What at first seems strange may become our best experience
“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.”
–Ranier Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (1929)
April 13th, 2009 at 2:10 am
I’m gearing up for a move abroad and have been panicking about it for a few days. Thanks for sharing that quote – it’s exactly what I needed to hear.
April 13th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Thanks for this very meaningful quote. I saw it this morning, printed it out, and took it with me. I’ve shared it with two people today, both going through a difficult/challenging time. One teared up and one smiled when I read it.
January 24th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
What an awesome quote…resonates on so many levels!