QuoteProject
If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing . . . then you are a writer.
Rainer Maria Rilke
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

To be a writer, one must have an intrinsic passion for writing that dominates their thoughts.

Rainer Maria Rilke's quote captures the essence of what it means to be a writer, suggesting that true writers are driven by an undeniable passion for the craft. The ability to wake up and immediately think of writing signifies a deep commitment and love for the art, indicating that writing is not just a profession but an integral part of one's identity.

Themes

WritingWriterPassionCreativityArt

In practice

Example use cases

In a workshop about nurturing creativity, one might say this quote to inspire aspiring writers.

More from Rainer Maria Rilke

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!
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
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.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
a good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
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.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
The only journey is the one within.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been
Rainer Maria RilkeRead

Similar quotes

Comedy is a reflection. We create nothing. We set no styles, no standards. We're reflections. It's a distorted mirror in the fun house. We watch society. As society behaves, then we have the ability to make fun of it.
Alan KingRead
The world has never before had as much drama as today. Radio, films, television and video inundate us with drama. But while these forms can engage or even enrage the audience, in none of them can the viewer’s response alter the artistic event itselfThat is why theatre is signing its own death warrant when it tries to play too safe. On the other hand, that is also the reason why, although its future often seems bleak, theatre will continue to live and to provoke.
Girish KarnadRead
As a poet and writer, I deeply love and I deeply hate words. I love the infinite evidence and change and requirements and possibilities of language; every human use of words that is joyful, or honest or new, because experience is new... But as a Black poet and writer, I hate words that cancel my name and my history and the freedom of my future: I hate the words that condemn and refuse the language of my people in America.
June JordanRead
I didn't start off as a journalist; I started off as a poet. My ambition was to practise poetry. Then I found journalism, but that other voice never fled from me.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength.
Martha GrahamRead
Latin America seemed to be a land where there were only dictators, revolutionaries, catastrophes. Now we know that Latin America can produce also artists, musicians, painters, thinkers, and novelists.
Mario Vargas LlosaRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.