Rilke on Love and Friendship
April 22nd, 2009
I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other. For, if it lies in the nature of indifference and of the crowd to recognize no solitude, then love and friendship are there for the purpose of continually providing the opportunity for solitude. And only those are the true sharings which rhythmically interrupt periods of deep isolation.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
2 Responses to “Rilke on Love and Friendship”
How beautiful and true!
Do you know where Rilke wrote that? I’d like to find the original (german) version of the quote.
Ah yes! I just put it in – his ‘Letters to a Young Poet’ is just full of such gems!
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