40 Transformative Poems About Life Everyone Should Know

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40 transformative poems about life everyone should know.

40 Transformative Poems About Life Everyone Should Know

Let’s face it. Sometimes, life can get confusing and hard. In such times, it can be useful to turn to the wisdom of poetry. Poetry has a way of making us feel understood — it can make us feel empowered, hopeful, and remind us why life is worth living. So, in this post we’ve put together a list of the 40 greatest poems about life. From classics like Robert Frost and Rumi to the more contemporary Rupi Kaur, you’re guaranteed to find something that resonates with what you’re feeling.

1. "Risk", by Anaïs Nin

And then the day came,

when the risk

to remain tight

was more painful

than the risk

to blossom.

A single sentence broken up into 8 small lines, Anaïs Nin’s “Risk” uses a flower as a metaphor, to remind us that there will come a day when the pain of complacency will exceed the pain of actually daring to make a change. The poem serves as an understated call to action — make the change now, no matter how scary.

2. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", by Robert Frost

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Reading out like a heartbeat, Frost's most famous work draws from nature to explore the human conflict of being torn between life’s beauty and its responsibilities. With the repetition of ‘and miles to go before I sleep’ closing out the poem, Frost perfectly captures the feeling of a moment we've all experienced — one where we're weary of life and its challenges. 

3. “Hope is the thing with feathers", by Emily Dickinson

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

The evocative extended metaphor at the heart of this work has helped to cement "Hope is a thing with feathers" as perhaps the best-loved of Dickinson's 1,800 poems. In the last stanza, Dickinson beautifully captures the ever-giving, selfless nature of hope⁠— the bird of hope sings in the harshest, most adverse times in our lives, never asking for anything in return. 

4. "The Peace of Wild Things", by Wendell Berry

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Written in free verse , "The Peace of Wild Things” intentionally slips the shackles of a standard meter and rhyme scheme. The loose structure of the poem mirrors the uncontrolled, free-flowing beauty of nature when left to its own devices. Berry admires the power of nature’s simplicity, reminding us that we can always turn to ‘the grace of the '"world’ to soothe an ever-worrying, overthinking human mind.

5. "The Summer Day", by Mary Oliver

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

Reflecting on the futility of life, Oliver’s “The Summer Day” shakes the reader by the shoulder, offering a jolt of inspiration. As everything dies ‘at last’ and ‘too soon’, the poem encourages us to live our one life intentionally.  By asking the reader what you plan to do with ‘your one wild and precious life’, the poem serves as a reminder that it’s ultimately our job to fill our own lives with meaning (whatever that might mean for each one of us!). So, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

6. "The Guest House", by Rumi

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

Written by the great 13th-century Persian poet, "The Guest House" is a call for acceptance — one that is, unsurprisingly,  often invoked in mindfulness circles. Rumi uses the metaphor of a guest house, likening it to the mind. Much like guests in a lodge, thoughts arrive in our head one after another— some making us happy, sad, and even uncomfortable. This poem serves as a reminder to not resist life’s painful thoughts, but to welcome them with warmth and good grace. 

7. "from Milk and Honey", by Rupi Kaur

what is stronger

than the human heart

which shatters over and over

and still lives

Inward-looking in style, Rupi Kaur’s collection of poems, from Milk and Honey, centers around the theme of self-love (which is also a form of introspection). Kaur’s poems ironically remind us that the emotional attention and love that we crave and desire is not something that can be sought in the outside world. Her clarion call to prioritize one’s self and start living intentionally is one that resonates deeply with today’s increasingly alienated generation. 

8. "Sonnet 29", by William Shakespeare

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven’s gate;

For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings

"Sonnet 29" is a single sentence, divided into two: a conditional clause and a main clause. Shakepeare first lists a series of misfortunes that he undergoes before revealing that his suffering is compensated for when he thinks of the person he loves. The poem thus reminds us that even in the toughest of times, those who we love have the power to completely change our outlook.

9. "I took my power in my hand", by Emily Dickinson

I aimed by Pebble—but Myself

Was all the one that fell—

Was it Goliath—was too large—

Or was myself—too small

Whilst not particularly uplifting, Dickinson’s “I took my power in my hand” brings out a harsh reality many of us struggle with — accepting failure. The poem is populated with unorthodox punctuation (particularly a liberal use of dashes) and mid-sentence capitalization to emphasize the confusion and bewilderment in the poet’s thoughts as she comes to terms with failure. 

10. "O Me! O life!", by Walt Whitman

O Me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,

Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,

Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)

Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,

Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,

The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

One of Whitman’s shortest and most celebrated poems,“O Me! O Life!” highlights the daily struggle that is life. After his early lamentations, the poet concludes that the meaning of life lies in life itself — that we are present, alive, and can contribute our own verse to life. In Whitman’s case this is literally a verse, but metaphorically this refers to whatever you bring to the table.

11. "Life Doesn’t Frighten Me", by Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wall

Noises down the hall

Life doesn't frighten me at all

Bad dogs barking loud

Big ghosts in a cloud

If you’re looking for a little courage, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” is the poem to turn to. Angelou takes us into the mind of a child who lists an elaborate array of things that seemingly don’t frighten her — ‘shadows’, ‘big ghosts’ or even ‘tough guys’. The refrain ‘frighten me at all’, is repeated ten times throughout the poem. This repetition causes one to question the speaker’s honesty — is the child really not frightened? Or is this repetition simply a way to make her feel braver? Whether the child is truly unafraid or not, this poem perfectly encapsulates the concept of facing your fears with a smile.

12. "A Psalm of Life", by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way; 

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

On reading “A Psalm of Life” , you might just feel an instant urge to live your best life. The poem rejects the idea that life can be broken down into meaningless, emotionless metrics. It advocates that life is neither made to suffer through, nor is it made to solely enjoy. While both these emotions are a part of the journey, the purpose of life is ‘to act’, improve oneself, and make each day better than the previous one.

13. "Do not go gentle into that good night", by Dylan Thomas

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

One of the most famous villanelles (a 19-line poem with a fixed form and rhyme scheme) written in English, Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night” is a poem not about life, but about death. While the poet acknowledges the inevitability of death, he uses this to highlight that life is precious and worth fighting for. Written as a dedication to his late father, the poem feels deeply personal and vulnerable —not just as a poet’s advice to the world, but as a son’s advice to his father.

 14. "Desiderata", by Max Ehrmann 

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,

even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

The didactic tone of “Desiderata” stems from the fact that it is a poem Max Ehrmann wrote to his daughter as a manifesto to living a happy life. In Latin, desiderata means ‘things that are desired’. The poet lays out the ground rules he believes one must live by to have an authentic, virtuous life. The protective nature of Ehrmann’s advice to his daughter has resonated with millions, resulting in the poem being regarded as a manual to a life well-lived.

15. "Leisure", by W. H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

In a world increasingly ‘busy’ chasing material goals, “Leisure” reminds us to make time for the mind and soul. The poem begins with an irony-filled rhetorical question, where W.H Davies takes a jab at modernity and explains how it has robbed us of the simple things in life (such as to ‘stand’ in and ‘stare’ at nature). Davies’ belief in nature’s powers is evident, and he insists that we take some time to admire it and replenish our soul. So, if you’ve been overdoing it at work, “Leisure” is just the reminder you need to take a step back and stare!

16. "Opportunity," by Berton Braley

With doubt and dismay you are smitten

You think there's no chance for you, son?

Why, the best books haven't been written

The best race hasn't been run,

The best score hasn't been made yet,

The best song hasn't been sung,

The best tune hasn't been played yet,

Cheer up, for the world is young!

When feeling doubtful, ‘cheer up’, and let Braley’s words motivate you into action! The narrator addresses the poem to his ‘son’, adding a caring, reassuring tone to his speech. The poem celebrates the abundance of life, mentioning the vast sea of opportunities that we can capitalize on — to write the best books, sing the best songs, etc. It reiterates that opportunities are plentiful (and there’s enough for everyone).  

17. "The Builders", by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

All are architects of Fate,

Working in these walls of Time;

Some with massive deeds and great,

Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Considering Longfellow’s long career as an educator, the optimistic nature of “The Builders” comes as no surprise. By calling everyone ‘an architect of Fate’, working in the ‘walls of Time’, he conveys that all humans have a meaningful impact on the world. Be it with ‘massive deeds’ or ‘ornaments of rhyme’, each and every person has a role to play. 

18. "Life", by Charlotte Brontë

Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,

But these are transient all;

If the shower will make the roses bloom,

O why lament its fall?

A simple message resides at the core of Brontë’s “Life” — to live with a fearless outlook. Brontë wishes to dismiss the glorified idea that life is dark or unpleasant. She highlights the transient nature of the gloomy aspects of life, reminding us that they eventually clear and are replaced by something pleasant (like blooming roses after rain). So why dread the rain? 

19. "Full Life", by D. H. Lawrence

A man can’t fully live unless he dies and ceases to care,

ceases to care.

An extremely short poem, D.H Lawrence’s “Full Life” can be entirely quoted in two sentences. While Lawrence may be advocating a nonchalant, unbothered approach to life (as clearly reflected in the poem’s length), the paradoxical nature of the poem’s very existence often leaves readers wondering what the poet really means.

20. "What Is This Life", by Sir Walter Raleigh

What is our life? The play of passion

Our mirth? The music of division:

Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be,

Where we are dressed for life’s short comedy.

A somber contemplation on life’s brevity, “What is This Life” likens life to a play —  specifically, a ‘short comedy’. The rhyme scheme of the poem (aa bb cc dd ee) is short and simple, reflecting the monotony and shortness of life. Further, the predictable nature of the repeating couplets highlights that life always comes to the same end — death. The poem serves as a matter-of-fact reminder that life is meaningless, short, and therefore not to be taken too seriously.

21. "Each Life Converges to some Centre", by Emily Dickinson 

Each Life Converges to some Centre –

Expressed – or still –

Exists in every Human Nature

Aligned with Emily Dickinson’s quest for universal truth, this poem considers the purpose of human existence. It says that all of humanity, whether consciously or unconsciously, strives towards an end goal. Dickinson then alternates between saying that this goal is achievable and that it isn’t, mirroring the uncertain manner in which we aim to reach a goal of which we have no proof. This complex, philosophical poem will definitely leave you questioning life!

22. "Stream of life", by Rabindranath Tagore

The same stream of life that runs

through my veins night and day runs

through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy

through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and

breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

A celebration of the universe’s connectedness, “Stream of life” reflects Tagore’s world view that humans create their own segregation. The rhythm and flow of the poem, along with lively descriptions of the stream of life like ‘dancing in rhythmic measures’, or ‘shooting with joy’ will uplift your mood instantly. The poem leaves us with an innate sense of belonging to the world we live in. Seen from Tagore’s lens, isn’t this an incredible world to be part of? 

23. "Still I Rise", by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Angelous’s “Still I rise” boldly celebrates the power of the human spirit, and highlights the importance of not being defeated by the obstacles life throws at you. Angelou specifically refers to the discrimination faced by African-Americans. The lesson? Life might pin you down, write you off, or have you up against the wall. Still you rise!

24. "Life Is a Privilege", by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life is a privilege.  Its youthful days

Shine with the radiance of continuous Mays.

To live, to breathe, to wonder and desire,

To feed with dreams the heart's perpetual fire;

The nostalgic tone of “Life is a Privilege'' makes one feel blessed to have the opportunity to live. Wilcox artfully describes all of life’s blessings (from the sun’s rays to the chance to chase our dreams). Serving as a bitter-sweet reminder of how short life is, the poem encourages the reader to leave no room for regret, and live out their heart's desires.

25. "Lines on a Skull", by Ravi Shankar

life’s little, our heads

sad. Redeemed and wasting clay

this chance. Be of use.

“Lines On a Skull” is a wake up call to be intentional with life.  The poet compares life to clay, stating that every day we have a chance to either waste it, or create something meaningful.  The poet urges us to use our heads and make our lives useful. Rather sound advice, isn’t it?

26. “The Room of My Life”, by Anne Sexton

in the room of my life

the objects keep changing.

Ashtrays to cry into,

the suffering brother of the wood walls,

the forty-eight keys of the typewriter

each an eyeball that is never shut,

Sexton’s “The Room of my Life” describes household objects in unconventional ways. The poet strikingly describes ashtrays, typewriters, etc for purposes that are out of their ordinary use — an ashtray being used to catch tears, etc. These objects highlight Sexton's pain and despair, showing life from a different perspective.

27.  "A Question", by Robert Frost

A voice said, Look me in the stars

And tell me truly, men of earth,

If all the soul-and-body scars

Were not too much to pay for birth.

Frost’s “A Question”, consisting of merely 4 powerful lines, will hit you like an emotional shot. The poet questions whether the gift of life is worth the pain and suffering humans go through. True to the nature of the title, Frost ends the poem with the question itself—perhaps reflecting his inability to arrive at an answer (or the lack of a definite answer at all). 

28. "Life", by Sarojini Naidu

Till ye have battled with great grief and fears,

And borne the conflict of dream-shattering years,

Wounded with fierce desire and worn with strife,

Children, ye have not lived: for this is life.

Addressed directly to children, this poem serves as a warning about life’s inevitable hardships. The poem states that children haven’t yet experienced the harsh realities of life (e.g., battled with great grief and fears, etc).  While acknowledging the sufferings of life, this sonnet isn’t meant to demoralize, but instead to prepare children to face life.

29. "Each Moment Is Precious", by Pat A. Fleming

And the person you’re with,

In that moment you share,

Give them all of your focus;

Be totally there.

Written from the second person perspective, “Each Moment Is Precious” directly addresses the reader as ‘you’. This laces the poem with a sense of intimacy, making it feel like heartfelt advice by someone elderly and wise. Fleming beautifully reminds us to live in the present and savor every moment, as there are only a precious few.

30. "My Inner Life", by Robert William Service

For I've a hidden life no one

        Can ever hope to see;

A sacred sanctuary none

        May share with me.

“My Inner Life” celebrates the relationship we have with ourselves. The poem presents a narrator who seems to be misunderstood and alone. However, he then reveals that his ‘hidden life’  is precious, something he wouldn’t trade for the world. This poem reassuringly encourages us to be true to ourselves, regardless of what others may think. 

31. "Life is Fine", by Langston Hughes

So since I’m still here livin’,

I guess I will live on.

I could’ve died for love—

But for livin’ I was born

The spirited “Life is Fine” highlights the theme of perseverance. Structurally similar to a blues song, it tells the story of a man who often considers suicide but never goes through with it. Towards the end of the poem, after several close encounters with death, the man realizes that he has something to live for. The honest, vulnerable tone of the poem resonates with many, encouraging us to keep going — even when we feel like giving up.

32. "Futility", by Wilfred Owen

Was it for this the clay grew tall?

—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil

To break earth's sleep at all?

Owen’s “Futility” questions how something as beautiful as life always loses to death. A combination of slant and perfect rhymes, the poem’s rhyme scheme reflects the uncertainty of soldiers' lives during the Great war. While the speaker does possess an admiration for life, he gradually begins to question its futile nature. This duality leaves the reader in two moods, savoring life but also questioning its meaning at the same time.

33. "Suppose", by  E.E. Cummings 

Life is an old man carrying flowers on his head.

young death sits in a café

smiling,a piece of money held between

his thumb and first finger

In “Suppose”, life and death are personified. The old man carrying flowers on his head might refer to a fear-led life. The man wants someone to buy his flowers, but is also scared for the moment when someone will take them away. Money in hand, Death would like to buy the flowers. Cumming brings out the fact that death will inevitably take everything from life, but his striking use of this metaphor evokes in us an urge to not waste ours in the first place.

34. "Ode To A Nightingale", by John Keats

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

        What thou among the leaves hast never known,

The weariness, the fever, and the fret

        Here, where men sit and hear each other groan

In an “Ode To a Nightingale”, Keats suggests that human consciousness itself is suffering. The singing nightingale has ‘never known’  these troubles, and represents freedom from the anxious, lonely human mind. The speaker later admits that while death would end his suffering, he would then be unable to enjoy the beauty of the nightingale’s song. So, the poem argues both for and against human consciousness, with no final stance on the matter.

35. "If", by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too; 

Despite being 32 lines long, “If” is a single continuous sentence! The poem comprises many clauses beginning with ‘if you can’, each clause laying out a condition that the speaker believes the reader should fulfill to live a successful life. Widely considered as Kipling’s advice to his own son,  “If” is a guide to living an ideal and worthwhile life.

36. "Dockery and Son", by Philip Larkin

Unhindered moon. To have no son, no wife,

No house or land still seemed quite natural.

Only a numbness registered the shock

Of finding out how much had gone of life,

Larkin’s “Dockery and Son” considers the fleeting nature of time. Candid and emotional, the poem captures the shock that the narrator faces after learning that one of his university juniors has a child (who now goes to the same university they used to attend). By repeating the ‘no’ in the 4th stanza, Larkin emphasizes the emptiness and regret he feels when he realizes ‘how much had gone of life’. This poem brings out a classic lesson — time shall pass, and waits for no one.

37. "My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is", by Sir Edward Dyer 

My mind to me a kingdom is;

Such present joys therein I find,

That it excels all other bliss

  That earth affords or grows by kind:

“My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is”, dating back to the Renaissance, declares that one’s mind is the most powerful source of one’s happiness. The poet metaphorically compares his mind to a kingdom, one where he reigns with a blissful state of control. Rather than constantly seeking pleasure elsewhere like several others, he reveals a refreshing sense of being content in possession of his most powerful tool, a peaceful mind.

38. "A Quoi Bon Dire", by Charlotte Mew

And one fine morning in a sunny lane

Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear

That nobody can love their way again

While over there

You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.

In the first two stanzas of “A Quoi Bon Dire”, poet Charlotte Mew introduces a curious protagonist — one who does not despair at the loss of a soulmate; who doesn’t fret at the passing of the years. For indeed, the question of a quoi bon dire (or, ‘what’s the point?’) is answered in the closing lines that you see above — a sentiment that the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas would echo many decades later: “Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.”

39. "My Heart Leaps Up", by William Wordsworth 

My heart leaps up when I behold 

A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man; 

So be it when I shall grow old,

   Or let me die!

Wordsworth’s "My Heart Leaps Up" emphasizes the importance of retaining a child-like sense of enthusiasm throughout life. The poem begins by the speaker stating the joy he feels on seeing a rainbow, the very same delight he first felt when he saw it as a child. The poem argues that adults should not let this child-like sense of awe and appreciation for nature die out, as it is what makes life worth living. 

40. "Life Is",  by Mother Teresa

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Mother Teresa’s “Life Is” leaves us with wise words to live by. Filled with words of encouragement, the poem is the Nobel Peace laureate’s view on all that life is, and how it should be lived. The poem’s positive, inspiring tone promises to leave you in high spirits.

Well, we hope that these poems made you smile, reflect, and view life from a different lens! If you simply can’t get enough and would like to continue exploring the world of poetry, do check out our post on must-read love poems.

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17 Short Poems About Life Journey: Embark on Prose Paths

Short Poems About Life Journey Paths in Prose

Life journey refers to the collective experiences, challenges, and growth that we go through in our lifetime. It is a path that we must walk on, with all its twists and turns, ups and downs, leading us to our ultimate destination. It is a unique and personal journey that shapes us into the individuals we become.

17 Short Poems About Life Journey

1. the first step.

In the morning’s tender glow, A journey begins with a single toe. Paths unknown, yet hope in sight, Life’s journey starts, in the soft dawn’s light.

2. Streams of Dreams

Streams of dreams, rivers of doubt, Life’s journey weaves in and out. With each twist, a new tale told, In life’s rich tapestry, bold and old.

Did you know?

The world’s longest river, the Nile, spans about 6,650 kilometers (4,130 miles), symbolizing the long and winding journey of life. Learn more about the Nile’s significance here .

