But not you, O girl, nor yet his mother, stretched his eyebrows so fierce with expectation. Not for your mouth, you who hold him now, did his lips ripen into these fervent contours. Do you really think your quiet footstepscould have so convulsed him, you who move like dawn wind? True, you startled his heart; but older terrorsrushed into him with that first jolt to his emotions. Call him . . you'll never quite retrieve him from those dark consorts. Yes, he wants to, he escapes; relieved, he makes a homein your familiar heart, takes root there and begins himself anew. But did he ever begin himself? .Rainer Maria Rilke
About This Quote
The poet Robert Browning wrote, “But not you, O girl, nor yet his mother,stretched his eyebrows so fierce with expectation.” In this quote, he captures the essence of love in all of its form. Love should be something that is freely given out as it makes the world a better place. When people love one another and do wrong to no one, the people of the world can rest easy. Unfortunately, is so rarely the case.
Instead, our world is loaded with competition where people only love themselves. They are bound by success and that success often comes by doing wrong to people. The idea is that someone else must fail if another person has to feel success.
Take sports, for instance. As one team wins, another loses. And, with the unfortunate rise of unsportsmanlike conduct, fans of winning teams are all too happy to shove their victories in the face of the fans of the losers.
The idea of us versus them has become the way of the world today.
Source: Duino Elegies
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