Monday, October 26, 2009

The weekly bon mot

"I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each preserves the solitude of the other."


Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

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2 comments:

stuart said...

Reminds me a little of Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet when Almustafa speaks of marriage:

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

October 26, 2009 9:45 AM
Froog said...

Ah, yes, I recognise this from a few weddings I've been to. Gibran is often mocked as being a bit cheesy in parts, but there is a lot of very, very good stuff in there.

October 26, 2009 5:48 PM

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