3. Crossroads

At life’s crossroads, under the sun’s gaze, Choices abound in the maze. Each path a story, a new song, In this journey, where we belong.

4. The Traveler’s Tune

With a heart brave and ever so keen, The traveler ventures where few have been. In life’s journey, each step a beat, A melody of adventures, bitter and sweet.

5. Shadows and Light

In the dance of shadows and light, Life’s journey battles the night. In every shadow, in every sigh, Lies the beauty of a starlit sky.

6. The Mountain’s Call

Over hills, beneath the blue, Life’s journey calls to me and you. Like mountains high and valleys low, We find our way, and onward we go.

Mount Everest, the Earth’s highest mountain above sea level, stands at 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 feet). It reminds us of life’s high peaks and deep valleys. Discover more about Mount Everest here .

7. Whispers of the Wind

Whispers of the wind, tales untold, Life’s journey, fearless and bold. In every breeze, a hidden tale, A journey of wonder, without fail.

8. The Weaver’s Dream

In the loom of time, threads intertwine, Life’s journey, a weaver’s design. In every thread, a different hue, A tapestry of dreams, old and new.

9. Echoes of the Past

Echoes of the past, in the journey’s heart, Guide us where to stop and start. In each echo, a lesson learned, On life’s road, where fate is turned.

10. The Horizon’s Promise

Beyond the horizon, mysteries awake, Life’s journey, for our own sake. In every dawn, a new day’s kiss, A journey of joy, of pain, of bliss.

The concept of a horizon is integral in physics, representing the boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer. It metaphorically parallels the limits and possibilities in our life journey. Dive deeper into the horizon concept in physics here .

11. Footprints in the Sand

Footprints in the sand, here then gone, Life’s journey, from dusk till dawn. In each footprint, a story fades, On the shores of time, in light and shades.

12. The Unseen Path

Through the mist, a path unseen, Life’s journey, where we’ve never been. In the fog, a hidden door, To a journey worth waiting for.

13. The River’s Flow

Like a river’s endless flow, Life’s journey, fast then slow. In every ripple, a memory, In its flow, life’s symphony.

14. The Garden’s Secrets

In the garden of days, secrets bloom, Life’s journey, from womb to tomb. In every petal, a hidden lore, A journey of love, forevermore.

15. The Celestial Voyage

Stars above, in cosmic dance, Life’s journey, a celestial chance. In the night sky , a guiding light, A journey through the endless night.

16. The Painter’s Palette

On the canvas of time, colors blend, Life’s journey, from start to end. In each stroke, a life’s hue, A painter’s dream, forever true.

17. The Final Verse

In the book of life, the final verse, Life’s journey, a universe. In every word, an epoch’s close, A journey’s end, in repose.

Reflecting on our life journey is crucial as it allows us to understand ourselves better, learn from our experiences, and appreciate the moments that make up our lives. It also helps us navigate our future paths with more clarity and purpose.

There are various paths that one can take in life, each leading to different destinations. Some of the common paths include:

  • the path of love
  • self-discovery

Each path brings its own set of challenges, lessons, and joys.

Poetry is a powerful medium through which we can reflect on our life journey. It can capture the complexities and nuances of our experiences, offering insight and understanding. Here are some ways in which poetry can help us reflect on our life journey.

  • Expressing Emotions and Experiences: Poetry can give voice to our deepest emotions and experiences, allowing us to release and process them.
  • Offering Different Perspectives: Poems can offer different perspectives and insights into our own lives, helping us gain a better understanding of ourselves and our journey.
  • Providing Comfort and Inspiration: Poetry can provide comfort and inspiration during difficult times, offering hope and motivation to keep moving forward.

Here are five short poems about life journey that can inspire and offer insight into our own paths.

  • The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
  • “Ithaka” by C.P. Cavafy
  • The Journey” by Mary Oliver
  • “Footprints” by Margaret Fishback Powers
  • “Life” by Charlotte Bronte

To use poetry to reflect on our own life journey, we can:

  • read and analyze poems that resonate with us
  • write our own poems or journal entries
  • use poetry as a tool for self-reflection and introspection

By doing so, we can gain a deeper understanding of our own journey and continue to grow and evolve as individuals.

Key Takeaways:

  • The paths of love, success, self-discovery, adventure, and growth shape our life journey and offer unique experiences.
  • Poetry allows us to reflect on our journey by expressing emotions and experiences, offering different perspectives, and providing comfort and inspiration.
  • Short poems like “The Road Not Taken”, “Ithaka”, “The Journey”, “Footprints”, and “Life” can inspire us to embrace our own life journey and reflect on its lessons and growth.

What Is a Life Journey?

A life journey is the path of existence from the moment of birth until death, encompassing a series of experiences, growth, and personal development. It is an ongoing process of self-discovery, learning, and navigating through different paths and obstacles. It involves making decisions, overcoming challenges, and embracing opportunities for personal growth and fulfillment.

Each person’s life journey is unique and can be influenced by personal values, aspirations, and external factors. It is a transformative and ever-changing process that shapes one’s identity and contributes to their overall sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Why Is It Important to Reflect on Our Life Journey?

Reflecting on our life journey is crucial as it allows us to gain insight, learn from our experiences, and make necessary changes. It provides us with an opportunity for self-awareness and personal growth. By looking back on our past, we can identify patterns, recognize our strengths and weaknesses, and make informed decisions for the future. Reflection also helps us appreciate our achievements and value the lessons learned from our failures. It enables us to align our actions with our values and goals, leading to a more fulfilling and purposeful life. So, take the time to pause, reflect, and embrace the wisdom gained from your life journey.

Suggestions for reflection:

  • Keep a journal to record your thoughts and experiences.
  • Seek feedback from trusted friends or mentors.
  • Practice mindfulness or meditation to cultivate self-awareness.
  • Set aside dedicated time for reflection, away from distractions.
  • Consider seeking professional guidance from a therapist or life coach.

What Are the Different Paths in Life?

Life is a journey, and along the way we are presented with many different paths to take. Each path offers its own unique experiences and challenges, shaping us into the individuals we are today. In this section, we will explore the various paths in life and the lessons they have to offer. From the path of love to the path of success, the path of self-discovery to the path of adventure, and the path of growth, we will discover the diverse routes we can take on our journey through life.

1. The Path of Love

The path of love in our life journey is a powerful and transformative experience. Here are some steps to explore and cultivate love:

  • Self-love: Prioritize self-care and acceptance to build a strong foundation for love.
  • Relationships: Nurture meaningful connections with family, friends, and romantic partners.
  • Compassion: Show kindness and empathy towards others, fostering deeper connections.
  • Forgiveness: Let go of grudges and resentment, allowing love to flourish.
  • Openness: Be vulnerable and authentic in expressing your emotions and desires.

By embracing the Path of Love , we can experience profound joy, fulfillment, and growth in our life journey.

2. The Path of Success

To embark on the path of success in your life journey, consider the following steps:

  • Set clear goals: Define what success means to you and establish specific, achievable objectives.
  • Develop a growth mindset: Embrace challenges, learn from failures, and continuously seek opportunities for personal and professional development.
  • Create a plan: Break down your goals into actionable steps and create a roadmap to guide your progress.
  • Take consistent action: Implement your plan, stay focused, and persevere even when faced with obstacles.
  • Stay motivated: Surround yourself with positive influences, celebrate small victories, and remind yourself of the reasons why you are pursuing success.

Remember, success is a personal journey, so embrace your unique path and enjoy the process of growth and achievement.

3. The Path of Self-Discovery

The path of self-discovery is a transformative journey of introspection and personal growth. It involves gaining a deeper understanding of oneself, discovering passions, and embracing authenticity. Here are steps to embark on the path of self-discovery :

  • Reflect on your values, beliefs, and interests.
  • Explore new experiences and challenge yourself.
  • Spend time alone to connect with your inner thoughts and emotions.
  • Practice mindfulness and self-reflection to gain clarity.
  • Seek guidance from mentors, therapists, or support groups.
  • Embrace vulnerability and be open to self-exploration.
  • Let go of self-limiting beliefs and fears.
  • Set goals that align with your true self and pursue them.
  • Be patient and kind to yourself throughout the journey.

4. The Path of Adventure

Embarking on the path of adventure can bring excitement, personal growth, and new experiences. To fully embrace this path:

  • Step 1: Embrace uncertainty and push beyond your comfort zone.
  • Step 2: Seek out new challenges and take calculated risks.
  • Step 3: Explore different cultures, environments, and activities.
  • Step 4: Learn from failures and see them as opportunities for growth.
  • Step 5: Embrace spontaneity and be open to unexpected opportunities.

Fact: Studies have shown that engaging in adventurous activities can boost creativity, enhance problem-solving skills, and increase overall happiness and well-being.

5. The Path of Growth

  • The path of growth is a journey of continuous self-improvement and personal development.
  • Step 1: Set goals and challenges that push you outside of your comfort zone.
  • Step 2: Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.
  • Step 3: Seek feedback and learn from mentors or role models who have experienced growth.
  • Step 4: Cultivate a growth mindset, believing that your abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.
  • Step 5: Take risks and embrace new experiences to expand your knowledge and skills.

How Can Poetry Reflect on Our Life Journey?

Poetry has a special way of capturing the essence of our life journey. Through carefully crafted words and imagery, it can express our deepest emotions and experiences, offer new perspectives, and provide comfort and inspiration. In this section, we will explore the power of poetry to reflect and guide our journey through life. We will discuss how it can be a tool for expressing our innermost thoughts and feelings, as well as how it can offer insight and wisdom from different perspectives. Finally, we will see how poetry can provide solace and motivation during the ups and downs of our journey.

1. Expressing Emotions and Experiences

Expressing our emotions and experiences through poetry can be a powerful tool for reflecting on our journey through life. Here are some steps to effectively convey these emotions and experiences through poetry:

  • Identify the emotions and experiences that you want to express.
  • Choose powerful and descriptive words that capture the essence of those emotions and experiences.
  • Experiment with various poetic forms , such as sonnets, haikus, or free verse, to find the one that best conveys your message.
  • Use sensory details to create a vivid image and evoke emotions in the reader.
  • Be authentic and vulnerable in your writing, allowing yourself to express your true feelings without holding back.
  • Edit and revise your poems to ensure clarity and impact.
  • Share your poetry with others, whether through public performances, publishing, or sharing with a trusted circle of friends.

2. Offering Different Perspectives

Providing diverse outlooks is a crucial aspect of reflecting on our personal journey. Poetry offers a unique perspective to explore various viewpoints and gain insight into our experiences. By immersing ourselves in different poetic works, we are exposed to a range of emotions, perspectives, and interpretations of life’s trials and triumphs. This exposure broadens our understanding, promoting empathy and personal development.

Poems such as “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and “The Journey” by Mary Oliver present alternative paths and perspectives, encouraging us to consider different choices and possibilities. Through poetry, we can embrace multiple viewpoints and gain a deeper understanding of our own life journey.

3. Providing Comfort and Inspiration

When it comes to providing comfort and inspiration, poetry has a unique ability to touch our hearts and uplift our spirits. Here are some steps on how poetry can fulfill this role in our life journey:

  • Expressing emotions and experiences: Poetry allows us to articulate our deepest feelings and experiences in a beautiful and creative way.
  • Offering different perspectives: Through poetry, we can gain new insights and see life from different angles, broadening our understanding and sparking inspiration.
  • Providing comfort and inspiration: Poems can offer solace during difficult times, providing a source of comfort and reminding us that we are not alone in our struggles. They can also inspire us to keep moving forward on our journey.

Pro-tip: Whenever you need a dose of comfort and inspiration, turn to poetry. Explore different poets and styles to find the words that resonate with you and give you the strength to keep going on your life journey.

What Are Some Short Poems About Life Journey?

As we navigate through life, we often encounter moments of reflection and contemplation about the paths we have taken and the ones we have yet to embark on. In this section, we will explore a collection of short poems that beautifully capture the essence of the life journey. From the famous words of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” to the thought-provoking verses of Charlotte Bronte’s “Life,” each poem offers a unique perspective and insight into our journey through life.

1. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a renowned poem that delves into the concept of choices and their impact on our journey through life. Frost presents a traveler standing at a crossroads, faced with two paths and the dilemma of choosing one. The poem highlights the importance of individual decisions and the lasting consequences they have. It encourages introspection on the choices we make and the paths we choose.

Through the use of metaphors and imagery, the poem invites readers to contemplate their own life journey and the roads less traveled. It serves as a reminder that our choices ultimately shape our destiny.

In 2006, a young woman named Emily faced a similar crossroads in her life. She had to decide between pursuing her passion for art or taking a more practical career path. Inspired by “The Road Not Taken,” Emily chose to follow her heart and pursue art. Today, she is a successful artist, living a fulfilling life doing what she loves. Emily’s story is a testament to the power of making choices that align with our true desires.

2. “Ithaka” by C.P. Cavafy

“Ithaka” by C.P. Cavafy is a renowned poem that contemplates on the concept of life’s journey and the significance of the journey itself rather than the final destination. The poem urges readers to relish the process and embrace the experiences along the way. Cavafy uses the island of Ithaka as a metaphor for the goals and dreams we strive for. The poem serves as a timeless reminder that the true value lies in the personal growth, wisdom, and knowledge gained during our pursuit of these goals. “Ithaka” encourages us to appreciate the journey and find fulfillment in the process of reaching our aspirations.

3. “The Journey” by Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver’s poem “ The Journey ” is a powerful reflection on the path of life and the bravery required to follow our own journey. In this poem, Oliver urges readers to embrace self-discovery, release fear, and let go of societal expectations. She stresses the significance of staying true to oneself and not getting lost in the noise of others’ opinions. Through vivid imagery and evocative language, Oliver reminds us that each individual’s journey through life is unique. By incorporating themes of resilience and personal growth, “The Journey” encourages readers to contemplate their own life journey and find the courage to forge their own path.

4. “Footprints” by Margaret Fishback Powers

Footprints” by Margaret Fishback Powers is a beloved poem that reflects on the journey of life. It depicts a conversation between a person and God, where the person notices only one set of footprints during the most challenging moments. In the poem, God explains that during those tough times, He was carrying the person, providing support and guidance. This poem serves as a reminder that we are never alone on our journey and that we can find comfort in knowing that a higher power is always watching over us. It encourages us to have faith and trust in the path we are on, even when it may seem difficult.

5. “Life” by Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte’s poem “Life” is a powerful reflection on the journey of life and the different paths we can choose to take. Through vivid imagery and strong language, the poem explores the idea that life is a mixture of challenges and struggles, as well as moments of joy and fulfillment. By carefully reading and analyzing this poem, we can gain valuable insight into our own life journey and contemplate the decisions we make along the way. “Life” by Charlotte Bronte serves as a reminder to embrace all aspects of life and find meaning in our experiences.

How Can We Use Poetry to Reflect on Our Own Life Journey?

Using poetry as a tool for reflection allows us to delve into our own life journey and gain deeper insights. Here are steps to use poetry for self-reflection:

  • Choose meaningful poems that resonate with your experiences and emotions.
  • Read and analyze the poems, exploring themes and metaphors that relate to your life journey.
  • Write your own poetry , expressing your thoughts and feelings about your personal journey.
  • Revisit your poems over time, reflecting on how your perspective has evolved.
  • Share your poetry with others, inviting feedback and gaining new perspectives.

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34+ Poems About Life: Beautiful Journey in Verses

Beautiful poems about life will inspire, uplift, and illuminate your the path. From the ups and downs to the in-betweens, poetry has the power to heal, inspire, and elevate your spirits.

Life unfolds its tales of joy, challenges, dreams, and triumphs with each passing moment. Inspirational life poems can express the inexpressible, resonate with your soul, and help you see the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Famous Poems About Life

Risk by anais nin.

And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Hope is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.

beautiful poems about life

The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives might be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Life Is by Mother Teresa

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it.

inspirational poems about life

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean— the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down— who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

The Guest House by Rumi

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

best poems about life

I took my Power in my Hand by Emily Dickinson

I took my Power in my Hand— And went against the World— ‘Twas not so much as David—had— But I—was twice as bold—

I aimed by Pebble—but Myself Was all the one that fell— Was it Goliath—was too large— Or was myself—too small?

Transformative Poems About Life

O me o life by walt whitman.

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish, Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d, Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me, Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined, The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

That you are here—that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

What Is This Life by Sir Walter Raleigh

What is our life? A play of passion; Our mirth the music of division; Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be, Where we are dressed for this short comedy. Heaven the judicious sharp spectator is, That sits and marks still who doth act amiss; Our graves that hide us from the searching sun Are like drawn curtains when the play is done. Thus march we, playing, to our latest rest, Only we die in earnest – that’s no jest.

motivational poems about life

Stream Of Life by Rabindranath Tagore

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Each life converges to some centre by Emily Dickinson

Each life converges to some centre Expressed or still; Exists in every human nature A goal,

Admitted scarcely to itself, it may be, Too fair For credibility’s temerity To dare.

Adored with caution, as a brittle heaven, To reach Were hopeless as the rainbow’s raiment To touch,

Yet persevered toward, surer for the distance; How high Unto the saints’ slow diligence The sky!

Ungained, it may be, by a life’s low venture, But then, Eternity enables the endeavoring Again.

poems about life

A Question by Robert Frost

A voice said, Look me in the stars And tell me truly, men of earth, If all the soul-and-body scars Were not too much to pay for birth.

Leisure by William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

Life by Sarojini Naidu

CHILDREN, ye have not lived, to you it seems Life is a lovely stalactite of dreams, Or carnival of careless joys that leap About your hearts like billows on the deep In flames of amber and of amethyst.

Children, ye have not lived, ye but exist Till some resistless hour shall rise and move Your hearts to wake and hunger after love, And thirst with passionate longing for the things That burn your brows with blood-red sufferings.

Till ye have battled with great grief and fears, And borne the conflict of dream-shattering years, Wounded with fierce desire and worn with strife, Children, ye have not lived: for this is life.

My Inner Life by Robert W. Service

‘Tis true my garments threadbare are, And sorry poor I seem; But inly I am richer far Than any poet’s dream. For I’ve a hidden life no one Can ever hope to see; A sacred sanctuary none May share with me.

Aloof I stand from out the strife, Within my heart a song; By virtue of my inner life I to myself belong. Against man—ruling I rebel, Yet do not fear defeat, For to my secret citadel I may retreat.

Oh you who have an inner life Beyond this dismal day With wars and evil rumours rife, Go blessedly your way. Your refuge hold inviolate; Unto yourself be true, And shield serene from sordid fate The Real You.

If— by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

The Small Claim Of Bones by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez

What my body knows is not a lie it’s not a lie I tell you it is not it’s nothing short of truth and nothing larger my past lodges in my marrow and if I wanted a transplant There’d be no match Others’ sorrows dwarf my petty traumas still these bones are mine when they creak when they moan when they whine there’s only one thing I can claim these bones are mine I tell you they are mine and kind to abandon no thing that makes this pulse no one but me.

Long Poems About Life

Life by charlotte brontë.

Life, believe, is not a dream So dark as sages say; Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. Sometimes there are clouds of gloom, But these are transient all; If the shower will make the roses bloom, O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily, Life’s sunny hours flit by, Gratefully, cheerily Enjoy them as they fly! What though Death at times steps in, And calls our Best away? What though sorrow seems to win, O’er hope, a heavy sway? Yet Hope again elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell; Still buoyant are her golden wings, Still strong to bear us well. Manfully, fearlessly, The day of trial bear, For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair!

A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,— act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

Life Doesn’t Frighten Me Poem by Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wall Noises down the hall Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Bad dogs barking loud Big ghosts in a cloud Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Mean old Mother Goose Lions on the loose They don’t frighten me at all

Dragons breathing flame On my counterpane That doesn’t frighten me at all.

I go boo Make them shoo I make fun Way they run I won’t cry So they fly I just smile They go wild

Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

Tough guys fight All alone at night Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

Panthers in the park Strangers in the dark No, they don’t frighten me at all.

