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54 Motivational Quotes By Theodore Roethke

Famous As: Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet
Born On: May 25, 1908
Died On: August 1, 1963
Born In: Saginaw, Michigan
Died At Age: 55
Theodore Huebner Roethke was an American poet, who rose to prominence in the 20th century. He is regarded as one of the most influential poets in the modern era. Roethke studied at the University of Michigan, from where he earned his bachelors and masters degrees. After a stint at Harvard University, he started teaching English in order to earn a living following the Great Depression and he taught at institutions like Lafayette College and Bennington College among others. He taught at the University of Washington as well but it was as a poet that he became famous and his first work was ‘Open House’ that was published in 1941. Some of his other noted works include ‘The Lost Son and Other Poems’, ‘Words for the Wind’, ‘Party at the Zoo’, ‘The Far Field’ and ‘Praise to the End’ among others. ‘The Waking’ is his most renowned work for which he was bestowed with the 1954 ‘Pulitzer Prize for Poetry’. Roethke had also won ‘The National Book Award for Poetry’ twice. Roethke was one of the great thinkers of the time. Here is a collection of thoughts and quotes by Theodore Roethke which have been excerpted from his works, writings and poems. Read on the famous collection of thoughts, sayings and quotes by Theodore Roethke.
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Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.

Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.

Theodore Roethke
What we need are more people who specialize in the impossible.

What we need are more people who specialize in the impossible.

Theodore Roethke
Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light.

Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light.

Theodore Roethke
By daily dying, I have come to be.

By daily dying, I have come to be.

Theodore Roethke
May my silences become more accurate.

May my silences become more accurate.

Theodore Roethke
Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It's what everything else isn't.

Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It's what everything else isn't.

Theodore Roethke
The darkness has it's own light.

The darkness has it's own light.

Theodore Roethke
How body from spirit slowly does unwind, until we are pure spirit at the end.

How body from spirit slowly does unwind, until we are pure spirit at the end.

Theodore Roethke
Over every mountain, there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.

Over every mountain, there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.

Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. 
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. 
I learn by going where I have to go.

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I have to go.

Theodore Roethke
In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

Theodore Roethke
So much of adolescence is an ill-defined dying,
An intolerable waiting,
A longing for another place and time,
Another condition.

So much of adolescence is an ill-defined dying, An intolerable waiting, A longing for another place and time, Another condition.

Theodore Roethke
What's madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?

What's madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?

Theodore Roethke
I lose and find myself in the long water. I am gathered together once more.

I lose and find myself in the long water. I am gathered together once more.

Theodore Roethke
In this place of light: he dares to live
Who stops being a bird, yet beats his wings
Against the immense immeasurable emptiness of things.

In this place of light: he dares to live Who stops being a bird, yet beats his wings Against the immense immeasurable emptiness of things.

Theodore Roethke
Pain wanders through my bones like a lost fire

Pain wanders through my bones like a lost fire

Theodore Roethke
A mind too active is no mind at all.

A mind too active is no mind at all.

Theodore Roethke
What falls away is always. And is near.

What falls away is always. And is near.

Theodore Roethke
The visible exhausts me. I am dissolved in shadow.

The visible exhausts me. I am dissolved in shadow.

Theodore Roethke
I do not laugh; I do not cry;
I'm sweating out the will to die.

My past is sliding down the drain;
I soon will be myself again.

I do not laugh; I do not cry; I'm sweating out the will to die. My past is sliding down the drain; I soon will be myself again.

Theodore Roethke
I have gone into the waste lonely places

I have gone into the waste lonely places

Theodore Roethke
(I measure time by how a body sways.)

(I measure time by how a body sways.)

Theodore Roethke
I long for the imperishable quiet at the heart
of form.

I long for the imperishable quiet at the heart of form.

Theodore Roethke
In a dark time, the eye begins to see / I meet my shadow in the deepening shade...Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.

In a dark time, the eye begins to see / I meet my shadow in the deepening shade...Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.

Theodore Roethke
Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt keeps breathing a small breath.

Nothing would give up life: Even the dirt keeps breathing a small breath.

Theodore Roethke
Be sure that whatever you are is you.

Be sure that whatever you are is you.

Theodore Roethke
All lovers live by longing, and endure:
Summon a vision and declare it pure.

