I feel it now: there's a power in me to grasp and give shape to my world I know that nothing has ever been real without my beholding it. All becoming has need me.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that our perception shapes reality and that we have the power to influence our world.
Rainer Maria Rilke's quote reflects the philosophical idea that our understanding and perception play a pivotal role in the creation of our experiences. By stating that nothing has ever been real without being beheld, Rilke emphasizes the interconnectedness of the observer and the observed, suggesting that reality is not merely a given but something that is actively shaped by our awareness and engagement with it.
In practice
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of reality, this quote can illustrate how perception shapes our existence.
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
There is no Master but the Master,” he said, “and QT-1 is his prophet.
We never see a tree except through the image that we have of it, the concept of that tree; but the concept, the knowledge, the experience, is entirely different from the actual tree. Look at a tree and you will find how extraordinarily difficult it is to see it completely, so that no image, no screen, comes between the seeing and the actual fact. By completely I mean with the totality of your mind and heart, not a fragment of it.
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well. It were done quickly.
The only thing that really matters is that there be an action of goodness, love and intelligence in living. Is goodness individual or collective, is love personal or impersonal, is intelligence yours, mine or somebody else? If it is yours or mine then it is not intelligence, or love, or goodness. If goodness is an affair of the individual or of the collective, according to one's particular preference or decision, then it is no longer goodness.
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
I know no religion that destroys courtesy, civility, and kindness.
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