Not beauty just in the sense of things that are nice to look at, but in the deeper sense of “the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.” 3. For this reason, you should embrace beauty. In this quote from his moody poem “Go to the Limits of Your Longing,” Rilke hammers home the point that no feeling-good or bad-is permanent. Rilke was a modernist Austrian-German poet who wrote challenging poems about faith, transcendence, and solitude. Joanna Macy, “Go to the Limits of Your Longing,” 1905 beauty Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. In her autobiography The Story of My Life, she describes her hard work as a way to reach the “uplands of desire.” Upland literally means “land elevated above other land,” but metaphorically it is used to refer to “a peaceful and pleasant place.” 2.

She overcame physical disability and the prejudices of society against disabled people to become the first deaf-blind person to earn a college degree and accomplish many other milestones. Hellen Keller is a famous example of fortitude in the face of adversity. Hellen Keller, The Story of My Life, 1902 uplands One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire. As the writer Samuel Beckett famously once wrote, “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” 1.Įvery struggle is a victory. The following quotes from civil right leaders, writers, and poets remind us of what we are capable of, even when we feel like we aren’t. In those moments, it is important to remember that we have an inner strength or fortitude that can help us when the going gets rough. We all face moments of hardship and difficulty where we have to dig deep to carry on.

Strength keep moving forward quote