David Whyte
David Whyte
David Whytewas an English professional footballer who played as a striker...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
close lies necessary relationship truth understanding wanting
Honesty lies in understanding our close and necessary relationship with not wanting to hear the truth.
average narrative truthful
It is the province of poetry to be more realistic and present than the artificial narratives of an outer discourse, and not afraid of the truthful difficulty of the average human life.
afraid deeply effect found fully honest honesty revealing truth understanding
Honesty is not found in revealing the truth, but in understanding how deeply afraid of it we are. To become honest is in effect to become fully and robustly incarnated into powerlessness.
german
When I'm working with German audiences, I will call on my Rilke and Goethe in the original.
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.
cannot convey courageous grown initial lion mouse naked parts power sounds speech steps wisdom
Lion sounds that have not grown from the mouse may exude naked power... but cannot convey any wisdom or understanding... The initial steps on the path to courageous speech then are the first tentative steps into the parts of us that cannot speak.
fear
It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with: it is the mother of the thing you fear.
It is difficult to be creative and enthusiastic about anything for which we do not feel affection.
carry fault full
Honesty allows us to live with not knowing. We do not know the full story; we do not know where we are in the story. We do not know who, ultimately, is at fault or who will carry the blame in the end.
attempting change eliminate trying
Stop trying to change reality by attempting to eliminate complexity.
brief evocative lost possibilities
Regret is a short, evocative and achingly beautiful word: an elegy to lost possibilities even in its brief annunciation.
include job necessary richer
Things have a way of being richer in the end, a product better made, for the circuitous route we take to include all the elements that are necessary for a job well done.
companions courage gives great poems poetry sets straight
Poetry gives us courage and sets us straight with the world. Poems are great companions and friends.
carries large life poetry
Poetry carries the imagery which is large enough for the kind of life we want for ourselves.