---
title: "3 Odds Quotes By Theodore Roethke"
description: "3 Odds quotes by Theodore Roethke. Plus more from Theodore Roethke and more Odds sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/theodore-roethke-4077_circumstance_what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at_2306285.jpg"
---

> [What is madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-odds-with-circumstance/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/theodore-roethke-4077_circumstance_what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at_2306285.jpg)

> [In our age, if a boy or girl is untalented, the odds are in favor of their thinking they want to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/in-our-age-if-a-boy-or-girl-is-untalented-the-odds-are-in-favor-of/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/909/theodore-roethke-4077_age_in-our-age-if-a-boy-or-girl-is-untalente_2639144.jpg)

> [What's madness but nobility of soul At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire! I know the purity of pure despair, My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/what-s-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-odds-with-circumstance-the-day-2/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/012/theodore-roethke-4077_caves_what-s-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-o_2865124.jpg)

## Other authors on Odds

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-suzanne-collins-88237.jpg) Suzanne Collins 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/suzanne-collins/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-charlie-munger-22764.jpg) Charlie Munger 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/charlie-munger/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-nassim-nicholas-taleb-70256.jpg) Nassim Nicholas Taleb 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/nassim-nicholas-taleb/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-elon-musk-32848.jpg) Elon Musk 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/elon-musk/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/barack-obama/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-tom-peters-91531.jpg) Tom Peters 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/tom-peters/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-scott-adams-83587.jpg) Scott Adams 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/scott-adams/)

## More by Theodore Roethke

> [I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-wake-to-sleep-and-take-my-waking-slow-i-feel-my-fate-in-what-i/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/those-who-are-willing-to-be-vulnerable-move-among-mysteries/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [A lively understandable spirit Once entertained you. It will come again. Be still. Wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-lively-understandable-spirit-once-entertained-you-it-will-come/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [I came to love, I came into my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-came-to-love-i-came-into-my-own/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [I bleed my bones, their marrow to bestowUpon that God who knows what I would know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-bleed-my-bones-their-marrow-to-bestowupon-that-god-who-knows-what-i/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/all-finite-things-reveal-infinitude-the-mountain-with-its-singular/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [We think by feeling. What is there to know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/we-think-by-feeling-what-is-there-to-know/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [I can hear, underground, that sucking and sobbing, In my veins, in my bones I feel it,- The small water seeping upward, The tight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-can-hear-underground-that-sucking-and-sobbing-in-my-veins-in-my/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/over-every-mountain-there-is-a-path-although-it-may-not-be-seen-from/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [(I measure time by how a body sways.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-measure-time-by-how-a-body-sways/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [To follow the drops sliding from a lifting oar, Head up, while the rower breathes, and the small boat drifts quietly shoreward...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/to-follow-the-drops-sliding-from-a-lifting-oar-head-up-while-the/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [Any fool can take a bad line out of a poem; it takes a real pro to throw out a good line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/any-fool-can-take-a-bad-line-out-of-a-poem-it-takes-a-real-pro-to/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [Love begets love. This torment is my joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/love-begets-love-this-torment-is-my-joy/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [“I Knew a Woman" I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; Ah, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-knew-a-woman-i-knew-a-woman-lovely-in-her-bones-when-small-birds/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

> [A mind too active is no mind at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-mind-too-active-is-no-mind-at-all/)

[Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/#itemlist",
            "name": "3 Odds Quotes By Theodore Roethke",
            "numberOfItems": 3,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "What is madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Theodore Roethke"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-odds-with-circumstance/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/theodore-roethke-4077_circumstance_what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at_2306285.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/theodore-roethke-4077_circumstance_what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at_2306285.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/theodore-roethke-4077_circumstance_what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at_2306285.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“What is madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?” — Theodore Roethke",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In our age, if a boy or girl is untalented, the odds are in favor of their thinking they want to write.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Theodore Roethke"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/in-our-age-if-a-boy-or-girl-is-untalented-the-odds-are-in-favor-of/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/909/theodore-roethke-4077_age_in-our-age-if-a-boy-or-girl-is-untalente_2639144.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/909/theodore-roethke-4077_age_in-our-age-if-a-boy-or-girl-is-untalente_2639144.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/909/theodore-roethke-4077_age_in-our-age-if-a-boy-or-girl-is-untalente_2639144.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In our age, if a boy or girl is untalented, the odds are in favor of their thinking they want to write.” — Theodore Roethke",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "What's madness but nobility of soul At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire! I know the purity of pure despair, My shadow pinned against a sweating wall, That place among the rocks--is it a cave, Or winding path? The edge is what I have… … Dark,dark my light, and darker my desire. My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly, Keeps buzzing at the sill. ~From \"The Waking\" by Theodore Roethke",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Theodore Roethke"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/what-s-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-odds-with-circumstance-the-day-2/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/012/theodore-roethke-4077_caves_what-s-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-o_2865124.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/012/theodore-roethke-4077_caves_what-s-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-o_2865124.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/012/theodore-roethke-4077_caves_what-s-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at-o_2865124.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“What's madness but nobility of soul At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire! I know the purity of pure…” — Theodore Roethke",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/",
            "name": "Odds Quotes by Theodore Roethke",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/theodore-roethke-4077_circumstance_what-is-madness-but-nobility-of-soul-at_2306285.jpg"
            },
            "description": "3 Odds quotes by Theodore Roethke. Plus more from Theodore Roethke and more Odds sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Odds",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Theodore Roethke",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odds/theodore-roethke/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