All lovers live by longing, and endure: Summon a vision and declare it pure.

Theodore Roethke
The stones were sharp,
The wind came at my back;
Walking along the highway, 
Mincing like a cat.

The stones were sharp, The wind came at my back; Walking along the highway, Mincing like a cat.

Theodore Roethke
The fields stretch out in long unbroken rows.
We walk aware of what is far and close.
Here distance is familiar as a friend.
The feud we kept with space comes to an end.

The fields stretch out in long unbroken rows. We walk aware of what is far and close. Here distance is familiar as a friend. The feud we kept with space comes to an end.

Theodore Roethke
Love is not love until love´s vulnerable.

Love is not love until love´s vulnerable.

Theodore Roethke
I may look like a beer salesman, but I'm a poet.

I may look like a beer salesman, but I'm a poet.

Theodore Roethke
(Dreams drain the spirit if we dream too long.)

(Dreams drain the spirit if we dream too long.)

Theodore Roethke
I trust all joy

I trust all joy

Theodore Roethke
Self-contemplation is a curse
That makes an old confusion worse.

Self-contemplation is a curse That makes an old confusion worse.

Theodore Roethke
Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?

Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire. My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly, Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?

Theodore Roethke
From I Knew a Woman

I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:
The shapes a bright container can contain!

From I Knew a Woman I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one: The shapes a bright container can contain!

Theodore Roethke
What is madness but nobility of the soul at odds with circumstance.

What is madness but nobility of the soul at odds with circumstance.

Theodore Roethke
I fear those shadows most that start from my own feet.

I fear those shadows most that start from my own feet.

Theodore Roethke
My father is a fish.

My father is a fish.

Theodore Roethke
When true love broke my heart in half,
I took the whiskey from the shelf,
And told my neighbors when to laugh.
I keep a dog, and bark myself.

When true love broke my heart in half, I took the whiskey from the shelf, And told my neighbors when to laugh. I keep a dog, and bark myself.

Theodore Roethke
Love alters all. Unblood my instinct, love.

Love alters all. Unblood my instinct, love.

Theodore Roethke
I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs,
Yet, like a tree, endure the shift of things.

I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs, Yet, like a tree, endure the shift of things.

Theodore Roethke
The two duties are to lament or praise.

The two duties are to lament or praise.

Theodore Roethke
What grace I have is enough.

What grace I have is enough.

Theodore Roethke
Love makes me naked;
Propinquity's a harsh master;
O the songs we hide singing to ourselves!

Love makes me naked; Propinquity's a harsh master; O the songs we hide singing to ourselves!

Theodore Roethke
Necessity starves on the stoop of invention.

Necessity starves on the stoop of invention.

Theodore Roethke
My bones whisper to my blood; my sleep deceives me.

My bones whisper to my blood; my sleep deceives me.

Theodore Roethke
A house for wisdom, a field for revelation.
Speak to the stars, and the stars answer. At first the visible obscures:
Go where the light is.

A house for wisdom, a field for revelation. Speak to the stars, and the stars answer. At first the visible obscures: Go where the light is.

Theodore Roethke
Maybe God has a house.
But not here.

Maybe God has a house. But not here.

Theodore Roethke
The Mistake

He left his pants upon a chair:
She was a widow, so she said:
But he was apprehended, bare,
By one who rose up from the dead.

The Mistake He left his pants upon a chair: She was a widow, so she said: But he was apprehended, bare, By one who rose up from the dead.

Theodore Roethke
She moves as water moves, and comes to me,
Stayed by what was, and pulled by what would be.

She moves as water moves, and comes to me, Stayed by what was, and pulled by what would be.

Theodore Roethke
From The Auction

I left my home with unencumbered will
And all the rubbish of confusion sold.

From The Auction I left my home with unencumbered will And all the rubbish of confusion sold.

Theodore Roethke
From Open House

My truths are all foreknown,
This anguish self-revealed.
I'm naked to the bone,
With nakedness my shield.
Myself is what I wear:
I keep the spirit spare.

From Open House My truths are all foreknown, This anguish self-revealed. I'm naked to the bone, With nakedness my shield. Myself is what I wear: I keep the spirit spare.

Theodore Roethke
Brooding on God, I may become a man.

Brooding on God, I may become a man.

Theodore Roethke