Theodore Roethke Quotes

Quotes about:

Bones Desire Dying Eyes Heart Joy Madness

In a dark time, the mind begins to see.

Theodore Roethke

Dark, Mind, Dark Times

8 Copy quote
What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.

Theodore Roethke

Inspirational, Faith, Teaching

Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.93, Copper Canyon Press

63 Copy quote
Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.

Theodore Roethke

Nature, Attitude, Flower

Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.40, Copper Canyon Press

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

Theodore Roethke

Failure, Adversity, Wrestling

30 Copy quote
Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.

Theodore Roethke

Moving, Religion, Gardening

Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.179, Copper Canyon Press

24 Copy quote
Be sure that whatever you are is you.

Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.251, Anchor

9 Copy quote
May my silences become more accurate.

Theodore Roethke

Silence, May, Accuracy

Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.95, Copper Canyon Press

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

Theodore Roethke

Art, Mean, Haste

Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.123, Copper Canyon Press

19 Copy quote
The darkness has it's own light.

Theodore Roethke

Light, Darkness

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

Theodore Roethke

Doe, Body, Spirit

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.350, Anchor

26 Copy quote
Live in a perpetual great astonishment.

Theodore Roethke

Astonishment, Perpetual

Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.175, Copper Canyon Press

18 Copy quote
A mind too active is no mind at all.

Theodore Roethke

Intelligence, Intuition, Mind

Theodore Roethke, William J. Martz (1966). “The achievement of Theodore Roethke: a comprehensive selection of his poems”

11 Copy quote
And soon a branch, part of a hidden scene,The leafy mind, that long was tightly furled,Will turn its private substance into green,And young shoots spread upon our inner world.

Theodore Roethke

Long, Mind, Substance

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.28, Anchor

5 Copy quote
I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs.

Theodore Roethke

Song, Teach, Sigh

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.196, Anchor

24 Copy quote
The visible exhausts me. I am dissolved in shadow.

Theodore Roethke

Shadow, Visible

Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.150, Copper Canyon Press

18 Copy quote
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

Fear, Learning, Sleep

The Waking (1953) p. 120

12 Copy quote
I learn by going where I have to go.

Theodore Roethke

Education, Learning, Character

The Waking (1953) p. 120

7 Copy quote
What is madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?

Theodore Roethke

Positive, Positivity, Odds

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.341, Anchor

19 Copy quote
We think by feeling. What is there to know?

Theodore Roethke

Knowledge, Thinking, Feelings

Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.41, Copper Canyon Press

4 Copy quote
When I go mad,
I call my friends by phone:
I am afraid they might think
they're alone.

Theodore Roethke

Thinking, Phones, Mad

Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.79, Copper Canyon Press

20 Copy quote
Time marks us while we are marking time.

Theodore Roethke

Death, Suicide, Mark

Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.188, Copper Canyon Press

8 Copy quote
Love is not love until love's vulnerable.

Theodore Roethke

Love, Relationship, Vulnerable

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.177, Anchor

23 Copy quote
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

Light, Wings, Bird

Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.225, Anchor

7 Copy quote
By daily dying, I have come to be.

Theodore Roethke

Philosophy, Philosophical, Dying

7 Copy quote
I am overwhelmed by the beautiful disorder of poetry, the eternal virginity of words.

Theodore Roethke

Beautiful, Overwhelmed, Disorder

Theodore Roethke (2001). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose of Theodore Roethke”, p.203, Copper Canyon Press

14 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

William Carlos Williams

Ned Rorem

Elizabeth Bishop

Emily Dickinson

Theodore Roethke

Follow

Born: May 25, 1908
Died: August 1, 1963
Occupation: Poet
Cite this Page: Citation

Popular Topics