David Whyte
David Whyte
David Whytewas an English professional footballer who played as a striker...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
art eye people
The workplace needs the poet's gift. But the poet also needs to be educated about the workplace. You're not just coming in to do your art, you're actually making yourself vulnerable. You yourself are not God's gift to truth. You have to hazard yourself in their world, especially because you're inviting people to do the same. It's all about become visible, becoming incarnate, becoming here and now and yet with our eyes on a future horizon; holding the conversation you were meant to hold.
people tragedy answers
The tragedy with velocity as the answer to complexity is that, after awhile, you cannot see or comprehend anything that is not traveling at the same speed you are. And you actually start to feel disturbed by people who have a sense of restfulness to their existence.
divorce people way
You'll always love the person, if you're sensible. But you get a lot of people, especially in divorces and separations, doing a lot of damage to themselves, because they can't figure out that they actually still love this person, but not in their original way.
deal destinies living people personal simply struggles time trying vision work
I don't have an all-embracing vision which people have to buy. I'm simply trying to work with the struggles we all deal with every day while we're trying to live out our personal destinies and make a living at the same time.
escape life millions people quiet
There are millions of people living Thoreau's life of quiet desperation, and they do not have the language to escape from that desperation.
behind bound courageous fear understanding
Without the compassionate understanding of the fear and trepidation that lie behind courageous speech, we are bound only to our arrogance.
hope less moving toward work
We're moving toward the kind of work world which has less security. But we hope it has more creativity and possibility of real engagement.
art children thinking
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 will surprise you continually. I think a work of art has its own aliveness, its own future.
writing want feels
If I don't have time for the writing, it's because I'm not making that time. It's really just a question of whether you want to or not, whether you feel you deserve to write or not.
loss dishonesty conscious
The fear of loss, in one form or another, is the motivator behind all conscious and unconscious dishonesties.
your-side rivers discipline
I love the best of all the traditions. My discipline is the take-no-prisoners language of good poetry, but a language that actually frees us from prejudice, no matter what religion or political persuasion they are. I try to create a river-like discourse. The river is not political, it's not on your side or against you. It's an invitation into the onward flow.
expectations woven fabric
In England especially, poetry's woven into the background fabric of society. And in Ireland, it's in the foreground. The place of the poet in Irish society is enormous. If you say you're a poet in Ireland, you'd better know what you're doing, because the standard and the expectations are incredibly high.
body felt
The great poems are not about experience, but are the experience itself, felt in the body.
loss looks gains
A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain.