And even if you were in some prison, the walls of which let none of the sounds of the world come to your senses - would you not then still have your childhood, that precious, kingly possession, that treasure-house of memories?
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the enduring value of childhood memories, suggesting they remain accessible even in isolation.
Rainer Maria Rilke's quote emphasizes the profound importance of childhood as a reservoir of memories that can sustain and enrich us, even in the direst circumstances. It implies that while external freedom may be lost, the cherished inner world of childhood remains a vital and precious possession that cannot be taken away, allowing us to find solace and joy within ourselves.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of preserving childhood memories.
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
I don't do formal debates, because formal debates where you have two people up on a stage in equal status, and each of them is given 20 minutes to give their point of view, and then 10 minutes for a rebuttal, or whatever, that creates the illusion that you really do have here two equal points of view of equal scientific standing.
All other ways of mortification are vain, all helps leave us helpless; it must be done by the Spirit.
Equality lies only in human moral dignity. ... Let there be brothers first, then there will be brotherhood, and only then will there be a fair sharing of goods among brothers.
[W]e must never allow the future to collapse under the burden of memory.
The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.
One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering. 'Supernatural' is a null word.
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