That new classroom where Boys all pull my hair (Kissy little girls With their hair in curls) They don’t frighten me at all.

Don’t show me frogs and snakes And listen for my scream, If I’m afraid at all It’s only in my dreams.

I’ve got a magic charm That I keep up my sleeve I can walk the ocean floor And never have to breathe.

Life doesn’t frighten me at all Not at all Not at all.

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Opportunity by Berton Braley

With doubt and dismay you are smitten You think there’s no chance for you, son? Why, the best books haven’t been written The best race hasn’t been run, The best score hasn’t been made yet, The best song hasn’t been sung, The best tune hasn’t been played yet, Cheer up, for the world is young!

No chance? Why the world is just eager For things that you ought to create Its store of true wealth is still meagre Its needs are incessant and great, It yearns for more power and beauty More laughter and love and romance, More loyalty, labor and duty, No chance- why there’s nothing but chance!

For the best verse hasn’t been rhymed yet, The best house hasn’t been planned, The highest peak hasn’t been climbed yet, The mightiest rivers aren’t spanned, Don’t worry and fret, faint hearted, The chances have just begun, For the Best jobs haven’t been started, The Best work hasn’t been done.

The Builders by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

All are architects of Fate, Working in these walls of Time; Some with massive deeds and great, Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low; Each thing in its place is best; And what seems but idle show Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise, Time is with materials filled; Our to-days and yesterdays Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these; Leave no yawning gaps between; Think not, because no man sees, Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art, Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and unseen part; For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well, Both the unseen and the seen; Make the house, where Gods may dwell, Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete, Standing in these walls of Time, Broken stairways, where the feet Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build to-day, then, strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure Shall to-morrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain To those turrets, where the eye Sees the world as one vast plain, And one boundless reach of sky.

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

Life is a Privilege by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life is a privilege. Its youthful days Shine with the radiance of continuous Mays. To live, to breathe, to wonder and desire, To feed with dreams the heart’s perpetual fire; To thrill with virtuous passions and to glow With great ambitions–in one hour to know The depths and heights of feeling–God! in truth How beautiful, how beautiful is youth!

Life is a privilege. Like some rare rose The mysteries of the human mind unclose. What marvels lie in earth and air and sea, What stores of knowledge wait our opening key, What sunny roads of happiness lead out Beyond the realms of indolence and doubt, And what large pleasures smile upon and bless The busy avenues of usefulness.

Life is a privilege. Though noontide fades And shadows fall along the winding glades; Though joy-blooms wither in the autumn air, Yet the sweet scent of sympathy is there. Pale sorrow leads us closer to our kind, And in the serious hours of life we find Depths in the soul of men which lend new worth And majesty to this brief span of earth.

Life is a privilege. If some sad fate Sends us alone to seek the exit gate; If men forsake us as the shadows fall, Still does the supreme privilege of all Come in that reaching upward of the soul To find the welcoming presence at the goal, And in the knowledge that our feet have trod Paths that lead from and must lead back to God.

The Room of My Life by Anne Sexton

Here, in the room of my life the objects keep changing. Ashtrays to cry into, the suffering brother of the wood walls, the forty-eight keys of the typewriter each an eyeball that is never shut, the books, each a contestant in a beauty contest, the black chair, a dog coffin made of Naugahyde, the sockets on the wall waiting like a cave of bees, the gold rug a conversation of heels and toes, the fireplace a knife waiting for someone to pick it up, the sofa, exhausted with the exertion of a whore, the phone two flowers taking root in its crotch, the doors opening and closing like sea clams, the lights poking at me, lighting up both the soil and the laugh. The windows, the starving windows that drive the trees like nails into my heart. Each day I feed the world out there although birds explode right and left. I feed the world in here too, offering the desk puppy biscuits. However, nothing is just what it seems to be. My objects dream and wear new costumes, compelled to, it seems, by all the words in my hands and the sea that bangs in my throat.

Life is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn’t, So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered! I came up twice and cried! If that water hadn’t a-been so cold I might’ve sunk and died.

I took the elevator Sixteen floors above the ground. I thought about my baby And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried! If it hadn’t a-been so high I might’ve jumped and died.

So since I’m still here livin’, I guess I will live on. I could’ve died for love— But for livin’ I was born

Though you may hear me holler, And you may see me cry— I’ll be dogged, sweet baby, If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

Suppose by E. E. Cummings

suppose Life is an old man carrying flowers on his head.

young death sits in a café smiling,a piece of money held between his thumb and first finger

(i say “will he buy flowers” to you and “Death is young life wears velour trousers life totters,life has a beard” i

say to you who are silent.—”Do you see Life?he is there and here, or that, or this or nothing or an old man 3 thirds asleep,on his head flowers,always crying to nobody something about les roses les bluets yes, will He buy? Les belles bottes—oh hear ,pas chères”)

and my love slowly answered I think so. But I think I see someone else

there is a lady,whose name is Afterwards she is sitting beside young death,is slender; likes flowers.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: ‘Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thine happiness,— That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth, Tasting of Flora and the country green, Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth! O for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, And purple-stained mouth; That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, And with thee fade away into the forest dim:

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs, Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies; Where but to think is to be full of sorrow And leaden-eyed despairs, Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

Away! away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of Poesy, Though the dull brain perplexes and retards: Already with thee! tender is the night, And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, Cluster’d around by all her starry Fays; But here there is no light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable month endows The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild; White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine; Fast fading violets cover’d up in leaves; And mid-May’s eldest child, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme, To take into the air my quiet breath; Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad In such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain— To thy high requiem become a sod.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down; The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn; The same that oft-times hath Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self! Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well As she is fam’d to do, deceiving elf. Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades Past the near meadows, over the still stream, Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep In the next valley-glades: Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

Dockery and Son by Philip Larkin

‘Dockery was junior to you, Wasn’t he?’ said the Dean. ‘His son’s here now.’ Death-suited, visitant, I nod. ‘And do You keep in touch with—’ Or remember how Black-gowned, unbreakfasted, and still half-tight We used to stand before that desk, to give ‘Our version’ of ‘these incidents last night’? I try the door of where I used to live:

Locked. The lawn spreads dazzlingly wide. A known bell chimes. I catch my train, ignored. Canal and clouds and colleges subside Slowly from view. But Dockery, good Lord, Anyone up today must have been born In ’43, when I was twenty-one. If he was younger, did he get this son At nineteen, twenty? Was he that withdrawn

High-collared public-schoolboy, sharing rooms With Cartwright who was killed? Well, it just shows How much … How little … Yawning, I suppose I fell asleep, waking at the fumes And furnace-glares of Sheffield, where I changed, And ate an awful pie, and walked along The platform to its end to see the ranged Joining and parting lines reflect a strong

Unhindered moon. To have no son, no wife, No house or land still seemed quite natural. Only a numbness registered the shock Of finding out how much had gone of life, How widely from the others. Dockery, now: Only nineteen, he must have taken stock Of what he wanted, and been capable Of … No, that’s not the difference: rather, how

Convinced he was he should be added to! Why did he think adding meant increase? To me it was dilution. Where do these Innate assumptions come from? Not from what We think truest, or most want to do: Those warp tight-shut, like doors. They’re more a style Our lives bring with them: habit for a while, Suddenly they harden into all we’ve got

And how we got it; looked back on, they rear Like sand-clouds, thick and close, embodying For Dockery a son, for me nothing, Nothing with all a son’s harsh patronage. Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, And age, and then the only end of age.

Ode To Broken Things by Pablo Neruda

Things get broken at home like they were pushed by an invisible, deliberate smasher. It’s not my hands or yours It wasn’t the girls with their hard fingernails or the motion of the planet. It wasn’t anything or anybody

It wasn’t the wind It wasn’t the orange-colored noontime Or night over the earth It wasn’t even the nose or the elbow Or the hips getting bigger or the ankle or the air. The plate broke, the lamp fell All the flower pots tumbled over one by one. That pot

which overflowed with scarlet in the middle of October, it got tired from all the violets and another empty one rolled round and round and round all through winter until it was only the powder of a flowerpot, a broken memory, shining dust.

And that clock whose sound was the voice of our lives, the secret thread of our weeks, which released one by one, so many hours for honey and silence for so many births and jobs, that clock also fell and its delicate blue guts vibrated among the broken glass its wide heart unsprung.

Life goes on grinding up glass, wearing out clothes making fragments breaking down forms and what lasts through time is like an island on a ship in the sea, perishable surrounded by dangerous fragility by merciless waters and threats.

Let’s put all our treasures together — the clocks, plates, cups cracked by the cold — into a sack and carry them to the sea and let our possessions sink into one alarming breaker that sounds like a river. May whatever breaks be reconstructed by the sea with the long labor of its tides. So many useless things which nobody broke but which got broken anyway.

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Word Wool

163 Meaningful Poems About Life

Photo of author

Here are my favorite poems about life categorized:

  • Motivational poems about life
  • Funny poems about life
  • Poems about life’s struggles
  • Poems about life’s dreams
  • Poems about life’s journey
  • Sad poems about life
  • Poems about life’s lessons
  • Hopeful poems about life
  • Poems about happiness in life

So if you want the best poems about life, then you’re in the right place.

Let’s jump right in!

  • 61 Fulfilling Poems About Retirement
  • 113 Engulfing Poems About Growth
  • 143 Stupefying Famous Poems About Life
  • 65 Carefree Poems About Innocence
  • 77 Heartwarming Poems About Growing Up
  • 83 Courageous Poems About Change
  • 21 Memorable Poems About New Beginnings

159 Best Poems About Life (Categorized)

Meaningful Poems About Life

ray of sunshine through the tree.

Experience the beauty and depth of life through our handpicked selection of poems.

From motivational and inspirational poems to those about happiness and chasing dreams, our collection celebrates the richness of life through the power of language.

Discover the best poems about life in one place and let them inspire and uplift you on your own journey here!

Read on and enjoy!

My #1 Favorite Poem About Life

White daisies in gray background.

“Life” by Carrie Law Morgan Figgs

A moment of pleasure, An hour of pain, A day of sunshine, A week of rain, A fortnight of peace, A month of strife, These taken together Make up life.

One real friend To a dozen foes, Two open gates, ’Gainst twenty that’s closed, Prosperity’s chair, Then adversity’s knife; These my friends Make up life.

At daybreak a blossom, At noontime a rose, At twilight ’tis withered, At evening ’tis closed. The din of confusion, The strain of the fife, These with other things Make up life.

A smile, then a tear, Like a mystic pearl, A pause, then a rush Into the mad whirl, A kiss, then a stab From a traitor’s knife; I think that you’ll agree with me, That this life.

Motivational Poems About Life

life's journey poems quotes

“See It Through” by Edgar Guest

When you’re up against a trouble, Meet it squarely, face to face; Lift your chin and set your shoulders, Plant your feet and take a brace. When it’s vain to try to dodge it, Do the best that you can do; You may fail, but you may conquer, See it through!

Black may be the clouds about you And your future may seem grim, But don’t let your nerve desert you; Keep yourself in fighting trim. If the worst is bound to happen, Spite of all that you can do, Running from it will not save you, See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile, When with troubles you’re beset, But remember you are facing Just what other men have met. You may fail, but fall still fighting; Don’t give up, whate’er you do; Eyes front, head high to the finish. See it through!

“Be Strong” by Maltbie Davenport Babcock

Be strong! We are not here to play, to dream, to drift, We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. Shun not the struggle; face it. ‘Tis God’s gift.

Be strong! Say not the days are evil, — Who’s to blame? And fold not the hands and acquiesce, — O shame! Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.

Be strong! It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong, How hard the battle goes, the day, how long. Faint not, fight on! To-morrow comes the song.

“If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking” by Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.

“It Couldn’t Be Done” by Edgar Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done But he with a chuckle replied That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried. So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin On his face. If he worried he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that; At least no one ever has done it;” But he took off his coat and he took off his hat And the first thing we knew he’d begun it. With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, Without any doubting or quiddit, He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, There are thousands to prophesy failure, There are thousands to point out to you one by one, The dangers that wait to assail you. But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, Just take off your coat and go to it; Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Night landscape of mountains with stars covered sky and C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) comet with light tail.

“A Naughty Little Comet” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

There was a little comet who lived near the Milky Way! She loved to wander out at night and jump about and play.

The mother of the comet was a very good old star; She used to scold her reckless child for venturing out too far.

She told her of the ogre, Sun, who loved on stars to sup, And who asked no better pastime than in gobbling comets up.

But instead of growing cautious and of showing proper fear, The foolish little comet edged up nearer, and more near.

She switched her saucy tail along right where the Sun could see, And flirted with old Mars, and was as bold as bold could be.

She laughed to scorn the quiet stars who never frisked about; She said there was no fun in life unless you ventured out.

She liked to make the planets stare, and wished no better mirth Than just to see the telescopes aimed at her from the Earth.

She wondered how so many stars could mope through nights and days, And let the sickly faced old Moon get all the love and praise.

And as she talked and tossed her head and switched her shining trail The staid old mother star grew sad, her cheek grew wan and pale.

For she had lived there in the skies a million years or more, And she had heard gay comets talk in just this way before.

And by and by there came an end to this gay comet’s fun. She went a tiny bit too far-and vanished in the Sun!

No more she swings her shining trail before the whole world’s sight, But quiet stars she laughed to scorn are twinkling every night.

“Morning Prayer” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Let me to-day do something that shall take A little sadness from the world’s vast store, And may I be so favoured as to make Of joy’s too scanty sum a little more Let me not hurt, by any selfish deed Or thoughtless word, the heart of foe or friend; Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need, Or sin by silence when I should defend. However meagre be my worldly wealth, Let me give something that shall aid my. kind – A word of courage, or a thought of health, Dropped as I pass for troubled hearts to find. Let me to-night look back across the span ‘Twixt dawn and dark, and to my conscience say – Because of some good act to beast or man – “The world is better that I lived to-day.”

“Song” by Langston Hughes

Lovely, dark, and lonely one, Bare your bosom to the sun, Do not be afraid of light You who are a child of night.

Open wide your arms to life, Whirl in the wind of pain and strife, Face the wall with the dark closed gate, Beat with bare, brown fists And wait.

Clock that shows now.

“Now Is the Time” by Sarah K. Bolton

Now is the time to love, and, better still, To serve our loved ones, over passing ill To rise triumphant ; thus the perfect flower Of life shall come to fruitage: wealth amass For grandest giving ere the time be gone. Be glad to-day, to-morrow may bring tears; Be brave to-day, the darkest night will pass, And golden rays will usher in the dawn: Who conquers now shall rule the coming years.

“On His Blindness” by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent, which is death to hide, Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?” I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best: his state Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.”

“Barter” by Sara Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell, All beautiful and splendid things, Blue waves whitened on a cliff, Soaring fire that sways and sings, And children’s faces looking up Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell, Music like a curve of gold, Scent of pine trees in the rain, Eyes that love you, arms that hold, And for your spirit’s still delight, Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness, Buy it and never count the cost; For one white singing hour of peace Count many a year of strife well lost, And for a breath of ecstasy Give all you have been, or could be.

life's journey poems quotes

“Hope Is the Thing With Feathers” by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.

“A Hope Carol” by Christina Georgina Rossetti

A night was near, a day was near, Between a day and night I heard sweet voices calling clear, Calling me: I heard a whirr of wing on wing, But could not see the sight; I long to see my birds that sing, I long to see. Below the stars, beyond the moon, Between the night and day I heard a rising falling tune Calling me: I long to see the pipes and strings Whereon such minstrels play; I long to see each face that sings, I long to see. Today or may be not today, Tonight or not tonight, All voices that command or pray Calling me, Shall kindle in my soul such fire And in my eyes such light That I shall see that heart’s desire I long to see.

“Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals— I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats its wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting— I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,— When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings— I know why the caged bird sings!

White heart and a cup of coffee on blue wooden table.

“Today” by Mary Frances Butts

Build a little fence of trust Around to-day ; Fill the space with loving deeds And therein stay.

Look not through the sheltering bars Upon to-morrow, God will help thee bear what comes, Of joy or sorrow.

“Dreams” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dream on, for dreams are sweet: Do not awaken! Dream on, and at thy feet Pomegranates shall be shaken.

Who likeneth the youth of life to morning? ’Tis like the night in truth, Rose-coloured dreams adorning.

The wind is soft above, The shadows umber. (There is a dream called Love.) Take thou the fullest slumber!

In Lethe’s soothing stream, Thy thirst thou slakest. Sleep, sleep; ’tis sweet to dream. Oh, weep then thou awakest!

“Life Is Lovely All the Year” by William Schwenck Gilbert

When the buds are blossoming, Smiling welcome to the spring, Lovers choose a wedding day – Life is love in merry May!

Spring is green – Fal lal la! Summer’s rose – Fal lal la! It is sad when Summer goes, Fal la! Autumn’s gold – Fal lal la! Winter’s grey – Fal lal la! Winter still is far away – Fal la! Leaves in Autumn fade and fall; Winter is the end of all. Spring and summer teem with glee: Spring and summer, then, for me! Fal la!

In the Spring-time seed is sown: In the Summer grass is mown: In the Autumn you may reap: Winter is the time for sleep.

Spring is hope – Fal lal la! Summer’s joy – Fal lal la! Spring and Summer never cloy, Fal la! Autumn, toil – Fal lal la! Winter, rest – Fal lal la! Winter, after all, is best – Fal la! Spring and summer pleasure you, Autumn, ay, and winter, too – Every season has its cheer; Life is lovely all the year! Fal la!

January winter landscape in the forest.

“In the Sunshine” by Louisa M. Alcott

Far away there in the sunshine are My highest aspirations. I cannot reach them, But I can look up And see their beauty, Believe in them, and Try to follow where they lead.

“In Summer Time” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

When summer time has come, and all The world is in the magic thrall Of perfumed airs that lull each sense To fits of drowsy indolence; When skies are deepest blue above, And flow’rs aflush,—then most I love To start, while early dews are damp, And wend my way in woodland tramp Where forests rustle, tree on tree, And sing their silent songs to me; Where pathways meet and pathways part,— To walk with Nature heart by heart, Till wearied out at last I lie Where some sweet stream steals singing by A mossy bank; where violets vie In color with the summer sky,— Or take my rod and line and hook, And wander to some darkling brook, Where all day long the willows dream, And idly droop to kiss the stream, And there to loll from morn till night— Unheeding nibble, run, or bite— Just for the joy of being there And drinking in the summer air, The summer sounds, and summer sights, That set a restless mind to rights When grief and pain and raging doubt Of men and creeds have worn it out; The birds’ song and the water’s drone, The humming bee’s low monotone, The murmur of the passing breeze, And all the sounds akin to these, That make a man in summer time Feel only fit for rest and rhyme. Joy springs all radiant in my breast; Though pauper poor, than king more blest, The tide beats in my soul so strong That happiness breaks forth in song, And rings aloud the welkin blue With all the songs I ever knew. O time of rapture! time of song! How swiftly glide thy days along Adown the current of the years, Above the rocks of grief and tears! ‘Tis wealth enough of joy for me In summer time to simply be.

“The Morning of Life” by Victor-Marie Hugo

The mist of the morning is torn by the peaks, Old towers gleam white in the ray, And already the glory so joyously seeks The lark that’s saluting the day.

Then smile away, man, at the heavens so fair, Though, were you swept hence in the night, From your dark, lonely tomb the owlets would stare At the sun rising newly as bright.

But out of earth’s trammels your soul would have flown Where glitters Eternity’s stream, And you shall have waked ‘midst pure glories unknown, As sunshine disperses a dream.

Woman taking picture outdoors for memories on valley mountains.

