There exists a creature which is perfectly harmless; when it passes before your eyes you scarcely notice it and forget it again immediately. But as soon as it invisibly gets somehow into your ears, it develops there, it hatches, as it were, and cases have been known where it was penetrated even into the brain and has thriven devastatingly in that organ, like those pneumococci in dogs that gain entrance through the nose.This creature is one's neighbor.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on how easily we neglect our neighbors and their concerns, yet they can have a significant impact on us.
Rainer Maria Rilke's quote metaphorically describes neighbors as a subtle yet powerful influence in our lives. Though we may not always recognize their presence or role in our daily existence, our neighbors can affect us deeply, much like an infection that starts unnoticed but grows and impacts our mental or emotional state. The underlying message emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and valuing our relationships with those around us.
In practice
In a discussion about community impact, one might say, 'As Rilke pointed out, our neighbors influence us in ways we often overlook.'
Spring has again returned. _x000D_ _x000D_ The Earth is like a child that knows many poems._x000D_ _x000D_ Many, O so many. For the hardship_x000D_ _x000D_ of such long learning she receives the prize._x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ Strict was her teacher. _x000D_ _x000D_ The white in the old man's beard pleases us._x000D_ _x000D_ Now, what to call green, to call blue,_x000D_ _x000D_ we dare to ask: She knows, She knows!
Verses are not, as people think, feelings (those one has early enough) -- they are experiences. For the sake of a verse one must see many cities, men, and things, one must know the animals feel how birds fly, and know the gesture with which the little flowers open in the morning.
a good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude
He reproduced himself with so much humble objectivity, with the unquestioning, matter of fact interest of a dog who sees himself in a mirror and thinks: there's another dog.
The only journey is the one within.
And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been
PHYSIOGNOMY, n. The art of determining the character of another by the resemblances and differences between his face and our own, which is the standard of excellence.
Most people would say the meaning of life is to make the world a little more beautiful, or nicer, or more interesting. But how? These days, our main answer to that is: through work.
Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals for the most part governed by the impulse of passion. This is a truth well understood by our adversaries who have practised upon it with no small benefit to their cause. For at the very moment they are eulogizing the reason of men & professing to appeal only to that faculty, they are courting the strongest & most active passion of the human heart - VANITY!
Accept the present moment and find the perfection that is deeper than any form and untouched by time.
To go from mortal to Buddha, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings.
Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.