, like marriage, is a place you can lose yourself more easily perhaps than finding yourself. It is a place full of powerful undercurrents,… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
The moment you’ve uttered the exact dimensionality of your exile, you’re already turning towards home. — David Whyte Copy Share Image
“...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 Copy Share Image
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… — David Whyte Copy Share Image