“Life” by Charlotte Brontë

Life, believe, is not a dream So dark as sages say; Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. Sometimes there are clouds of gloom, But these are transient all; If the shower will make the roses bloom, O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily, Life’s sunny hours flit by, Gratefully, cheerily Enjoy them as they fly! What though Death at times steps in, And calls our Best away? What though sorrow seems to win, O’er hope, a heavy sway? Yet Hope again elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell; Still buoyant are her golden wings, Still strong to bear us well. Manfully, fearlessly, The day of trial bear, For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair!

“Just Whistle a Bit” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Just whistle a bit, if the day be dark, And the sky be overcast: If mute be the voice of the piping lark, Why, pipe your own small blast.

And it’s wonderful how o’er the gray sky-track The truant warbler comes stealing back. But why need he come? for your soul’s at rest, And the song in the heart,–ah, that is best.

Just whistle a bit, if the night be drear And the stars refuse to shine: And a gleam that mocks the starlight clear Within you glows benign.

Till the dearth of light in the glooming skies Is lost to the sight of your soul-lit eyes. What matters the absence of moon or star? The light within is the best by far.

Just whistle a bit, if there’s work to do, With the mind or in the soil. And your note will turn out a talisman true To exorcise grim Toil.

It will lighten your burden and make you feel That there’s nothing like work as a sauce for a meal. And with song in your heart and the meal in–its place, There’ll be joy in your bosom and light in your face.

Just whistle a bit, if your heart be sore; ‘T is a wonderful balm for pain. Just pipe some old melody o’er and o’er Till it soothes like summer rain.

And perhaps ‘t would be best in a later day, When Death comes stalking down the way, To knock at your bosom and see if you’re fit, Then, as you wait calmly, just whistle a bit.

“The Smiling Spring” by Robert Burns

I. The smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, And surly Winter grimly flies; Now crystal clear are the falling waters, And bonnie blue are the sunny skies; Fresh o’er the mountains breaks forth the morning, The ev’ning gilds the ocean’s swell; All creatures joy in the sun’s returning, And I rejoice in my bonnie Bell.

II. The flowery Spring leads sunny Summer, And yellow Autumn presses near, Then in his turn comes gloomy Winter, Till smiling Spring again appear. Thus Seasons dancing, life advancing, Old Time and Nature their changes tell, But never ranging, still unchanging, I adore my bonnie Bell.

life's journey poems quotes

“To My Heart, Bidding It Have No Fear” by William Butler Yeats

Be you still, be you still, trembling heart; Remember the wisdom out of the old days: Him who trembles before the flame and the flood, And the winds that blow through the starry ways, Let the starry winds and the flame and the flood Cover over and hide, for he has no part With the proud, majestical multitude.

“The Wonder of It” by Harriet Monroe

How wild, how witch-like weird that life should be! That the insensate rock dared dream of me, And take to bursting out and burgeoning— Oh, long ago—yo ho!— And wearing green! How stark and strange a thing That life should be!

Oh, mystic mad, a rigadoon of glee, That dust should rise, and leap alive, and flee A-foot, a-wing, and shake the deeps with cries— Oh, far away—yo-hay! What moony masque, what arrogant disguise That life should be!

“Song: O Spirit of the Summer-Time!” by William Allingham

O spirit of the Summer-time! Bring back the roses to the dells; The swallow from her distant clime, The honey-bee from drowsy cells.

Bring back the friendship of the sun; The gilded evenings calm and late, When weary children homeward run, And peeping stars bid lovers wait.

Bring back the singing; and the scent Of meadow-lands at dewy prime; Oh, bring again my heart’s content, Thou Spirit of the Summer-time!

Woman in rustic dress gathering poppy and wildflowers in sunset.

“I Took My Power in My Hand” by Emily Dickinson

I took my Power in my Hand— And went against the World— ‘Twas not so much as David—had— But I—was twice as bold—

I aimed by Pebble—but Myself Was all the one that fell— Was it Goliath—was too large— Or was myself—too small?

“The Length of Life” by Amos R. Wells

Are your sorrows hard to bear? Life is short! Do you drag the chain of care? Life is short! Soon will come the glad release Into rest and joy and peace; Soon the weary thread be spun, And the final labor done. Keep your courage! Hold the fort! Life is short!

Are you faint with hope delayed? Life is long! Tarries that for which you prayed? Life is long! What delights may not abide– What ambitions satisfied– What possessions may not be In God’s great eternity? Lift the heart! Be glad and strong! Life is long!

“Memory” by George Moses Horton

Sweet memory, like a pleasing dream, Still lends a dull and feeble ray; For ages with her vestige teems, When beauty’s trace is worn away.

When pleasure, with her harps unstrung, Sits silent to be heard no more, Or leaves them on the willows hung, And pass-time glee forever o’er;

Still back in smiles thy glory steals With ev’ning dew drops from thine eye; The twilight bursting from thy wheels, Ascends and bids oblivion fly.

Memory, thy bush prevails to bloom, Design’d to fade, no, never, never, Will stamp thy vestige on the tomb, And bid th’ immortal live forever.

When youth’s bright sun has once declined And bid his smiling day expire, Mem’ry, thy torch steals up behind, And sets thy hidden stars on fire.

Beautiful autumn sunrise scene with trees near turquoise water of the lake.

“The Instinct of Hope” by John Clare

Is there another world for this frail dust To warm with life and be itself again? Something about me daily speaks there must, And why should instinct nourish hopes in vain? ’Tis nature’s prophesy that such will be, And everything seems struggling to explain The close sealed volume of its mystery. Time wandering onward keeps its usual pace As seeming anxious of eternity, To meet that calm and find a resting place. E’en the small violet feels a future power And waits each year renewing blooms to bring, And surely man is no inferior flower To die unworthy of a second spring?

“Ecclesiastes 3:1-8” by Anonymous

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.

“Fire-Flowers” by Emily Pauline Johnson

And only where the forest fires have sped, Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands, A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head, And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed, It hides the scars with almost human hands.

And only to the heart that knows of grief, Of desolating fire, of human pain, There comes some purifying sweet belief, Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief. And life revives, and blossoms once again.

Silhouette of the sunset with soft moon.

“Looking at the Moon After Rain” by Li Po

The heavy clouds are broken and blowing, And once more I can see the wide common stretching beyond the four sides of the city. Open the door. Half of the moon-toad is already up, The glimmer of it is like smooth hoar-frost spreading over ten thousand li. The river is a flat, shining chain. The moon, rising, is a white eye to the hills; After it has risen, it is the bright heart of the sea. Because I love it—so—round as a fan, I hum songs until the dawn.

“Poem” by Langston Hughes

Being walkers with the dawn and morning Walkers with the sun and morning, We are not afraid of night, Nor days of gloom, Nor darkness, Being walkers with the sun and morning.

“Little Grey Dreams” by Angelina Weld Grimké

Little grey dreams, I sit at the ocean’s edge, At the grey ocean’s edge, With you in my lap.

I launch you, one by one, And one by one, Little grey dreams, Under the grey, grey, clouds, Out on the grey, grey, sea, You go sailing away, From my empty lap, Little grey dreams.

Sailing! Sailing! Into the black, At the horizon’s edge.

Branches of viburnum tree with bright juicy red clusters of berries.

“After the Winter Rain” by Ina Coolbrith

After the winter rain, Sing, robin! Sing, swallow! Grasses are in the lane, Buds and flowers will follow.

Woods shall ring, blithe and gay, With bird-trill and twitter, Though the skies weep to-day, And the winds are bitter.

Though deep call unto deep As calls the thunder, And white the billows leap The tempest under;

Softly the waves shall come Up the long, bright beaches, With dainty, flowers of foam And tenderest speeches…

After the wintry pain, And the long, long sorrow, Sing, heart!—for thee again Joy comes with the morrow.

“An Earth Song” by Langston Hughes

It’s an earth song,— And I’ve been waiting long for an earth song. It’s a spring song,— And I’ve been waiting long for a spring song. Strong as the shoots of a new plant Strong as the bursting of new buds Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother’s womb. It’s an earth song, A body song, A spring song, I have been waiting long for this spring song.

Funny Poems About Life

life's journey poems quotes

“Social Note” by Dorothy Parker

Lady, lady, should you meet One whose ways are all discreet, One who murmurs that his wife Is the lodestar of his life, One who keeps assuring you That he never was untrue, Never loved another one . . . Lady, lady, better run!

“Some Men” by Will Carleton

Some men were born for great things, Some were born for small. Some, it is not recorded Why they were born at all.

“The Jester” by Langston Hughes

In one hand I hold tragedy And in the other Comedy,— Masks for the soul. Laugh with me. You would laugh! Weep with me You would weep! Tears are my laughter. Laughter is my pain. Cry at my grinning mouth, If you will. Laugh at my sorrow’s reign. I am the Black Jester, The dumb clown of the world, The booted, booted fool of silly men. Once I was wise. Shall I be wise again?

life's journey poems quotes

“The Little Peach” by Eugene Field

A little peach in the orchard grew,— A little peach of emerald hue; Warmed by the sun and wet by the dew, It grew. One day, passing that orchard through, That little peach dawned on the view Of Johnny Jones and his sister Sue— Them two. Up at that peach a club they threw— Down from the stem on which it grew Fell that peach of emerald hue. Mon Dieu! John took a bite and Sue a chew, And then the trouble began to brew,— Trouble the doctor couldn’t subdue. Too true! Under the turf where the daisies grew They planted John and his sister Sue, And their little souls to the angels flew,— Boo hoo! What of that peach of the emerald hue, Warmed by the sun, and wet by the dew? Ah, well, its mission on earth is through. Adieu!

“Post Impressions (VI)” by E. E. Cummings

into the strenuous briefness Life: handorgans and April darkness,friends

i charge laughing. Into the hair-thin tints of yellow dawn, into the women-coloured twilight

i smilingly glide. I into the big vermilion departure swim,sayingly;

(Do you think?)the i do,world is probably made of roses & hello:

(of solongs and,ashes)

“The Latest Decalogue” by Arthur Hugh Clough

Thou shalt have one God only: who Would be at the expense of two? No graven images may be Worshipped, save in the currency. Swear not at all; since for thy curse Thine enemy is none the worse. At church on Sunday to attend Will serve to keep the world thy friend: Honor thy parents; that is, all From whom advancement may befall. Thou shalt not kill; but need’st not strive Officiously to keep alive. Adultery it is not fit Or safe (for woman) to commit. Thou shalt not steal: an empty feat, When ’t is as lucrative to cheat. Bear not false witness: let the lie Have time on its own wings to fly. Thou shalt not covet; but tradition Approves all forms of competition.

Rustic wooden door with old key.

“Without and Within” by Pietro Metastasio

If every man’s internal care Were written on his brow, How many would our pity share Who raise our envy now?

The fatal secret, when revealed, Of every aching breast, Would prove that only while concealed Their lot appeared the best.

“On Being Broke” by Edgar A. Guest

Don’t mind being broke at all, When I can say that what I had Was spent for toys for kiddies small And that the spending made ’em glad. I don’t regret the money gone, If happiness it left behind. An empty purse I’ll look upon Contented, if its record’s kind. There’s no disgrace in being broke, Unless it’s due to flying high; Though poverty is not a joke, The only thing that counts is “why?”

The dollars come to me and go; To-day I’ve eight or ten to spend; To-morrow I’ll be sailing low, And have to lean upon a friend. But if that little bunch of mine Is richer by some toy or frill, I’ll face the world and never whine Because I lack a dollar bill. I’m satisfied, if I can see One smile that hadn’t bloomed before. The only thing that counts with me Is what I’ve spent my money for.

I might regret my sorry plight, If selfishness brought it about; If for the fun I had last night, Some joy they’d have to go without. But if I’ve swapped my bit of gold, For laughter and a happier pack Of youngsters in my little fold I’ll never wish those dollars back. If I have traded coin for things They needed and have left them glad, Then being broke no sorrow brings– I’ve done my best with what I had.

“Stellas Birthday” by Jonathan Swift

Stella this day is thirty-four, (We shan’t dispute a year or more:) However, Stella, be not troubled, Although thy size and years are doubled, Since first I saw thee at sixteen, The brightest virgin on the green; So little is thy form declin’d; Made up so largely in thy mind.

Oh, would it please the gods to split Thy beauty, size, and years, and wit; No age could furnish out a pair Of nymphs so graceful, wise, and fair; With half the lustre of your eyes, With half your wit, your years, and size. And then, before it grew too late, How should I beg of gentle Fate, (That either nymph might have her swain,) To split my worship too in twain.

Edge of forest with leaves blown by wind

“Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you. But when the leaves hang trembling, The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I. But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by.

“Hope” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Faith may break on reason, Faith may prove a treason To that highest gift That is granted by Thy grace; But Hope! Ah, let us cherish Some spark that may not perish, Some tiny spark to cheer us, As we wander through the waste!

A little lamp beside us, A little lamp to guide us, Where the path is rocky, Where the road is steep. That when the light falls dimmer, Still some God-sent glimmer May hold us steadfast ever, To the track that we should keep.

Hope for the trending of it, Hope for the ending of it, Hope for all around us, That it ripens in the sun. Hope for what is waning, Hope for what is gaining, Hope for what is waiting When the long day is done.

Hope that He, the nameless, May still be best and blameless, Nor ever end His highest With the earthworm and the slime. Hope that o’er the border, There lies a land of order, With higher law to reconcile The lower laws of Time.

Hope that every vexed life, Finds within that next life, Something that may recompense, Something that may cheer. And that perchance the lowest one Is truly but the slowest one, Quickened by the sorrow Which is waiting for him here.

“The Vowels: An Enigma” by Jonathan Swift

We are little airy creatures, All of different voice and features; One of us in glass is set, One of us you ’ll find in jet, T’other you may see in tin, And the fourth a box within; If the fifth you should pursue, It can never fly from you.

woman in blue green dress with peacock feather headdress

“The Peacock” by William Butler Yeats

What’s riches to him That has made a great peacock With the pride of his eye? The wind-beaten, stone-grey, And desolate Three-rock Would nourish his whim. Live he or die Amid wet rocks and heather, His ghost will be gay Adding feather to feather For the pride of his eye.

“Sonnet Reversed” by Rupert Brooke

Hand trembling towards hand; the amazing lights Of heart and eye. They stood on supreme heights.

Ah, the delirious weeks of honeymoon! Soon they returned, and, after strange adventures, Settled at Balham by the end of June. Their money was in Can. Pacs. B. Debentures, And in Antofagastas. Still he went Cityward daily; still she did abide At home. And both were really quite content With work and social pleasures. Then they died. They left three children (besides George, who drank): The eldest Jane, who married Mr. Bell, William, the head-clerk in the County Bank, And Henry, a stock-broker, doing well.

Poems About Life’s Struggles

life's journey poems quotes

“Life is Struggle” by Arthur Hugh Clough

To wear out heart, and nerves, and brain, And give oneself a world of pain; Be eager, angry, fierce, and hot, Imperious, supple—God knows what, For what’s all one to have or not; O false, unwise, absurd, and vain! For ’tis not joy, it is not gain, It is not in itself a bliss, Only it is precisely this That keeps us all alive. To say we truly feel the pain, And quite are sinking with the strain;— Entirely, simply, undeceived, Believe, and say we ne’er believed The object, e’en were it achieved, A thing we e’er had cared to keep; With heart and soul to hold it cheap, And then to go and try it again; O false, unwise, absurd, and vain! O, ’tis not joy, and ’tis not bliss, Only it is precisely this That keeps us still alive.

“Our Share of Night to Bear” by Emily Dickinson

Our share of night to bear, Our share of morning, Our blank in bliss to fill, Our blank in scorning.

Here a star, and there a star, Some lose their way. Here a mist, and there a mist, Afterwards — day!

“Storm-Racked” by Amy Lowell

How should I sing when buffeting salt waves And stung with bitter surges, in whose might I toss, a cockleshell? The dreadful night Marshals its undefeated dark and raves In brutal madness, reeling over graves Of vanquished men, long-sunken out of sight, Sent wailing down to glut the ghoulish sprite Who haunts foul seaweed forests and their caves. No parting cloud reveals a watery star, My cries are washed away upon the wind, My cramped and blistering hands can find no spar, My eyes with hope o’erstrained, are growing blind. But painted on the sky great visions burn, My voice, oblation from a shattered urn!

Pretty sad girl shedding a tear.

“A Tear” by Samuel Rogers

O that the chemist’s magic art Could crystallize this sacred treasure! Long should it glitter near my heart, A secret source of pensive pleasure.

The little brilliant, ere it fell, Its lustre caught from Chloe’s eye; Then, trembling, left its coral cell,— The spring of Sensibility!

Sweet drop of pure and pearly light! In thee the rays of Virtue shine, More calmly clear, more mildly bright, Than any gem that gilds the mine.

Benign restorer of the soul! Who ever fliest to bring relief, When first we feel the rude control Of Love or Pity, Joy or Grief.

The sage’s and the poet’s theme, In every clime, in every age, Thou charm’st in Fancy’s idle dream, In Reason’s philosophic page.

That very law which moulds a tear, And bids it trickle from its source,— That law preserves the earth a sphere, And guides the planets in their course.

“The New Life” by Witter Bynner

Perhaps they laughed at Dante in his youth, Told him that truth Had unappealably been said In the great masterpieces of the dead:— Perhaps he listened and but bowed his head In acquiescent honour, while his heart Held natal tidings,—that a new life is the part Of every man that’s born, A new life never lived before, And a new expectant art; It is the variations of the morn That are forever, more and more, The single dawning of the single truth. So answers Dante to the heart of youth!

“The World Is Against Me” by Edgar A. Guest

“The world is against me,” he said with a sigh. “Somebody stops every scheme that I try.

The world has me down and it’s keeping me there; I don’t get a chance. Oh, the world is unfair! When a fellow is poor then he can’t get a show; The world is determined to keep him down low.”

“What of Abe Lincoln?” I asked. “Would you say That he was much richer than you are to-day? He hadn’t your chance of making his mark, And his outlook was often exceedingly dark; Yet he clung to his purpose with courage most grim And he got to the top. Was the world against him?”

“What of Ben Franklin? I’ve oft heard it said That many a time he went hungry to bed. He started with nothing but courage to climb, But patiently struggled and waited his time. He dangled awhile from real poverty’s limb, Yet he got to the top. Was the world against him?

“I could name you a dozen, yes, hundreds, I guess, Of poor boys who’ve patiently climbed to success; All boys who were down and who struggled alone, Who’d have thought themselves rich if your fortune they’d known; Yet they rose in the world you’re so quick to condemn, And I’m asking you now, was the world against them?”

Woman resting on pier in autumn evening

“Cares” by Charles Swain

Cares, Cares,—who is without them? Troubles are plenty wherever we stray— Pass round the glass and think nothing about them, The more you make of them the longer they stay. Tears, Tears,—who has not met them? Sorrow’s the dew of life’s morning and night; Pass round the goblet and try to forget them, Speak of the bloom, but ne’er mention the blight. Life—life,—who would desire it? Who for its pleasures would suffer its pains? Pass round the glass, for our spirits require it; Hide with life’s roses the weight of life’s chains.

“Compensation” by Sara Teasdale

I should be glad of loneliness And hours that go on broken wings, A thirsty body, a tired heart And the unchanging ache of things, If I could make a single song As lovely and as full of light, As hushed and brief as a falling star On a winter night.

“Ballad of the Outer Life” by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

And children with deep eyes grow up and stray All innocent—lo, they grow up and die, And every man is bent upon his way.

And bitter fruits will sweeten by and by, And, like dead birds, will fall into the night, And then decay as on the ground they lie.

The wind blows evermore in wayward flight, And ever many words we say and hear, Feel weariness of limb or young delight.

And streets run through the grass, and far and near Are gloomy pools and trees, and torches burn. Some places threaten, some are deathlike, sere …

Why are these things diverse—ah, can we learn? And are there many more than we can say? Why do we tremble, laugh and weep in turn?

Of what avail is all, and why this play? For we are men, and lonely evermore, And wandering seek no goal upon the way.

