Poetry is a street fighter. It has sharp elbows. It can look after itself. Poetry can't be used for manipulation; it's why you never see good poetry in advertising.
David WhyteRead
To forge an untouchable, invulnerable identity is actually a sign of retreat from this world; of weakness, a sign of fear rather than strength, and betrays a strange misunderstandin g of an abiding, foundational and necessary reality: that untouched, we disappear.
Interpretation
The pursuit of an impenetrable identity is a retreat from reality, indicating fear rather than strength.
In this quote, David Whyte suggests that striving to create an impenetrable identity is essentially a fear-based reaction to the complexities of life. He argues that true strength lies in embracing vulnerability and acknowledging our interconnectedness with the world; in trying to remain untouched or invulnerable, we risk losing our essence and connection to existence itself.
In practice
In a motivational speech about embracing one's true self rather than hiding behind a façade.
Poetry is a street fighter. It has sharp elbows. It can look after itself. Poetry can't be used for manipulation; it's why you never see good poetry in advertising.
Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew. It is a learned skill to force yourself to articulate your life, your present world or your possibilities for the future.
By definition, poetry works with qualities and dynamics that mainstream society is reluctant to face head-on. It's an interesting phenomenon that by necessity, poetry is just below the radar.
The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears
The severest test of work today, is not of our strategies, but of our imaginations and identities.
We learn, grow and become compassionate and generous as much through exile as homecoming, as much through loss as gain, as much through giving things away as in receiving what we believe to be our due.
A sign of a culture that has lost its faith - Moral collapse follows upon spiritual collapse.
Peace is not simply the absence of warfare.
In the 21st century, we can't create security by building walls.
Not just in commerce but in the world of ideas too our age is putting on a veritable clearance sale. Everything can be had so dirt cheap that one begins to wonder whether in the end anyone will want to make a bid.
In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.
When God measures a man he puts the tape around the heart, not the head.
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