This is the first quote to live by in my new category. I thought it might be fun to have a category dedicated to the meaningful quotes that have really impacted my life. This quote to live by comes from the last stanza in a Robert Frost poem titled “Reluctance”.
“Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?”
I love this short poetic stanza because it reminds me that I should never live my life in resignation to the status quo, that I should always fight to hold onto the good things I’ve found. How often in life do we find ourselves bowing and accepting the end of a love or a season? Even though I’m still somewhat young, I know that letting important things slip away is one of the most haunting realizations later in life. I don’t want to look back on my life with regret. And so, I’ve adopted this quote to live by as one of my all time favorites. I hope it means a lot to you as well.
6 Comments
love you dialogue on the quote…and so true…we really must fight for our life, or someone else will dictate it for us…
Thanks Brian! Yep, that’s the sad truth. If we’re not intentional about living, we’ll end up somewhere we never wanted to be.
Hi Ben,
This stanza from Robert Frost’s poem is incredible but I have to say the biggest impact for me comes from your words below it. This is a great idea for a new category. I have always really liked the quotes (and your thoughts about them) that you have posted before.
Thanks for this. What great timing, as we end another year and look forward to a healthy, happy, prosperous 2010.
Jodi! Thanks for liking the quote. That’s very kind of you to say. I’m really looking forward to writing more about quotes. I’ve already thought of half a dozen that have really inspired me. I hope you like them!
That’s interesting, Ben. For me, I see it in sort of an opposite sense. For me, being part of status quo was the internal fight, and finally letting myself go away from that felt right. This morning I was thinking about a place where I used to live. I remember it was always so windy to the point it was a constant nuisance. It would knock over my lawn chairs and beat on me as I tried to do my daily chores. I see myself now in a place where I let go of all of that which I once thought to be so important. I let in go, and instead of fighting and cursing the wind, I let it carry me to a better place.
That’s a really interesting thought. I hadn’t really thought about it from that perspective before. I can definitely see how you would feel that way. I like that you and I have such different experiences and perspectives and yet still can genuinely understand and appreciate one another