What profits all this seeing while we roam? And yet, how much he says who utters “night”! For from this word deep grief and meaning pour Like heavy honey from the honeycomb.

Key with a label that has the word life written on it.

“What Is Our Life?” by Sir Walter Raleigh

What is our life? The play of passion. Our mirth? The music of division: Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be, Where we are dressed for life’s short comedy. The earth the stage; Heaven the spectator is, Who sits and views whosoe’er doth act amiss. The graves which hide us from the scorching sun Are like drawn curtains when the play is done. Thus playing post we to our latest rest, And then we die in earnest, not in jest.

“My Wage” by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse

I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store; For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menial’s hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have paid.

“Impulse” by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

A hollow on the verge of May. Thick strewn with drift of leaves. Beneath The densest drift a thrusting sheath Of sharp green striving toward the day! I mused—”So dull Obstruction sets A bar to even violets, When these would go their nobler way!” My feet again, some days gone by. The self-same spot sought idly. There, Obstruction foiled, the adoring air Caressed a blossom woven of sky And dew, whose misty petals blue, With bliss of being thrilled athrough, Dilated like a timorous eye. Reck well this rede, my soul! The good The blossom craved was near, tho’ hid. Fret not that thou must doubt, but rid Thy sky-path of obstructions strewed By winds of folly. Then, do thou The Godward impulse room allow To reach its perfect air and food!

Dew raindrops hang on coniferous bush branches.

“The Rainy Day” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, But at every gust the dead leaves fall. And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast. And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall. Some days must be dark and dreary.

“Not They Who Soar” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Not they who soar, but they who plod Their rugged way, unhelped, to God Are heroes; they who higher fare, And, flying, fan the upper air, Miss all the toil that hugs the sod. ‘Tis they whose backs have felt the rod, Whose feet have pressed the path unshod, May smile upon defeated care, Not they who soar.

High up there are no thorns to prod, Nor boulders lurking ‘neath the clod To turn the keenness of the share, For flight is ever free and rare; But heroes they the soil who’ve trod, Not they who soar!

“Minstrel Man” by Langston Hughes

Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think I suffer after I have held my pain So long.

Because my mouth Is wide with laughter, You do not hear My inner cry, Because my feet Are gay with dancing, You do not know I die.

Melancholic woman looking at the sunset over the sea mountain landscape.

“A Picture” by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

I drew a picture long ago— A picture of a sullen sea; A picture that I value now Because it clears Life’s mystery.

My sea was dark and full of gloom; I painted rocks of sombre hue. My sky alone bespoke of light, And that I painted palest blue.

But e’en across my sky of blue Stretched troubled clouds of sodden gray, Through which the sun shone weak and dim, With only here and there a ray.

Around my rocks the yellow foam Seemed surging, moaning in despair As if the waves, their fury spent, Left naught but desolation there.

Three crafts with fluttering sails I drew, And one sailed near the rocks of gray, The other on its westward course, Went speeding out of danger’s way.

The other still outdistanced them Where sky and water seemed to met. I painted that with sails full set, And then my picture was complete.

My life was like the sullen sea, Misfortunes, woes, my rocks of gray, The crafts portrayed Life’s changing scenes, The clouded sky Life’s troubled Day.

I longed to paint that picture o’er Without the rocks of sombre hue; Without the troubled clouds of gray, I’ll paint the sky of brightest blue.

My sea shall lay in calm repose, No hint of surging, moaning sigh. My crafts, unhindered by the rocks, Shall speed in joyous swiftness by.

But this shall be when brightest hours Of hope and cheer are given me. I’ll paint this picture when Life’s sun Shines clear upon Prosperity

“On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley

‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. Some view our sable race with scornful eye, “Their colour is a diabolic die.” Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

“Holy Sonnet 14” by John Donne

Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like an usurped town, to another due, Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end. Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, But is captived, and proves weak or untrue. Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain, But am betrothed unto your enemy: Divorce me, untie or break that knot again, Take me to you, imprison me, for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

A white cup and old books on a rustic wooden wet window

“Calling Dreams” by Georgia Douglas Johnson

The right to make my dreams come true, I ask, nay, I demand of life, Nor shall fate’s deadly contraband Impede my steps, nor countermand; Too long my heart against the ground Has beat the dusty years around, And now at length I rise! I wake! And stride into the morning break!

“Ode to the Sun” by Eloise Bibb Thompson

How many scenes, O sun, Hast thou not shone upon! How many tears, O light, Have dropped before thy sight! How many heart-felt sighs, How many piercing cries, How many deeds of woe, Dost thy bright light not know! How many broken hearts, That are pierced by sorrow’s darts How many maddened brains, That are wild with passion’s rains; How many soul-sick lives, Stabbed with despair’s sharp knives, Hast thou above the skies, Not seen with thy radiant eyes! Shine on, majestic one! Shine on, O glorious sun! And never fail to cheer My life so dark and drear. Whene’er thou shinest bright, And show thy brilliant light, The cares I know each day Silently steal away.

“It’s a Long Way” by William Stanley Braithwaite

It’s a long way the sea-winds blow Over the sea-plains blue,— But longer far has my heart to go Before its dreams come true.

It’s work we must, and love we must, And do the best we may, And take the hope of dreams in trust To keep us day by day.

It’s a long way the sea-winds blow— But somewhere lies a shore— Thus down the tide of Time shall flow My dreams forevermore.

Poems About Life’s Dreams

life's journey poems quotes

“Doors of Daring” by Henry Van Dyke

The mountains that enfold the vale With walls of granite, steep and high, Invite the fearless foot to scale Their stairway toward the sky.

The restless, deep, dividing sea That flows and foams from shore to shore, Calls to its sunburned chivalry, “Push out, set sail, explore!”

And all the bars at which we fret, That seem to prison and control, Are but the doors of daring, set Ajar before the soul.

Say not, “Too poor,” but freely give; Sigh not, “Too weak,” but boldly try, You never can begin to live Until you dare to die.

“Life in a Dream” by Edward Smyth Jones

There is nothing so sweet as our life in our dreams, When we soar far on fancy’s swift wing; For a thing in our dreams is all that it seems, And the songs are so sweet that we sing. Ah! the sun shines the brightest, and stars twinkle lightest At the moon in her silvery beams!

There is nothing so gay as the life in our dreams, With its joy and its laughter and mirth; For the pleasure that teems is far greater, one deems, Than any he finds in the earth. There are homes are our natal, and nothing is fatal In the beautiful land of our dreams!

There is nothing so bright as the life in our dreams, Far away from earth’s trickery chance; There the music’s wild screams and the wine in its streams Are both lost in the song and the dance. Oh! our joy is the sweetest and life is completest, Ah! the life in our beautiful dreams!

“Opportunity” by William Blake

He who bends to himself a joy Does the wingèd life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

If you trap the moment before it is ripe, The tears of repentance you ’ll certainly wipe; But if once you let the ripe moment go, You can never wipe off the tears of woe.

a beautiful woman in a burgundy vintage dress holding a candle sitting in a mysterious forest with lit candles beside her

“To Some I Have Talked With by the Fire” by William Butler Yeats

While I wrought out these fitful Danaan rhymes, My heart would brim with dreams about the times When we bent down above the fading coals And talked of the dark folk who live in souls Of passionate men, like bats in the dead trees; And of the wayward twilight companies Who sigh with mingled sorrow and content, Because their blossoming dreams have never bent Under the fruit of evil and of good: And of the embattled flaming multitude Who rise, wing above wing, flame above flame, And, like a storm, cry the Ineffable Name, And with the clashing of their sword-blades make A rapturous music, till the morning break And the white hush end all but the loud beat Of their long wings, the flash of their white feet.

“The Dreamer” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Temples he built and palaces of air, And, with the artist’s parent-pride aglow, His fancy saw his vague ideals grow Into creations marvellously fair;

He set his foot upon Fame’s nether stair. But ah, his dream,—it had entranced him so He could not move. He could no farther go; But paused in joy that he was even there!

He did not wake until one day there gleamed Thro’ his dark consciousness a light that racked His being till he rose, alert to act. But lo! what he had dreamed, the while he dreamed, Another, wedding action unto thought, Into the living, pulsing world had brought.

“The Ambitious Kangaroo” by Amos R. Wells

They held a great meeting a king to select. And the kangaroo rose in a dignified way. And said, “I’m the one you should surely elect, For I can out-leap every beast here today.” Said the eagle, “How high can you climb toward the sky?” Said the nightingale, “Favor us, please, with a song.” Said the hawk, “Let us measure our powers of eye!” Said the lion, “Come, wrestle and prove you are strong!” But the kangaroo sald, “It would surely be best, In our choice of a king, to make leaping the test!”

Opportunity's doorway, field of sunflowers beyond the door.

“Opportunity” by John James Ingalls

Master of human destinies am I. Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait. Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate Deserts and seas remote, and passing by Hovel, and mart, and palace—soon or late I knock unbidden once at every gate!

If sleeping, wake—if feasting, rise before I turn away. It is the hour of fate, And they who follow me reach every state Mortals desire, and conquer every foe Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate, Condemned to failure, penury, and woe, Seek me in vain and uselessly implore— I answer not, and I return no more.

“Benediction” by Georgia Douglas Johnson

Go forth, my son, Winged by my heart’s desire! Great reaches, yet unknown, Await For your possession. I may not, if I would, Retrace the way with you, My pilgrimage is through, But life is calling you! Fare high and far, my son, A new day has begun, Thy star-ways must be won!

“The Starry Midnight Whispers” by Bliss Carman

The starry midnight whispers, As I muse before the fire On the ashes of ambition And the embers of desire, “Life has no other logic, And time no other creed, Than: ‘I for joy will follow. Where thou for love dost lead!”

life's journey poems quotes

“I Will Be Worthy of It” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I may not reach the heights I seek, My untried strength may fail me; Or, half-way up the mountain peak, Fierce tempests may assail me. But though that place I never gain, Herein lies comfort for my pain— I will be worthy of it. I may not triumph in success, Despite my earnest labor; I may not grasp results that bless The efforts of my neighbor; But though my goal I never see This thought shall always dwell with me— I will be worthy of it. The golden glory of Love’s light May never fall on my way; My path may always lead through night, Like some deserted by-way; But though life’s dearest joy I miss There lies a nameless strength in this— I will be worthy of it.

“Undeveloped Lives” by William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Not every thought can find its words, Not all within is known; For minds and hearts have many chords That never yield their tone.

Tastes, instincts, feelings, passions, powers, Sleep there, unfelt, unseen; And other lives lie hid in ours— The lives that might have been;

Affections whose transforming force Could mould the heart anew; Strong motives that might change the course Of all we think and do.

Upon the tall cliff’s cloud-wrapt verge The lonely shepherd stands, And hears the thundering ocean surge That sweeps the far-off strands;

And thinks in peace of raging storms Where he will never be— Of life in all its unknown forms In lands beyond the sea.

So in our dreams some glimpse appears, Though soon it fades again, How other lands or times or spheres Might make us other men;

How half our being lies in trance, Nor joy nor sorrow brings, Unless the hand of circumstance Can touch the latent strings.

We know not fully what we are, Still less what we might be; But hear faint voices from the far Dim lands beyond the sea.

“Success” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We have not wings, we cannot soar; But we have feet to scale and climb By slow degrees, by more and more, The cloudy summits of our time.

The mighty pyramids of stone That wedge-like cleave the desert airs, When nearer seen and better known, Are but gigantic flights of stairs.

The distant mountains, that uprear Their solid bastions of the skies, Are crossed by pathways that appear As we to higher levels rise.

The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night.

Silhouette of a free and hopeful woman with balloons in the sunrise.

“The Aim” by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

O thou who lovest not alone The swift success, the instant goal, But hast a lenient eye to mark The failures of th’ inconstant soul, Consider not my little worth,— The mean achievement, scamped in act, The high resolve and low result, The dream that durst not face the fact. But count the reach of my desire. Let this be something in Thy sight:— I have not, in the slothful dark, Forgot the Vision and the Height. Neither my body nor my soul To earth’s low ease will yield consent. I praise Thee for my will to strive. I bless Thy goad of discontent.

“Industry” by Charles Eugene Banks

The toughest wood with brightest blaze will greet: The hardest nut contains the sweetest meat; So wisdom, gained by light of midnight oil, Gives richest recompense to patient toil.

“Aspiration” by Emily Dickinson

We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies. The heroism we recite Would be a daily thing, Did not ourselves the cubits warp For fear to be a king.

seas of tossing

“Hope” by Alice Dunbar-Nelson

Wild seas of tossing, writhing waves, A wreck half-sinking in the tortuous gloom; One man clings desperately, while Boreas raves, And helps to blot the rays of moon and star, Then comes a sudden flash of light, which gleams on shores afar.

“Dream and the Song” by James D. Corrothers

So oft our hearts, belovèd lute, In blossomy haunts of song are mute; So long we pore, ’mid murmurings dull, O’er loveliness unutterable. So vain is all our passion strong! The dream is lovelier than the song.

The rose thought, touched by words, doth turn Wan ashes. Still, from memory’s urn, The lingering blossoms tenderly Refute our wilding minstrelsy. Alas! We work but beauty’s wrong! The dream is lovelier than the song.

Yearned Shelley o’er the golden flame? Left Keats for beauty’s lure, a name But “writ in water”? Woe is me! To grieve o’er flowerful faëry. My Phasian doves are flown so long— The dream is lovelier than the song!

Ah, though we build a bower of dawn, The golden-wingèd bird is gone, And morn may gild, through shimmering leaves, Only the swallow-twittering eaves. What art may house or gold prolong A dream far lovelier than a song?

The lilting witchery, the unrest Of wingèd dreams, is in our breast; But ever dear Fulfilment’s eyes Gaze otherward. The long-sought prize, My lute, must to the gods belong. The dream is lovelier than the song.

Poems About Life’s Journey

life's journey poems quotes

“Life Is Too Short” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life is too short for any vain regretting; Let dead delight bury its dead, I say, And let us go upon our way forgetting The joys, and sorrows, of each yesterday. Between the swift sun’s rising and its setting, We have no time for useless tears or fretting, “Life is too short”.

Life is too short for any bitter feeling; Time is the best avenger if we wait, The years speed by, and on their wings bear healing, We have no room for anything like hate. This solemn truth the low mounds seem revealing That thick and fast about our feet are stealing, “Life is too short”.

Life is too short for aught but high endeavour,— Too short for spite, but long enough for love. And love lives on for ever and for ever, It links the worlds that circle on above; ‘Tis God’s first law, the universe’s lever, In His vast realm the radiant souls sigh never “Life is too short.”

“For Each Ecstatic Instant” by Emily Dickinson

For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ratio To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour Sharp pittances of years, Bitter contested farthings And coffers heaped with tears.

“Life And I” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life and I are lovers, straying Arm in arm along: Often like two children Maying, Full of mirth and song,

Life plucks all the blooming hours Growing by the way; Binds them on my brow like flowers, Calls me Queen of May.

Then again, in rainy weather, We sit vis-a-vis, Planning work we’ll do together In the years to be.

Sometimes Life denies me blisses, And I frown or pout; But we make it up with kisses Ere the day is out.

Woman-like, I sometimes grieve him,Try his trust and faith,Saying I shall one day leave himFor his rival, Death.

Then he always grows more zealous, Tender, and more true; Loves the more for being jealous, As all lovers do.

Though I swear by stars above him, And by worlds beyond, That I love him – love him – love him; Though my heart is fond;

Though he gives me, doth my lover,Kisses with each breath -I shall one day throw him over,And plight troth with Death.

Young woman with cup of coffee stay near wood in sunset time.

“Youth” by Langston Hughes

We have to-morrow Bright before us Like a flame

Yesterday, a night-gone thing A sun-down name

And dawn to-day Broad arch above the road we came, We march.

“Proem” by Joaquin Miller

Come, lovers, come, forget your pains! I know upon this earth a spot Where clinking coins, that clank as chains Upon the souls of men, are not; Nor man is measured for his gains Of gold that stream with crimson stains.

There snow-topped towers crush the clouds, And break the still abode of stars, Like sudden ghosts in snowy shrouds, New broken through their earthly bars, And condors whet their crooked beaks On lofty limits of the peaks.

O men that fret as frets the main! You irk me with your eager gaze Down in the earth for fat increase— Eternal talks of gold and gain, Your shallow wit, your shallow ways, And breaks my soul across the shoal As breakers break on shallow seas.

“The Journey of Life” by William Cullen Bryant

Beneath the waning moon I walk at night, And muse on human life—for all around Are dim uncertain shapes that cheat the sight, And pitfalls lurk in shade along the ground, And broken gleams of brightness, here and there, Glance through, and leave unwarmed the death-like air.

The trampled earth returns a sound of fear— A hollow sound, as if I walked on tombs! And lights, that tell of cheerful homes, appear Far off, and die like hope amid the glooms. A mournful wind across the landscape flies, And the wide atmosphere is full of sighs.

And I, with faltering footsteps, journey on, Watching the stars that roll the hours away, Till the faint light that guides me now is gone, And, like another life, the glorious day Shall open o’er me from the empyreal height, With warmth, and certainty, and boundless light.

Young woman holds hands in heart shape near face looking cheerful.

“The Road to the Bow” by James D. Corrothers

Ever and ever anon, After the black storm, the eternal, beauteous bow! Brother, to rosy-painted mists that arch beyond, Blithely I go.

My brows men laureled and my lyre Twined with immortal ivy for one little rippling song; My “House of Golden Leaves” they praised and “passionate fire”— But, Friend, the way is long!

Onward and onward, up! away! Though Fear flaunt all his banners in my face, And my feet stumble, lo! the Orphean Day! Forward by God’s grace!

These signs are still before me: “Fear,” “Danger,” “Unprecedented,” and I hear black “No” Still thundering, and “Churl.” Good Friend, I rest me here— Then to the glittering bow!

Loometh and cometh Hate in wrath, Mailed Wrong, swart Servitude and Shame with bitter rue, Nathless a Negro poet’s feet must tread the path The winged god knew.

Thus, my true Brother, dream-led, I Forfend the anathema, following the span. I hold my head as proudly high As any man.

“Journey” by Leopoldo Lugones (Muna Lee, translator)

I met upon the road A woman and a man, And a tree that genuflected Before the wind; Farther on, a browsing burro; And farther still, a heap of stone. And in three thousand leagues of my spirit There was no more than these: A tree, a stone, a burro, A woman, and a man.

“‘Tis So Much Joy” by Emily Dickinson

’T is so much joy! ’T is so much joy! If I should fail, what poverty! And yet, as poor as I Have ventured all upon a throw; Have gained! Yes! Hesitated so This side the victory!

Life is but life, and death but death! Bliss is but bliss, and breath but breath! And if, indeed, I fail, At least to know the worst is sweet. Defeat means nothing but defeat, No drearier can prevail!

And if I gain,—oh, gun at sea, Oh, bells that in the steeples be, At first repeat it slow! For heaven is a different thing Conjectured, and waked sudden in, And might o’erwhelm me so!

life's journey poems quotes

“As Toilsome I Wander’d” by Walt Whitman

As toilsome I wander’d Virginia’s woods, To the music of rustling leaves, kick’d by my feet, (for ’twas autumn,) I mark’d at the foot of a tree the grave of a soldier, Mortally wounded he, and buried on the retreat, (easily all could I understand;) The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time to lose–yet this sign left, On a tablet scrawl’d and nail’d on the tree by the grave, Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.

Long, long I muse, then on my way go wandering; Many a changeful season to follow, and many a scene of life; Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt, alone, or in the crowded street, Comes before me the unknown soldier’s grave–comes the inscription rude in Virginia’s woods, Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.

“Hope” by Theodore Henry Shackelford

O Hope! into my darkened life Thou hast so oft’ descended; My helpless head from failure’s blows, Thou also hast defended; When circumstances hard, and mean, Which I could not control, Did make me bow my head with shame, Thou comforted my soul.

