What if the world is holding its breath - David Whyte More Quotes by David Whyte More Quotes From David Whyte When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. David Whyte tiredeyedark The frail, vulnerable sounds of which we are capable seem to be essential to a later ability to roar like a lion without scaring everyone to death. David Whyte lionsessentialssound The fear of loss, in one form or another, is the motivator behind all conscious and unconscious dishonesties. David Whyte dishonestyconsciousloss A sure sign of a soul-based workplace is excitement, enthusiasm, real passion; not manufactured passion, but real involvement. And there's very little fear. David Whyte passionrealsoul It might be liberating to think of human life as informed by losses and disappearances as much as by gifted appearances, allowing a more present participation and witness to the difficulty of living. David Whyte lossmightthinking Shedding the carapace we have been building so assiduously on the surface, we must by definition give up exactly what we thought was necessary to protect us from further harm. David Whyte insecuritydefinitionsgiving-up All of our great traditions, religious, contemplative and artistic, say that you must a learn how to be alone - and have a relationship with silence. It is difficult, but it can start with just the tiniest quiet moment. David Whyte quiet-momentssilencereligious The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears David Whyte vitality The truth about our own modest contribution might immobilize us: much easier then, to tell ourselves a story about how much we make our own reality. David Whyte storiesmightreality But what would that be like David Whyte numbnesstidesfeelings A soul-based workplace asks things of me that I didn't even know I had. It's constantly telling me that I belong to something large in the world. David Whyte workplacesoulworld Poetry for me has been a long pilgrimage, a journey and a growing relationship with the unknown. David Whyte growingjourneylong To feel a full and untrammeled joy is to have become fully generous; to allow our selves to be joyful is to have walked through the doorway of fear, the dropping away of the anxious worried self...the vulnerability of happiness felt suddenly as a strength, a solace and a source, the claiming of our place in the living conversation. David Whyte selfdoorwaysjoy Shyness means you are in the hallway of a greater presence. You just don't know how to take the conversation another step. It's a lovely indication. David Whyte lovelystepsmean Absent the edge, we drown in numbness. David Whyte absentnumbnessedges Those who will not slip beneath the still surface on the well of grief turning downward through it s black water to the place we cannot breathe will never know the source from which we drink, the secret water, cold and clear, nor find in the darkness glimmering the small round coins thrown by those who wished for something else. David Whyte griefdarknesswater A real conversation always contains an invitation. You are inviting another person to reveal herself or himself to you, to tell you who they are or what they want. David Whyte realwantconversation The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by the answering. David Whyte good-questionsidentitydoe 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. David Whyte eyepeopleart To seek out beauty in our work is to make a pilgrimage of our labors, to understand that the consummation of work lies not only in what we have done, but who we have become while accomplishing the task. David Whyte tasksdonelying
