--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have no reason to harbor any mistrust…" description: "\"“We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors; if it has abysses, thes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/rainer-maria-rilke-193_dragon_we-have-no-reason-to-harbor-any-mistrust_3008749.jpg" --- # We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our… ![“We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors; if it has abysses, these abysses belong to us; if there are dangers, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells…” quote by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/rainer-maria-rilke-193_dragon_we-have-no-reason-to-harbor-any-mistrust_3008749.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/rainer-maria-rilke-193_dragon_we-have-no-reason-to-harbor-any-mistrust_3008749.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/rainer-maria-rilke-193_dragon_we-have-no-reason-to-harbor-any-mistrust_3008749.jpg) > ““We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors; if it has abysses, these abysses belong to us; if there are dangers, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us as the most alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience. How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses? Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”” [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage urges embracing fear and the unknown, seeing threats as opportunities for love and transformation, trusting that what seems alien can become intimate. **In simple terms:** Face fear, love the unknown, transform danger into intimacy. Key Takeaway Trust difficulty, act with courage and beauty. Themes courage trust transformation myth self‑discovery Mood reflective hopeful inspirational Type philosophical poetic motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - relationships - spiritual practice - overcoming anxiety Key Concepts existentialism psychology symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What does your “dragon” represent? - How can love change your perception of danger? A Different Perspective Fear may persist despite love; not all threats are harmless. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragon/) [Dragons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragons/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“And if we only organize our life according to the principle which teaches us always to hold to what is difficult, then what now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/and-if-we-only-organize-our-life-according-to-the-principle-which/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/how-could-we-forget-those-ancient-myths-that-stand-at-the-beginning/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/how-could-we-forget-those-ancient-myths-that-stand-at-the-beginning-2/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [If we only arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/if-we-only-arrange-our-life-in-accordance-with-the-principle-which/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us. Has it terrors, they are our terrors; has it abysses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/we-have-no-reason-to-mistrust-our-world-for-it-is-not-against-us-has/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“How should we be able to forget those myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilka/how-should-we-be-able-to-forget-those-myths-that-are-at-the-beginning/) Rainer Maria Rilka > [“We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us. Has it terrors, they are our terrors; has it abysses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/we-have-no-reason-to-mistrust-our-world-for-it-is-not-against-us-has-2/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perhaps-all-the-dragons-in-our-lives-are-princesses-who-are-only/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/how-should-we-be-able-to-forget-those-ancient-myths-that-are-at-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Her courage frightens and amazes me. It make me hopeful for her. Is that what you call love? Is that what you call hope?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-denfeld/her-courage-frightens-and-amazes-me-it-make-me-hopeful-for-her-is/) [Rene Denfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-denfeld/) > [Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/perhaps-all-the-dragons-of-our-lives-are-princesses-who-are-only/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/we-have-no-reason-to-harbor-any-mistrust-against-our-world-for-it-is/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us. Has it terrors, they are our terrors; has it abysses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/we-have-no-reason-to-mistrust-our-world-for-it-is-not-against-us-has-3/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Arouse a bee and it will come at you with the force of a dragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takeda-shingen/arouse-a-bee-and-it-will-come-at-you-with-the-force-of-a-dragon/) [Takeda Shingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takeda-shingen/) ## More by Rainer Maria Rilke > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-love-the-dark-hours-of-my-being-my-mind-deepens-into-them-there-i/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“A complete sharing between two people is an impossibility and whenever it seems, nevertheless, to exist, it is a narrowing, a mutual agreement which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/a-complete-sharing-between-two-people-is-an-impossibility-and/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“But this is what ... people are so often and disastrously wrong in doing: they (who by their very nature are impatient) fling themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/but-this-is-what-people-are-so-often-and-disastrously-wrong-in-doing/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“If there is nothing you can share with other people, try to be close to Things. Things will not abandon you. The nights are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/if-there-is-nothing-you-can-share-with-other-people-try-to-be-close/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [To be here is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/to-be-here-is-immense/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Sin is the most wonderfully roundabout path to God”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/sin-is-the-most-wonderfully-roundabout-path-to-god/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Swells, Marina? we ocean, depths, Marina? we sky!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/swells-marina-we-ocean-depths-marina-we-sky/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-point-of-marriage-is-not-to-create-a-quick-commonality-by-tearing/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [You life will find its own paths... and that they be good, rich, and wide is what I wish for you, more than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/you-life-will-find-its-own-paths-and-that-they-be-good-rich-and-wide/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I do not want to be folded for where I am folded, there I am a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-do-not-want-to-be-folded-for-where-i-am-folded-there-i-am-a-lie/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/at-no-other-time-than-autumn-does-the-earth-let-itself-be-inhaled-in/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“That is why the sadness passes: the new presence inside us, the presence that has been added, has entered our heart, has gone into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/that-is-why-the-sadness-passes-the-new-presence-inside-us-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms, like books written in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/have-patience-with-everything-that-remains-unsolved-in-your-heart-try/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) [Explore all 861 Rainer Maria Rilke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More Dragon quotes > [ “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus \[ never tickle a sleeping dragon \]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/draco-dormiens-nunquam-titillandus-never-tickle-a-sleeping-dragon/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [Arouse a bee and it will come at you with the force of a dragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takeda-shingen/arouse-a-bee-and-it-will-come-at-you-with-the-force-of-a-dragon/) [Takeda Shingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takeda-shingen/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-you-banish-the-dragons-you-banish-the-heroes/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I especially like the songs Hurry Up and The Curse Of Castle Dragon, and I often include them in my live show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gilbert/i-especially-like-the-songs-hurry-up-and-the-curse-of-castle-dragon/) [Paul Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gilbert/) > [“You must see her pucker when she’s a dragon.” “This pucker can light your ass on fire, missy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-woods/you-must-see-her-pucker-when-she-s-a-dragon-this-pucker-can-light/) [Adrienne Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-woods/) > [“I will always be within reach if you need me, little one...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-von/i-will-always-be-within-reach-if-you-need-me-little-one/) [A.R. Von](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-von/) > [“Unable to help herself, she traced the tat, startled by the black and red ink mixed together. But it was the dragon design itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-grant/unable-to-help-herself-she-traced-the-tat-startled-by-the-black-and/) [Donna Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-grant/) > [The Soyuz is probably only slightly smaller than the Dragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-walker/the-soyuz-is-probably-only-slightly-smaller-than-the-dragon/) [Shannon Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-walker/) > [Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fairy-tales-are-more-than-true-not-because-they-tell-us-that-dragons/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes--courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, etc.--can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/in-the-alchemy-of-man-s-soul-almost-all-noble-attributes-courage/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-of/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [I know how the birds fly, how the fishes swim, how animals run. But there is the Dragon. I cannot tell how it mounts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/i-know-how-the-birds-fly-how-the-fishes-swim-how-animals-run-but/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [It was always that detail that drove me. Ever since I was a little kid, I used to get into the nitty gritty... when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graeme-base/it-was-always-that-detail-that-drove-me-ever-since-i-was-a-little-kid/) [Graeme Base](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graeme-base/) > [Holly is alive,' thought Foaly 'My princess lives,'exulted Orion. 'And we're chasing a dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/holly-is-alive-thought-foaly-my-princess-lives-exulted-orion-and-we/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) [Browse all 704 Dragon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors; if it has abysses, these abysses belong to us; if there are dangers, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us as the most alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience. How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses? Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. 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