When stumbling blocks lay all around, And when my steps did falter, Then did thy sacred fires burn Upon my soul’s high altar. Oft’ was my very blackest night Scarce darker than my day, But thou dispelled those clouds of doubt, And cheered my lonely way.

E’en when I saw my friends forsake, And leave me for another, Then thou, O Hope, didst cling to me Still closer than a brother; Thus with thee near I groped my way Through that long, gloomy night Till now; yes, as I speak, behold, I see the light! the light!

“A Farewell” by Langston Hughes

With gypsies and sailors, Wanderers of the hills and seas, I go to seek my fortune. With pious folk and fair I must have a parting. But you will not miss me,–– You who live between the hills And have never seen the seas.

Red roses blooming in sunlight.

“Roses and Sunshine” by Edgar A. Guest

Rough is the road I am journeying now, Heavy the burden I’m bearing to-day; But I’m humming a song, as I wander along, And I smile at the roses that nod by the way. Red roses sweet, Blooming there at my feet, Just dripping with honey and perfume and cheer; What a weakling I’d be If I tried not to see The joy and the comfort you bring to us here.

Just tramping along o’er the highway of life, Knowing not what’s ahead but still doing my best; And I sing as I go, for my soul seems to know In the end I shall come to the valley of rest. With the sun in my faceAnd the roses to grace The roads that I travel, what have I to fear? What a coward I’d beIf I tried not to see The roses of hope and the sunshine of cheer.

“ I Had No Time To Hate, Because” by Emily Dickinson

I had no time to hate, because The grave would hinder me, And life was not so ample I Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love, but since Some industry must be, The little toil of love, I thought, Was large enough for me.

“Goals” by Amos R. Wells

Deep in the horrors of the North, With gleaming eyes and steady soul

Heroes compel their passage forth To pierce the mystery of the pole.

Superb their passion, bold their aim. But ah, what barren goals sufllce ! —

The echo of an empty fame.

The conquest of a league of ice !

Comrades of clouds, along the air Speeding the way Columbus went.

Oh, latest Argonauts, that dare The one unmastered element !

And yet what needless heroes they. Venturing life to find us wings.

That men may have one other way To roam on fruitless wanderings !

With patient eyes, the long still night. Sages through starry Jungles grope,

Happy, if some new speck of light Fall on the fortunate telescope.

Their name is catalogued with it.

The sky has one more charted spot ; But no more lights on earth are lit.

And star and sage are soon forgot.

Ah, happy he whose ardent goal Within the human spirit lies.

Sad Poems About Life

life's journey poems quotes

“Life Is Bitter” by William Ernest Henley

Life is bitter. All the faces of the years, Young and old, are grey with travail and with tears. Must we only wake to toil, to tire, to weep? In the sun, among the leaves, upon the flowers, Slumber stills to dreamy death the heavy hours . . . Let me sleep.

Riches won but mock the old, unable years; Fame’s a pearl that hides beneath a sea of tears; Love must wither, or must live alone and weep. In the sunshine, through the leaves, across the flowers, While we slumber, death approaches though the hours! . . . Let me sleep.

“It Was Not Death, for I Stood Up” by Emily Dickinson

It was not Death, for I stood up, And all the Dead, lie down— It was not Night, for all the Bells Put out their Tongues, for Noon.

It was not Frost, for on my Flesh

I felt Siroccos—crawl— Nor Fire—for just my Marble feet Could keep a Chancel, cool— And yet, it tasted, like them all, The Figures I have seen Set orderly, for Burial, Reminded me, of mine—

As if my life were shaven, And fitted to a frame, And could not breathe without a key, And ’twas like Midnight, some –

When everything that ticked—has stopped— And Space stares—all around— Or Grisly frosts—first Autumn morns, Repeal the Beating Ground—

But, most, like Chaos—Stopless—cool— Without a Chance, or Spar— Or even a Report of Land— To justify—Despair.

“Life’s Tragedy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

It may be misery not to sing at all And to go silent through the brimming day. It may be sorrow never to be loved, But deeper griefs than these beset the way.

To have come near to sing the perfect song And only by a half–tone lost the key, There is the potent sorrow, there the grief, The pale, sad staring of life’s tragedy.

To have just missed the perfect love, Not the hot passion of untempered youth, But that which lays aside its vanity And gives thee, for thy trusting worship, truth—

This, this it is to be accursed indeed; For if we mortals love, or if we sing, We count our joys not by the things we have, But by what kept us from the perfect thing.

Sad girl thinking outdoors.

“The Saddest Thought” by W. M. MacKeracher

Sad is the wane of beauty to the fair, Sad is the flux of fortune to the proud, Sad is the look dejected lovers wear, And sad is worth beneath detraction’s cloud. Sad is our youth’s inexorable end, Sad is the bankruptcy of fancy’s wealth, Sad is the last departure of a friend, And sadder than most things is loss of health.

And yet more sad than these to think upon Is this – the saddest thought beneath the sun – Life, flowing like a river, almost gone Into eternity, and nothing done. Let me be spared that bootless last regret: Let me work now; I may do something yet.

“Life” by Richard Henry Wilde

My life is like the summer rose, That opens to the morning sky, But, ere the shades of evening close, Is scattered on the ground—to die! Yet on the rose’s humble bed The sweetest dews of night are shed, As if she wept the waste to see,— But none shall weep a tear for me!

My life is like the autumn leaf That trembles in the moon’s pale ray; Its hold is frail,—its date is brief, Restless, and soon to pass away! Yet, ere that leaf shall fall and fade, The parent tree will mourn its shade, The winds bewail the leafless tree,— But none shall breathe a sigh for me!

My life is like the prints which feet Have left on Tampa’s desert strand; Soon as the rising tide shall beat, All trace will vanish from the sand; Yet, as if grieving to efface All vestige of the human race, On that lone shore loud moans the sea,— But none, alas! shall mourn for me!

“Miles to Go Before I Sleep” by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I Know. His house is in the village, though He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep.

Peaceful woman standing near lake at sundown.

“Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common spring— From the same source I have not taken My sorrow—I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone— And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone— Then—in my childhood—in the dawn Of a most stormy life—was drawn From ev’ry depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still— From the torrent, or the fountain— From the red cliff of the mountain— From the sun that ‘round me roll’d In its autumn tint of gold— From the lightning in the sky As it pass’d me flying by— From the thunder, and the storm— And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view—

“Life” by Edwin C. Ranck

The list is long, the stories read the same; Strong mortal man is but a flesh-hued toy; Some have their ending in a life of shame; Others drink deeply from the glass of joy; Some see the cup dashed dripping from their lip Or drinking, find the wine has turned to gall, While others taste the sweets they fain would sip And then Death comes–the sequel to it all.

“Where Lies the Land?” by Arthur Hugh Clough

Where lies the land to which the ship would go? Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know. And where the land she travels from? Away, Far, far behind, is all that they can say.

On sunny noons upon the deck’s smooth face, Linked arm in arm, how pleasant here to pace! Or o’er the stern reclining, watch below The foaming wake far widening as we go.

On stormy nights, when wild northwesters rave, How proud a thing to fight with wind and wave! The dripping sailor on the reeling mast Exults to bear, and scorns to wish it past.

life's journey poems quotes

“Tears” by Luis G. Dato

She felt alone In that garden unfrequented, Where the winds make moan For blossom sweetly scented, Perfumed but far away. And as the sunset died, Lost the last long twilight ray, She felt so lone and cried.

Her face protesting revealed The trace of promises and prayers unreturned, Deep disillusions learned, Sorrows silence-sealed.

And as she wept Like a lost child When the shadow of twilight crept On the forest wild, Not knowing the ground, As tears and tear-drops falling, Moistened the cheek of the night around, I called, she heard me calling, And longer cried in that garden frequented only By her spirit loving and lovely.

“Life” by George Herbert

I made a posie, while the day ran by: “Here will I smell my remnant out, and tie My life within this band.” But Time did beckon to the flowers, and they By noon most cunningly did steal away, And withered in my hand.

My hand was next to them, and then my heart; I took, without more thinking, in good part Time’s gentle admonition; Who did so sweetly death’s sad taste convey, Making my minde to smell my fatall day, Yet sug’ring the suspicion.

Farewell, dear flowers! sweetly your time ye spent; Fit, while ye lived, for smell or ornament, And after death for cures. I follow straight without complaints or grief; Since, if my scent be good, I care not if It be as short as yours.

“Mockery” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Why do we grudge our sweets so to the living, Who, God knows, find at best too much of gall, And then with generous, open hands kneel, giving Unto the dead our all?

Why do we pierce the warm hearts, sin or sorrow, With idle jests, or scorn, or cruel sneers, And when it cannot know, on some tomorrow, Speak of its woe through tears?

What do the dead care, for the tender token— The love, the praise, the floral offerings? But palpitating, living hearts are broken For want of just these things.

Old wooden jetty at a lake at sunset.

“When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats

When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

“The Rose-Bush” by Johann Ludwig Uhland (William Warren Caldwell, translator)

A child sleeps under a rose-bush fair, The buds swell out in the soft May air; Sweetly it rests, and on dream-wings flies To play with the angels in Paradise. And the years glide by.

A Maiden stands by the rose-bush fair, The dewy blossoms perfume the air; She presses her hand to her throbbing breast, With love’s first wonderful rapture blest. And the years glide by.

A Mother kneels by the rose-bush fair, Soft sigh the leaves in the evening air; Sorrowing thoughts of the past arise, And tears of anguish bedim her eyes. And the years glide by.

Naked and lone stands the rose-bush fair, Whirled are the leaves in the autumn air, Withered and dead they fall to the ground, And silently cover a new-made mound. And the years glide by.

“A Song of Hope” by Charles Bertram Johnson

Day is at the gate, I am risen late; Clouds laze in the air, Clouds sleep on the grass; I have song to spare Till the shadows pass.

Day is at the noon, No thread of bow or moon; Rain is in the air, Drenched and limp the grass; I have song to spare Till the shadows pass.

Day is at the close, Faith no logic knows; Rain-clouds blur the air, All the world is dun; I have song to spare Till to-morrow’s sun.

Poems About Life’s Lessons

life's journey poems quotes

“There’s No Time Like the Present” by Anonymous

There’s no time like the present; To-morrow’s far away; And what our hands may find to do, God bids us do to-day.

Be ready in the golden Now To do a helpful deed; And never let the chance go by To meet a sister’s need.

Don’t wait until another time, For she who waits may lose The grandest chance of all her life; It is not ours to choose.

The opportunities to do, They come at God’s behest, And sue who never squanders one Is she who lives the best.

“The Way to Be Happy” by Jane Taylor

How pleasant it is at the end of the day, No follies to have to repent, But reflect on the past and be able to say, My time has been properly spent! When I’ve done all my business with patience and care, And been good, and obliging, and kind, I lie on my pillow and sleep away there, With a happy and peaceable mind. Instead of all this, if it must be confest, That I careless and idle have been, I lie down as usual, and go to my rest, But feel discontented within. Then as I dislike all the trouble I’ve had, In future I’ll try to prevent it, For I never am naughty without being sad, Or good—without being contented.

“Dining” by E. Robert Bulwer, Lord Lytton (Owen Meredith)

O hour of all hours, the most blest upon earth, Blest hour of our dinners! The land of his birth; The face of his first love; the bills that he owes; The twaddle of friends, and venom of foes; The sermon he heard when to church he last went; The money he borrowed, the money he spent; All of these things a man, I believe, may forget, And not be the worse for forgetting; but yet Never, never, oh, never! earth’s luckiest sinner Hath unpunished forgotten the hour of his dinner! Indigestion, that conscience of every bad stomach, Shall relentlessly gnaw and pursue him with some ache Or some pain; and trouble, remorseless, his best ease, As the Furies once troubled the sleep of Orestes.

We may live without poetry, music, and art; We may live without conscience, and live without earth; We may live without friends; we may live without books; But civilized men cannot live without cooks. He may live without books,—what is knowledge but grieving? He may live without hope,—what is hope but deceiving? He may live without love,—what is passion but pining? But where is the man that can live without dining?

Man mountaineer walking alone with footprint on snowy mountain.

“No Man Is an Island” by John Donne

No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend’s Or of thine own were: Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

“Inalienable” by Amos R. Wells

Two things are yours that no man’s wealth can buy: The air, and time; And, having these, all fate you may defy, All summits climb. While you can draw the fresh and vital breath, And own the day, No enemy, not Hate, nor Fear, nor Death, May bring dismay. Breathe deeply! Use the minutes as they fly! Trust God in all! Thus will you live the life that cannot die, Nor ever fall.

“Life” by Edgar A. Guest

Life is a jest; Take the delight of it. Laughter is best; Sing through the night of it. Swiftly the tear And the hurt and the ache of it Find us down here; Life must be what we make of it. Life is a song; Let us dance to the thrill of it. Grief’s hours are long, And cold is the chill of it. Joy is man’s need; Let us smile for the sake of it. This be our creed: Life must be what we make of it. Life is a soul; The virtue and vice of it. Strife for a goal, And man’s strength is the price of it. Your life and mine, The bare bread and the cake of it, End in this line: Life must be what we make of it.

Young woman with her horse in evening sunset light

“Sometime” by May Riley Smith

Sometime, when all life’s lessons have been learned, And sun and stars forevermore have set, The things which our weak judgments here have spurned, The things o’er which we grieved with lashes wet, Will flash before us, out of life’s dark night, As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue; And we shall see how all God’s plans are right, And how what seems reproof was love most true.

And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh, God’s plans go on as best for you and me; How, when we called, he heeded not our cry, Because his wisdom to the end could see. And e’en as prudent parents disallow Too much of sweet to craving babyhood, So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now Life’s sweetest things, because it seemeth good.

And if sometimes, commingled with life’s wine, We find the wormwood, and rebel and shrink, Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine Pours out this potion for our lips to drink. And if some friend we love is lying low, Where human kisses cannot reach his face, Oh, do not blame the loving Father so, But wear your sorrow with obedient grace!

And you shall shortly know that lengthened breath Is not the sweetest gift God sends his friend, And that, sometimes, the sable pall of death Conceals the fairest bloom his love can send. If we could push ajar the gates of life, And stand within, and all God’s workings see, We could interpret all this doubt and strife, And for each mystery could find a key.

But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart! God’s plans like lilies pure and white unfold. We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart, Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. And if, through patient toil, we reach the land Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest, When we shall clearly know and understand, I think that we will say, “God knew the best!”

“The Epicure” by Anacreon (Abraham Cowley, translator)

Fill the bowl with rosy wine! Around our temples roses twine! And let us cheerfully awhile, Like the wine and roses, smile. Crowned with roses, we contemn Gyges’ wealthy diadem. To-day is ours, what do we fear? To-day is ours; we have it here: Let ’s treat it kindly, that it may Wish, at least, with us to stay. Let ’s banish business, banish sorrow; To the gods belongs to-morrow.

Underneath this myrtle shade, On flowery beds supinely laid, With odorous oils my head o’erflowing, And around it roses growing, What should I do but drink away The heat and troubles of the day? In this more than kingly state Love himself shall on me wait. Fill to me, Love, nay fill it up; And, mingled, cast into the cup Wit, and mirth, and noble fires, Vigorous health, and gay desires. The wheel of life no less will stay In a smooth than rugged way: Since it equally doth flee, Let the motion pleasant be. Why do we precious ointments show’r? Noble wines why do we pour? Beauteous flowers why do we spread, Upon the monuments of the dead? Nothing they but dust can show, Or bones that hasten to be so. Crown me with roses while I live, Now your wines and ointments give; After death I nothing crave. Let me alive my pleasures have; All are Stoics in the grave.

“Live to Learn” by Bayard Taylor

Learn to live, and live to learn; Ignorance like a fire doth burn, Little tasks make large return.

Toil, when willing, groweth less; “Always play” may seem to bless, Yet the end is weariness.

Live to learn, and learn to live, Only this content can give; Feckless joys are fugitive

A stack of letters tied with rope with dry rose petals in nostalgic vintage background.

“The Past” by Emily Dickinson

The past is such a curious creature, To look her in the face A transport may reward us, Or a disgrace. Unarmed if any meet her, I charge him, fly! Her rusty ammunition Might yet reply!

“As I Grew Older” by Langston Hughes

It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me, Bright like a sun,— My dream.

And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream. Rose slowly, slowly, Dimming, Hiding, The light of my dream. Rose until it touched the sky,— The wall.

Shadow. I am black.

I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me, Above me. Only the thick wall. Only the shadow.

My hands! My dark hands! Break through the wall! Find my dream! Help me to shatter this darkness, To smash this night, To break this shadow Into a thousand lights of sun, Into a thousand whirling dreams Of sun!

“When My Soul Findeth Wings” by Libbie C. Baer

Like roses the bright dream did pass, On swift, noiseless footsteps away; Like glistening dew on the grass, Dissolving beneath the sun’s ray.

Like voice of the lark that doth soar, Through the golden haze of the dawn; You hear it and bend to adore, Just hear it and then it is gone.

The lark on his swift, flashing wings, Keeps pace with the flowers in their flight; And that’s why when soaring he sings, And passes so swiftly from sight.

I slept, and a vision did see, Of eyes that were tender and blue; I awoke to know that for me The vision may never come true.

The lark soars no more in the skies, He’s gone with the roses and dew; The face with the soft tender eyes, Comes never to gladden my view.

My memory holds images fair, Of all these beautiful things; Which I will be seeking somewhere, When my soul, as lark, findeth wings.

A tree in the mist.

“Renewal of Strength” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

The prison-house in which I live Is falling to decay, But God renews my spirit’s strength Within these walls of clay.

For me a dimness slowly creeps Around earth’s fairest light, But heaven grows clearer to my view, And fairer to my sight.

It may be earth’s sweet harmonies Are duller to my ear, But music from my Father’s house Begins to float more near.

Then let the pillars of my home Crumble and fall away; Lo, God’s dear love within my soul Renews it day by day.

“Yesterday and To-morrow” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Yesterday I held your hand, Reverently I pressed it, And its gentle yieldingness From my soul I blessed it.

But to-day I sit alone, Sad and sore repining; Must our gold forever know Flames for the refining?

Yesterday I walked with you, Could a day be sweeter? Life was all a lyric song Set to tricksy meter.

Ah, to-day is like a dirge,— Place my arms around you, Let me feel the same dear joy As when first I found you.

Let me once retrace my steps, From these roads unpleasant, Let my heart and mind and soul All ignore the present.

Yesterday the iron seared And to-day means sorrow. Pause, my soul, arise, arise, Look where gleams the morrow.

“A Song” by Lucretia Maria Davidson

Life is but a troubled ocean, Hope a meteor, love a flower Which blossoms in the morning beam, And whithers with the evening hour.

Ambition is a dizzy height, And glory, but a lightning gleam; Fame is a bubble, dazzling bright, Which fairest shines in fortune’s beam.

When clouds and darkness veil the skies, And sorrow’s blast blows loud and chill, Friendship shall like a rainbow rise, And softly whisper—peace, be still.

“Star of Ethiopia” by Lucian B. Watkins

Out in the Night thou art the sun Toward which thy soul-charmed children run, The faith-high height whereon they see The glory of their Day To Be— The peace at last when all is done.

The night is dark but, one by one, Thy signals, ever and anon, Smile beacon answers to their plea, Out in the Night.

Ah, Life! thy storms these cannot shun; Give them a hope to rest upon, A dream to dream eternally, The strength of men who would be free And win the battle race begun, Out in the Night!

