The necessary thing is after all but this; solitude, great inner solitude. Going into oneself for hours meeting no one - this one must be able to attain.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of solitude for self-discovery and inner peace.
Rainer Maria Rilke suggests that true understanding of oneself requires a deep and prolonged solitude, where one can turn inward and reflect without external distractions. This solitude allows individuals to connect with their inner thoughts and feelings, leading to greater self-awareness and personal insight.
In practice
During a meditation retreat, I shared Rilke's quote to highlight the importance of solitude in finding inner peace.
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
During Lent, let us find concrete ways to overcome our indifference.
If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.
But lost chances are as much a part of life as chances taken, and a story cannot dwell on what might have been.
MATERIAL, adj. Having an actual existence, as distinguished from an imaginary one. Important.
Even a soul submerged in sleep _x000D_ is hard at work and helps _x000D_ make something of the world.
Who gave you the ability to contemplate the beauty of the skies, the course of the sun, the round moon, the millions of stars, the harmony and rhythm that issue from the world as from a lyre, the return of the seasons, the alternation of the months, the demarcation of day and night, the fruits of the earth, the vastness of the air, the ceaseless motion of the waves, the sound of the wind?
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