Hopeful Poems About Life

life's journey poems quotes

“I’ll Try” by Anonymous

“The others will laugh,” said the Bugbear, “And ridicule you on the sly.” “Never mind,” said Jenny Endeavor, “I’ll try.” “You’ll surely break down.” said the Bugbear; “You know you are terribly shy.” “Never mind,” said Billy Endeavor, “I’ll try.” “It’s really too hard,” said the Bugbear; “You might as well venture to fly.” “Never mind,” said Susie Endeavor, “I’ll try.” “Just put the thing off,” said the Bugbear. “And others the lack will supply.” “I’ll not,” answered Tommy Endeavor, “I’ll try.”

“Life’s Harmonies” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Let no man pray that he know not sorrow, Let no soul ask to be free from pain, For the gall of to-day is the sweet of to-morrow, And the moment’s loss is the lifetime’s gain.

Through want of a thing does its worth redouble, Through hunger’s pangs does the feast content, And only the heart that has harboured trouble Can fully rejoice when joy is sent.

Let no man shrink from the bitter tonics Of grief, and yearning, and need, and strife, For the rarest chords in the soul’s harmonics Are found in the minor strains of life.

“Perseverance” by Leonardo da Vinci (William Wetmore Story, translator)

In facile natures fancies quickly grow, But such quick fancies have but little root. Soon the narcissus flowers and dies, but slow The tree whose blossoms shall mature to fruit. Grace is a moment’s happy feeling, Power A life’s slow growth; and we for many an hour Must strain and toil, and wait and weep, if we The perfect fruit of all we are would see.

Keep moving phrase written on railway.

“Keep Sweet and Keep Movin” by Robert Jones Burdette

Homely phrase of our southland bright— Keep steady step to the flam of the drum; Touch to the left—eyes to the right— Sing with the soul tho’ the lips be dumb. Hard to be good when the wind ’s in the east; Hard to be gay when the heart is down; When “they that trouble you are increased,” When you look for a smile and see a frown. But “Keep sweet and keep movin’.”

Sorrow will shade the blue sky gray— Gray is the color our brothers wore; Sunshine will scatter the clouds away; Azure will gleam in the skies once more. Colors of Patience and Hope are they— Always at even in one they blend; Tinting the heavens by night and day, Over our hearts to the journey’s end. Just “Keep sweet and keep movin’.”

Hard to be sweet when the throng is dense, When elbows jostle and shoulders crowd; Easy to give and to take offence When the touch is rough and the voice is loud; “Keep to the right” in the city’s throng; “Divide the road” on the broad highway; There ’s one way right when everything ’s wrong; “Easy and fair goes far in a day.” Just “Keep sweet and keep movin’.”

The quick taunt answers the hasty word— The lifetime chance for a “help” is missed; The muddiest pool is a fountain stirred, A kind hand clenched makes an ugly fist. When the nerves are tense and the mind is vexed, The spark lies close to the magazine; Whisper a hope to the soul perplexed— Banish the fear with a smile serene— Just “Keep sweet and keep movin’.”

“Forth From Your Past!” by Amos Russel Wells

Forth from your lowly Past! In humble wise Up to the highest heaven lift your eyes. No glories that the heroes ever knew But God has placed them waiting there for you. Forth from your evil Past! The shame and sin— Dare now to live as they had never been. In Jesus cleansed and in His sureness sure, Know that the years to come are sweet und pure. Forth from your troubled Past! How dark the days. How dreary and perplexed your wandering waya! Forget those fears and tears and scenes abhorred. And enter all the joyance of your Lord. Forth from your lonely Past! No comrade knew Your inner warfare for the good and true; But in the time to come till time shall end You shall not lack a comrade and a friend. Forth from your Past! ‘Twas given you to build A Future from it all with blessings filled. Enter its open gate its liberal door, And live its happy lord for evermore.

“The Crucible of Life” by Edgar A. Guest

Sunshine and shadow, blue sky and gray, Laughter and tears as we tread on our way; Hearts that are heavy, then hearts that are light, Eyes that are misty and eyes that are bright; Losses and gains in the heat of the strife, Each in proportion to round out his life.

Into the crucible, stirred by the years, Go all our hopes and misgivings and fears; Glad days and sad days, our pleasures and pains, Worries and comforts, our losses and gains. Out of the crucible shall there not come Joy undefiled when we pour off the scum?

Out of the sadness and anguish and woe, Out of the travail and burdens we know, Out of the shadow that darkens the way, Out of the failure that tries us to-day, Have you a doubt that contentment will come When you’ve purified life and discarded the scum?

Tinctured with sorrow and flavored with sighs, Moistened with tears that have flowed from your eyes; Perfumed with sweetness of loves that have died, Leavened with failures, with grief sanctified, Sacred and sweet is the joy that must come From the furnace of life when you’ve poured off the scum.

Pretty girl with morning coffee at river sunrise.

“The Dawn’s Awake!” by Otto Leland Bohanan

The Dawn’s awake! A flash of smoldering flame and fire Ignites the East. Then, higher, higher, O’er all the sky so gray, forlorn, The torch of gold is borne.

The Dawn’s awake! The dawn of a thousand dreams and thrills. And music singing in the hills A pæen of eternal spring Voices the new awakening.

The Dawn’s awake! Whispers of pent-up harmonies, With the mingled fragrance of the trees; Faint snaches of half-forgotten song— Fathers! Torn and numb,— The boon of light we craved, awaited long, Has come, has come!

“His Other Chance” by Edgar A. Guest

He was down and out, and his pluck was gone, And he said to me in a gloomy way: “I’ve wasted my chances, one by one, And I’m just no good, as the people say.

Nothing ahead, and my dreams all dust, Though once there was something I might have been, But I wasn’t game, and I broke my trust, And I wasn’t straight and I wasn’t clean.”

“You’re pretty low down,” says I to him, “But nobody’s holding you there, my friend. Life is a stream where men sink or swim, And the drifters come to a sorry end;

But there’s two of you living and breathing still— The fellow you are, and he’s tough to see, And another chap, if you’ve got the will, The man that you still have a chance to be.”

He laughed with scorn. “Is there two of me? I thought I’d murdered the other one. I once knew a chap that I hoped to be, And he was decent, but now he’s gone.”

“Well,” says I, “it may seem to you That life has little of joy in store, But there’s always something you still can do, And there’s never a man but can try once more.

“Go Give the World” by Otto Leland Bohanan

I do not crave to have thee mine alone, dear Keeping thy charms within my jealous sight; Go, give the world the blessing of thy beauty, That other hearts may share of my delight!

I do not ask, thy love should be mine only While others falter through the dreary night; Go, kiss the tears from some wayfarer’s vision, That other eyes may know the joy of light!

Where days are sad and skies are hung with darkness, Go, send a smile that sunshine may be rife; Go, give a song, a word of kindly greeting, To ease the sorrow of some lonely life!

life's journey poems quotes

“Good Life, Long Life” by Ben Jonson

It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sear: A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night,— It was the plant and flower of Light. In small proportions we just beauties see, And in short measures life may perfect be.

“On Looking Up by Chance at the Constellations” by Robert Frost

You’ll wait a long, long time for anything much To happen in heaven beyond the floats of cloud And the Northern Lights that run like tingling nerves. The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch, Nor strike out fire from each other nor crash out loud. The planets seem to interfere in their curves But nothing ever happens, no harm is done. We may as well go patiently on with our life, And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane. It is true the longest drought will end in rain, The longest peace in China will end in strife. Still it wouldn’t reward the watcher to stay awake In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break On his particular time and personal sight. That calm seems certainly safe to last to-night.

“Poets! Towers of God!” by Rubén Darío

Poets! Towers of God Made to resist the fury of the storms Like cliffs beside the ocean Or clouded, savage peaks! Masters of lightning! Breakwaters of eternity!

Hope, magic-voiced, foretells the day When on the rock of harmony The Siren traitorous shall die and pass away, And there shall only be The full, frank-billowed music of the sea.

Be hopeful still, Though bestial elements yet turn From Song with rancorous ill-will And blinded races one another spurn! Perversity debased Among the high her rebel cry has raised. The cannibal still lusts after the raw, Knife-toothed and gory-faced.

Towers, your laughing banners now unfold. Against all hatreds and all envious lies Upraise the protest of the breeze, half-told, And the proud quietness of sea and skies…

“This Life” by William Drummond of Hawthornden

This Life, which seems so fair, Is like a bubble blown up in the air By sporting children’s breath, Who chase it everywhere And strive who can most motion it bequeath. And though it sometimes seem of its own might Like to an eye of gold to be fixed there, And firm to hover in that empty height, That only is because it is so light. —But in that pomp it doth not long appear; For when ’t is most admired, in a thought, Because it erst was nought, it turns to nought.

Poems About Happiness In Life

life's journey poems quotes

“The Character of a Happy Life” by Sir Henry Wotton

How happy is he born and taught That serveth not another’s will; Whose armor is his honest thought, And simple truth his utmost skill!

Whose passions not his masters are; Whose soul is still prepared for death, Not tied unto the world with care Of public fame or private breath;

Who envies none that chance doth raise, Or vice; who never understood How deepest wounds are given by praise, Nor rules of state, but rules of good;

Who hath his life from rumors freed; Whose conscience is his strong retreat; Whose state can neither flatterers feed, Nor ruin make accusers great;

Who God doth late and early pray More of his grace than gifts to lend, And entertains the harmless day With a well-chosen book or friend,—

This man is freed from servile bands Of hope to rise, or fear to fall; Lord of himself, though not of lands; And, having nothing, yet hath all.

“Light Is More Important Than the Lantern” by Nizar Qabbani

Light is more important than the lantern, The poem more important than the notebook, And the kiss more important than the lips. My letters to you Are greater and more important than both of us. They are the only documents Where people will discover Your beauty And my madness.

“Life’s Grandest Things” by Jean Blewett

What is the greatest work of all? The work that comes every day; The work that waits us on ev’ry hand Is work that, for us, is truly grand, And the love of work is our pay.

What is the highest life of all? It is living, day by day, True to ourselves and true to the right, Living the truth from dawn till the night, And the love of truth for our pay.

What is the grandest thing of all – Is it winning Heaven some day? No, and a thousand times say no; ‘Tis making this old world thrill and glow With the sun of love till each shall know Something of Heaven here below, And God’s well done for our pay.

Asphalt road in Alp mountains.

“The Optimist” by J. W. Hammond

Who would have the sky any color but blue, Or the grass any color but green? Or the flowers that bloom the summer through Of other color or sheen?

How the sunshine gladdens the human heart— How the sound of the falling rain Will cause the tender tears to start, And free the soul from pain.

Oh, this old world is a great old place! And I love each season’s change, The river, the brook of purling grace, The valley, the mountain range.

And when I am called to quit this life, My feet will not spurn the sod, Though I leave this world with its beauty rife,— There’s a glorious one with God!

“My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.

“Happy Days” by Mary Hannay Foott

A fringe of rushes — one green line Upon a faded plain; A silver streak of water-shine — Above, tree-watchers twain. It was our resting-place awhile, And still, with backward gaze, We say: “‘Tis many a weary mile — But there were happy days.”

And shall no ripple break the sand Upon our farther way? Or reedy ranks all knee-deep stand? Or leafy tree-tops sway? The gold of dawn is surely met In sunset’s lavish blaze; And — in horizons hidden yet — There shall be happy days.

Sunflower with funny face in a field of sunflower.

“Fantasy in Purple” by Langston Hughes

Beat the drums of tragedy for me. Beat the drums of tragedy and death. And let the choir sing a stormy song To drown the rattle of my dying breath.

Beat the drums of tragedy for me, And let the white violins whir thin and slow, But blow one blaring trumpet note of sun To go with me to the darkness where I go.

“A September Night” by George Marion McClellan

The full September moon sheds floods of light, And all the bayou’s face is gemmed with stars, Save where are dropped fantastic shadows down From sycamores and moss-hung cypress trees. With slumberous sound the waters half asleep Creep on and on their way, ’twixt rankish reeds, Through marsh and lowlands stretching to the Gulf. Begirt with cotton fields, Anguilla sits Half bird-like, dreaming on her Summer nest. Amid her spreading figs and roses, still In bloom with all their Spring and Summer hues, Pomegranates hang with dapple cheeks full ripe, And over all the town a dreamy haze Drops down. The great plantations, stretching far Away, are plains of cotton, downy white. O, glorious is this night of joyous sounds; Too full for sleep. Aromas wild and sweet, From muscadine, late blooming jessamine, And roses, all the heavy air suffuse. Faint bellows from the alligators come From swamps afar, where sluggish lagoons give To them a peaceful home. The katydids Make ceaseless cries. Ten thousand insects’ wings Stir in the moonlight haze and joyous shouts Of Negro song and mirth awake hard by The cabin dance. O, glorious is this night! The Summer sweetness fills my heart with songs, I can not sing, with loves I can not speak.

“A Prayer in Spring” by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil.

life's journey poems quotes

“I Seek for Rhythmic Whisperings” by Zinaida Gippius (Babette Deutsch and Avrahm Yarmolinsky)

I seek for rhythmic whisperings Where noises bandy— For life I listen wistfully In footless banter.

I cast wide nets and tentative In lakes of sorrow. I go toward final tenderness By pathways sordid.

I look for dewdrops glistering In falsehood’s gardens. I save truth’s globules glistening, From dust-heaps garnered.

I fain would fathom fortitude Through years of wormwood— And pierce the mortal fortalice, Yet live, a worldling.

My cup, through ways impassable, To bear, untainted; By tenebrous bleak passages To joy attaining.

“Confession” by Countee Cullen

If for a day joy masters me, Think not my wounds are healed; Far deeper than the scars you see, I keep the roots concealed.

They shall bear blossoms with the fall; I have their word for this, Who tend my roots with rains of gall, And suns of prejudice.

“Together” by Carrie Williams Clifford

O, come, Love, let us take a walk, Down the Way-of-Life together; Storms may come, but what care we, If be fair or foul the weather.

When the sky overhead is blue, Balmy, scented winds will after Us, adown the valley blow Haunting echoes of our laughter.

When Life’s storms upon us beat Crushing us with fury, after All is done, there’ll ringing come Mocking echoes of our laughter.

So we’ll walk the Way-of-Life, You and I, Love, both together, Storm or sunshine, happy we If be foul or fair the weather.

“The Flower at My Window” by Lucian B. Watkins

O! my heart now feels so cheerful as I go with footsteps light In the daily toil of my dear home; And I’ll tell to you the secret that now makes my life so bright— There’s a flower at my window in full bloom.

It is radiant in the sunshine, and so cheerful after rain; And it wafts upon the air its sweet perfume. It is very, very lovely! May its beauties never wane— This dear flower at my window in full bloom.

Nature has so clothed it in such glorious array, And it does so cheer our home, and hearts illume; Its dear mem’ry I will cherish though the flower fade away— This dear flower at my window in full bloom.

Oft I gaze upon this flower with its blossoms pure and white. And I think as I behold its gay costume, While through life we all are passing may our lives be always bright Like this flower at my window in full bloom.

Interesting Literature

10 of the Best Poems about Journeys

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

According to Thomas de Quincey, Wordsworth clocked up an estimated 180,000 miles during his lifetime, walking around his beloved Lake District (to say nothing of the Quantocks, where he lived near Coleridge during the 1790s).

life's journey poems quotes

Andrew Marvell, ‘ Bermudas ’.

Where the remote Bermudas ride In th’ocean’s bosom unespied, From a small boat, that row’d along, The list’ning winds receiv’d this song. ‘What should we do but sing his praise That led us through the wat’ry maze Unto an isle so long unknown, And yet far kinder than our own?

This poem, from the seventeenth-century poet Andrew Marvell, is set in the Atlantic ocean and focuses on a group of people aboard a boat, and clearly in exile from their native land. They spy the island of Bermuda, and sing a song in praise of the island. The next 32 lines of the poem comprise their song.

The people aboard the boat praise God for leading them to this previously undiscovered island, which seems ‘far kinder’ than the island they have left behind, namely Britain.

These people have endured and eluded sea-monsters and storms, and God has led them to safety on the ‘grassy stage’ of this new island. It is mentioned that they are fleeing England because of ‘prelates’ rage’, namely religious persecution – so ‘Bermudas’ is a poem about undertaking a difficult journey to find a new place where a community of people can start afresh.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner .

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner.

‘The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top.

‘The Sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea …

Written in 1797-8, this is Coleridge’s most famous poem – it first appeared in Lyrical Ballads . The idea of killing an albatross bringing bad luck upon the crew of a ship appears to have been invented in this poem, as there is no precedent for it – and the albatross idea was probably William Wordsworth’s, not Coleridge’s (Wordsworth got the idea of the albatross-killing from a 1726 book, A Voyage Round The World by Way of the Great South Sea , by Captain George Shelvocke).

The poem is one of the great narrative poems in English, with the old mariner recounting his story, with its hardships and tragedy, to a wedding guest. Variously interpreted as being about guilt over the Transatlantic slave trade, about Coleridge’s own loneliness, and about spiritual salvation, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner remains a challenging poem about a journey whose lessons the ship’s crew, and we as readers, continue to learn from.

Robert Browning, ‘ How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix ’.

I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he; I gallop’d, Dirck gallop’d, we gallop’d all three; ‘Good speed!’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew; ‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through; Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest, And into the midnight we gallop’d abreast …

Beginning with the wonderfully rhythmical lines ‘I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he; / I gallop’d, Dirck gallop’d, we gallop’d all three’. But this poem, describing a horse-ride to deliver some important news (although we never learn what the news actually is). Instead, the emphasis is on the journey itself, with the sound of the galloping horses excellently captured through the metre of the verse.

This poem has a notable claim to fame: in 1889, it became the first poem (spoken by the author) to be recorded on a phonograph, when Browning recited (half-remembered) words from the poem into an Edison phonograph at a dinner party.

Henry Cholmondeley Pennell, ‘ The Night Mail North ’.

Now then, take your seats! for Glasgow and the North; Chester! – Carlisle! – Holyhead, – and the wild Firth of Forth,

‘Clap on the steam and sharp’s the word, You men in scarlet cloth: –

‘Are there any more pas .. sengers, For the Night .. Mail .. to the North!’ Are there any more passengers? Yes three – but they can’t get in, – Too late, too late! – How they bellow and knock, They might as well try to soften a rock As the heart of that fellow in green …’

Before W. H. Auden’s more famous ‘Night Mail’ poem from 1936, there was this poem, whose full title is ‘The Night Mail North (Euston Square, 1840)’ – 1840 being the year the penny post was introduced in Britain. Pennell captures the snatches of conversation on the train as it prepares to embark on its long voyage north and the passengers settle down for their journey in this skilful piece of what we might call documentary poetry.

Emily Dickinson, ‘ Our Journey had advanced ’.

Our journey had advanced; Our feet were almost come To that odd fork in Being’s road, Eternity by term …

In many of the best journey poems, the journey is a metaphor for something greater – and this is certainly the case in this Emily Dickinson poem. And what journey is greater than that from life into death, mortality into eternity?

A. E. Housman, ‘ White in the moon the long road lies ’.

White in the moon the long road lies, The moon stands blank above; White in the moon the long road lies That leads me from my love.

Still hangs the hedge without a gust, Still, still the shadows stay: My feet upon the moonlit dust Pursue the ceaseless way …

In this poem, the king of lugubrious English verse writes about leaving his beloved, with the road lying ahead of him that ‘leads me from my love’. And although he trusts that the same road will eventually lead him back to his love, first he must travel far, far away.

W. B. Yeats, ‘ Sailing to Byzantium ’.

That is no country for old men. The young In one another’s arms, birds in the trees, —Those dying generations—at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect …

W. B. Yeats wrote ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ in 1927, when he was in his early sixties, and the poem sees Yeats’s speaker announcing that the country he’s left behind is ‘no country for old men’.

Being old, the speaker felt out of place there, and so he is making a journey (a pilgrimage?) to the ancient city of Byzantium, which can be read as a symbol for his yearning for spiritual meaning: the poem, then, is about a spiritual journey, and renouncing the hold of the world upon us in order to attain something higher than the physical or sensual.

D. H. Lawrence, ‘ The Ship of Death ’.

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion.

The apples falling like great drops of dew to bruise themselves an exit from themselves.

And it is time to go, to bid farewell to one’s own self, and find an exit from the fallen self …

A poem of angst and death, ‘The Ship of Death’ uses the metaphor of a journey to invoke the idea of self-discovery: the poem involves the poem’s speaker calling for the reader to prepare a ‘ship of death’ – ‘the fragile ship of courage, the ark of faith’ – to transport them to ‘oblivion’, travelling from ‘the old self’ to ‘the new’.

T. S. Eliot, ‘ Journey of the Magi ’.

A nativity poem with a difference, ‘Journey of the Magi’ (1927) is spoken by one of the ‘Three Wise Men’ (as they’re commonly known), as they make their journey to visit the infant Jesus. The speaker reflects on the hardships he and his fellow travellers endure on their journey, and the implications of the advent of Christ for the Magi’s own belief system.

Philip Larkin, ‘ The Whitsun Weddings ’.

This poem, the title poem in Larkin’s 1964 collection, describes a journey from Hull to London on the Whitsun weekend and the wedding parties that Larkin sees climbing aboard the train at each station. Actually inspired by a train journey from Hull down to Loughborough in the Midlands, ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ captures the hope and togetherness these wedding parties symbolise – although the poem can also be read in a less optimistic way .

life's journey poems quotes

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Live Bold and Bloom

25 Exquisitely Beautiful Poems About Life

In just a few words, poetry can capture a wellspring of emotions about the intricacies of life that most of us have difficulty articulating.

Great poems about life not only give us a window into the heart of the poet, but they also compel us to explore our own inner worlds and longings.

Poetry can trigger profound moments of self-awareness or take you to another place and time, expanding your view of the world around you.

Most beautiful poems about life have a distinctive and elegant style and rhythm which elevate the sentiments expressed and invite us to respond on a soul level.

We've curated some of the best poems about life to uplift you.

25 Exquisitely Beautiful Poems about Life

  • Risk, by Anaïs Nin
  • “Hope” is the thing with feathers, by Emily Dickinson
  • The Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost
  • The Peace of Wild Things, by Wendell Berry
  • The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost
  • The Summer Day, by Mary Oliver
  • The Guest House, by Rumi
  • Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou
  • Warning, by Jenny Joseph

One, by Shawnee Kellie

  • Love After Love, by Derek Walcott
  • #34 from Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur
  • Sonnet 29, by William Shakespeare
  • When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes, by Pablo Neruda
  • Make Me Feel, by Mariah Chandan

Acquainted with the Night, by Robert Frost

Her kind, by ann sexton, time does not bring relief, by edna st. vincent milay, a question, by robert frost, all is not lost, by barrie davenport, haiku triad, by millard lowe, a world of dew, by kobayashi issa, this tea, by barrie davenport, lines on a skull, by ravi shankar, care, by barrie davenport, final thoughts.

One's taste in poetry is subjective, and what might move or inspire you, might not touch others the same way.

However, most poetry about life has a universal quality to it. The themes reflected in the poet's language speak to truths we all recognize.

If you are new to poetry, let's start with some shorter poems that speak volumes in just a few words.

Short Poems about Life

Risk , by anaïs nin.

And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers , by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.

life's journey poems quotes

The Dust of Snow , by Robert Frost

The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued.

The Peace of Wild Things , by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

The Road Not Taken , by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

life's journey poems quotes

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Inspirational Poems about Life

The summer day , by mary oliver.

Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? this grasshopper, I mean— the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down— who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

The Guest House , by Rumi

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice. meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes. because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

Still I Rise , by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history With your bitter , twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard.

life's journey poems quotes

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

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The Ultimate List Of 99 Life Lessons You Must Learn

Warning , by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick flowers in other people’s gardens And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children . We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

One word can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream; One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald Spring.

One smile can bring a friendship, One handclasp can lift a soul; One star can guide a ship at sea, One cheer can obtain a goal.

One vote can change a Nation, One sunbeam can lift a room; One candle wipes out darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom. One look can change two lives; One kiss can make love bloom.

One step must start each journey, One word must start each prayer; One hope can raise our spirits, One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom, One heart can know what's true; One life can make a difference, One life is me and you…

Copyright © 1980 Shawnee Kellie. All rights reserved.

Poems about Life and Love

Love after love , by derek walcott.

The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

life's journey poems quotes

all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.

#34 from Milk and Honey , by Rupi Kaur

most importantly love like it’s the only thing you know how at the end of the day all this means nothing this page where you’re sitting your degree your job the money nothing even matters except love and human connection who you loved and how deeply you loved them how you touched the people around you and how much you gave them

Sonnet 29 , by William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes , by Pablo Neruda

When I die I want your hands on my eyes: I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands to pass their freshness over me one more time to feel the smoothness that changed my destiny.

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep, I want for your ears to go on hearing the wind, for you to smell the sea that we loved together and for you to go on walking the sand where we walked.

I want for what I love to go on living and as for you I loved you and sang you above everything, for that, go on flowering, flowery one,

so that you reach all that my love orders for you, so that my shadow passes through your hair, so that they know by this the reason for my song.

Make Me Feel , by Mariah Chandan

Take my heart; I'll give it with ease. Take my hand and walk this journey with me. Take these scars and heal them all up. Take these fears and make them vanish when things get tough. Take this smile and make it stretch so wide. Take these arms and hold me oh so tight. Take these feelings and make them real. At the end, show me how to feel.

Sad Poems about Life

I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say goodbye; And further still at an unearthly height, One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have gone out, a possessed witch, haunting the black air, braver at night; dreaming evil, I have done my hitch over the plain houses, light by light: lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind. A woman like that is not a woman, quite. I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods, filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves, closets, silks, innumerable goods; fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves: whining, rearranging the disaligned. A woman like that is misunderstood. I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver, waved my nude arms at villages going by, learning the last bright routes, survivor where your flames still bite my thigh and my ribs crack where your wheels wind. A woman like that is not ashamed to die . I have been her kind.

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied Who told me time would ease me of my pain! I miss him in the weeping of the rain; I want him at the shrinking of the tide; The old snows melt from every mountain-side, And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane; But last year’s bitter loving must remain Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide. There are a hundred places where I fear To go,—so with his memory they brim. And entering with relief some quiet place Where never fell his foot or shone his face I say, “There is no memory of him here!” And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

A voice said, Look me in the stars And tell me truly, men of earth, If all the soul-and-body scars Were not too much to pay for birth.

Haiku Poems about Life

The moments of birth

A slick baby cries in awe :

No, all is not lost . . .

A world of dew,

And within every dewdrop

A world of struggle.

why should I struggle

to seize life when all I need

is this cup of tea ?

life’s little, our heads

sad. Redeemed and wasting clay

this chance. Be of use.

The world spins and turns

Slowly — but without mercy

Or care. A leaf falls.

How will you use the poems about life?

In addition to the 25 we've collected here, you can find hundreds of life poems online or in anthologies of poetry. And there are so many ways to enjoy poetry.

You clearly enjoy famous poems about life (or you wouldn't be here), but there are so many themes to explore in poetry. These might include poems about life struggles or poems about life lessons. Other themes are:

  • Religion and spirituality

Find the type of poetry that most resonates with you. Explore different poets whose works you enjoy. Buy an anthology of poets to explore different styles. Read both classic and modern poetry.

Read poems out loud to yourself or write them down in a journal of your favorites. Use specific lines from poems you love as daily affirmations .

Make it a goal to read a poem a day and share your love of poetry with others. You may find that reading poetry inspires you to write your own.

A Conscious Rethink

10 Of The Best Poems About Life Ever To Have Been Written

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person reading poetry book

Great poetry manages to express the very essence of its subject – and when it comes to life, that’s quite the challenge.

To capture something that is so varied, but that binds us together as brothers and sisters in arms takes real skill and craft.

Luckily for us, the best poets through the ages have penned many a classic and beautiful verse to help us understand – nay decipher – life in all its glory.

Here are 10 of the most deep and meaningful poems about life. Some long, some short, some famous, some less so.

If viewing on a mobile device, we recommend turning the screen landscape to ensure correct formatting of each poem as you read it.

10 Beautiful Poems About Life

1. a psalm of life by henry wadsworth longfellow.

This rhyming poem is the spark that can reignite the fires within you. It challenges you to go out and live your life in the present moment as a “ hero ” and leave your mark on this world.

Act! Take Action! Be Active!

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,—act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead! Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

2. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Life is made up of a succession of choices. This famous poem begins at a fork in a wooded path and ushers the reader along one “road” as a means of explaining that we must choose one way or another and not dilly-dally in life.

No matter which way we go, we cannot foresee where it will take us, nor how the other would have turned out.

We can do our best to make good decisions, but we’ll never truly know how much worse or better an alternative might have been. And so, we mustn’t regret the road not taken.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

3. If— by Rudyard Kipling

Life will challenge you – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This poem calls out for you to endure, keep going through, and rise above the adversity you will face.

It inspires , it motivates, it provides an example to follow. It’s like a recipe for life – and it provides a most satisfying meal.

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

4. Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

Death is inevitable, and as this poem states (‘death’ being ‘dark’), it is right. But the author urges us not to yield to death too easily and to fight for life ‘til our last breath.

It reminds us in a powerful and persuasive way that life is fleeting and we ought to make the most of the time we have on this planet.

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

5. Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

This prose poem is like an instruction manual for life. It is hugely uplifting and affirms life as something to be journeyed through with integrity and compassion.

It touches upon many areas of existence from our relationships and careers to ageing and our mental well-being.

Truly, a deep and meaningful composition if ever there were one.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

6. Leisure by W. H. Davies

This short poem could not be more pertinent to the world of today if it tried. It counsels us to take the time to “stand and stare” or, in other words, to slow down and observe all the beauty that surrounds you.

Don’t let the world rush by without notice; open your eyes and see – really see – it in all its glory. Make space in your life for this simplest act of leisure.

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

7. Opportunity by Berton Braley

You may ask yourself what the point of life is if all you do is repeat what others have done before you. This poem serves to remind us that the world never tires of creation and that you are a creator.

It talks of great acts and great deeds, but also of love and romance and laughter and loyalty – things that every man or woman is capable of.

Value what you have to contribute to this world.

With doubt and dismay you are smitten You think there’s no chance for you, son? Why, the best books haven’t been written, The best race hasn’t been run, The best score hasn’t been made yet, The best song hasn’t been sung, The best tune hasn’t been played yet, Cheer up, for the world is young! No chance? Why the world is just eager For things that you ought to create, It’s store of true wealth is still meager, It’s needs are incessant and great, It yearns for more power and beauty, More laughter and love and romance, More loyalty, labor and duty, No chance–why there’s nothing but chance! For the best verse hasn’t been rhymed yet, The best house hasn’t been planned, The highest peak hasn’t been climbed yet, The mightiest rivers aren’t spanned, Don’t worry and fret, faint hearted, The chances have just begun, For the best jobs haven’t been started, The best work hasn’t been done.

8. What Life Should Be by Pat A. Fleming

Stepping away from the famous and classic works, we find this gem of a poem by an amateur writer (just goes to show that anyone can create pieces of great meaning).

Much like those more well-known poems above, it talks us through how we ought to try to live our lives. It’s simple, yet inspiring.

To learn while still a child What this life is meant to be. To know it goes beyond myself, It’s so much more than me. To overcome the tragedies, To survive the hardest times. To face those moments filled with pain, And still manage to be kind. To fight for those who can’t themselves, To always share my light. With those who wander in the dark, To love with all my might. To still stand up with courage, Though standing on my own. To still get up and face each day, Even when I feel alone. To try to understand the ones That no one cares to know. And make them feel some value When the world has let them go. To be an anchor, strong and true, That person loyal to the end. To be a constant source of hope To my family and my friends. To live a life of decency, To share my heart and soul. To always say I’m sorry When I’ve harmed both friend and foe. To be proud of whom I’ve tried to be, And this life I chose to live. To make the most of every day By giving all I have to give. To me that’s what this life should be, To me that’s what it’s for. To take what God has given me And make it so much more To live a life that matters, To be someone of great worth. To love and be loved in return And make my mark on Earth.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/what-life-should-be

9. What Is Our Life? by Sir Walter Raleigh

This is the shortest poem on the list at just 10 lines, but it encapsulates how life should not be taken seriously . Instead, the author suggests that life is a comedy and that the earth is our stage.

So what should we do? Act well. Make people laugh. Play our part in the world until the curtain falls and we depart this life.

What is our life? The play of passion. Our mirth? The music of division: Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be, Where we are dressed for life’s short comedy. The earth the stage; Heaven the spectator is, Who sits and views whosoe’er doth act amiss.  The graves which hide us from the scorching sun Are like drawn curtains when the play is done. Thus playing post we to our latest rest, And then we die in earnest, not in jest.

10. The Builders by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We started with a poem by this author and so we shall end with another. Here, we are taught that life sits atop the building blocks of time and that our actions today give rise to our tomorrows.

We are the architects and builders of our lives and if we want to attain our own version of success, we must put in the hard work and energy.

All are architects of Fate, Working in these walls of Time; Some with massive deeds and great, Some with ornaments of rhyme. Nothing useless is, or low; Each thing in its place is best; And what seems but idle show Strengthens and supports the rest. For the structure that we raise, Time is with materials filled; Our to-days and yesterdays Are the blocks with which we build. Truly shape and fashion these; Leave no yawning gaps between; Think not, because no man sees, Such things will remain unseen. In the elder days of Art, Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and unseen part; For the Gods see everywhere. Let us do our work as well, Both the unseen and the seen; Make the house, where Gods may dwell, Beautiful, entire, and clean. Else our lives are incomplete, Standing in these walls of Time, Broken stairways, where the feet Stumble as they seek to climb. Build to-day, then, strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure Shall to-morrow find its place. Thus alone can we attain To those turrets, where the eye Sees the world as one vast plain, And one boundless reach of sky.

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About The Author

life's journey poems quotes

Steve Phillips-Waller is the founder and editor of A Conscious Rethink. He has written extensively on the topics of life, relationships, and mental health for more than 8 years.

Wisdom Trove

Life as a Journey (poems)

The span of life.

Robert Frost

The old dog barks backwards without getting up. I can remember when he was a pup.

Life is curve in the shape of a flower, a curved trajectory that loops back on itself repeatedly until the last petal falls.

John McLeod

It’s the little bit of sunshine Lighting up the dullest day, That brings a glow of pleasure As we journey on Life’s way. It’s the simple things that please us Like a willing kindness done, That son blow away each storm-cloud ‘Till once more we see the sun.

The life we have is very great

Emily Dickinson

The Life we have is very great. The Life that we shall see Surpasses it, we know, because It is Infinity. But when all Space has been beheld And all Dominion shown The smallest Human Heart’s extent Reduces it to none.

What Are Heavy?

Christina Rossetti

What are heavy? Sea-sand and sorrow; What are brief? Today and tomorrow; What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth; What are deep? The ocean and truth

Life has many ups and downs, Loving smiles and also frowns. Good events and some are bad, Happy emotions, others mad. It can be a bumpy ride, How you handle it, you decide!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I know not whence I came, I know not whither I go; But the fact stands clear that I am here In this world of pleasure and woe And out of the mist and murk Another truth shines plain – It is my power each day and hour To add to its joy or its pain.

Maya Angelou

I keep on dying again. Veins collapse, opening like the Small fists of sleeping Children. Memory of old tombs, Rotting flesh and worms do Not convince me against The challenge. The years And cold defeat live deep in Lines along my face. They dull my eyes, yet I keep on dying, Because I love to live.

Life and Death

Life begins with something so small, Innocent baby, could barely crawl. Beautiful toddler, grows into a child, Those teenage years, are often quite wild.

During adulthood, we all try to find, Unique experiences, rewire each mind. For several decades, we become so busy, This is life, sometimes it’s dizzy.

Years go by, we continue to age, We approach, our final page. The meaning of life we understand. Death converts, our body to sand.

Ignorant Before the Heavens Of My Life

Rainer Maria Rilke

Ignorant before the heavens of my life, I stand and gaze in wonder. Oh the vastness of the stars. Their rising and descent. How still. As if I didn’t exist. Do I have any share in this? Have I somehow dispensed with their pure effect? Does my blood’s ebb and flow change with their changes? Let me put aside every desire, every relationship except this one, so that my heart grows used to its farthest spaces. Better that it live fully aware, in the terror of its stars, than as if protected, soothed by what is near.

Foundation of Life

Dorsey Baker

If you are always looking for fault, that is what you will find- If you are always looking for fault, that is what you will find- and you’ll never have peace of mind. If you are always looking for the bad, you’ll never see the good, If you are always looking for the bad, you’ll never see the good, surely must be clearly understood- Don’t look for the shadow and the sun you will see, Don’t look for the shadow and the sun you will see. and a better human being you will surely be!

The Ship of Death

D.H. Lawrence

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion. The apples falling like great drops of dew| to bruise themselves an exit from themselves. And it is time to go, to bid farewell to one’s own self, and find an exit from the fallen self …

On a Journey

Herman Hesse

Don’t be downcast, soon the night will come, When we can see the cool moon laughing in secret Over the faint countryside, And we rest, hand in hand.

Don’t be downcast, the time will soon come When we can have rest. Our small crosses will stand On the bright edge of the road together, And rain fall, and snow fall, And the winds come and go.

What Is Our Life?

Sir Walter Raleigh

What is our life? The play of passion. Our mirth? The music of division: Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be, Where we are dressed for life’s short comedy. The earth the stage; Heaven the spectator is, Who sits and views whosoe’er doth act amiss. The graves which hide us from the scorching sun Are like drawn curtains when the play is done. Thus playing post we to our latest rest, And then we die in earnest, not in jest.

For the Highs and Lows

Morgan Harper Nicholas

For the highs and lows, and moments in between, mountains and valleys, and rivers and streams, for where you are now and where you will go, for “I’ve always known” and “I told you so” for “nothing is happening” and “all has gone wrong” it’s here in this journey, you will learn to be strong you will get where you’re going, leading you to where you belong.

Beautiful Things

Lucile B. Ballard

As we hurry along on life’s journey today With the joy and the sorrow it brings, And never a thought what we pass on the way Let us look for the beautiful things. There is music that’s free, that will surely beguile ‘Tis the song of the bird as he sings, And the sun-kissed breeze makes us linger awhile. Just to look for the beautiful things. Let us close our eyes to the faults of a friend Drop them deep in oblivion’s springs, As we travel along to life’s golden end We can always find beautiful things.

Mother Theresa

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.

Our Journey had advanced

Our journey had advanced – Our feet were almost come To that odd Fork in Being’s Road – Eternity – by Term – Our pace took sudden awe – Our feet – reluctant – led – Before – were Cities – but Between – The Forest of the Dead – Retreat – was out of Hope – Behind – a Sealed Route – Eternity’s +White Flag – +Before – And God – at every Gate

The Parents Tao Te Ching

William Martin

Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.

Henry van Dyke

Let me but live my life from year to year, With forward face and unreluctant soul; Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal; Not mourning for the things that disappear In the dim past, nor holding back in fear From what the future veils; but with a whole And happy heart, that pays its toll To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.

So let the way wind up the hill or down, O’er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy: Still seeking what I sought when but a boy, New friendship, high adventure, and a crown, My heart will keep the courage of the quest, And hope the road’s last turn will be the best.

Song of The Open Road

Walt Whitman

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient, I do not want the constellations any nearer, I know they are very well where they are, I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens, I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go, I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them, I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Journey Into the Interior

Theodore Roethke

In the long journey out of the self, There are many detours, washed-out interrupted raw places Where the shale slides dangerously And the back wheels hang almost over the edge At the sudden veering, the moment of turning. Better to hug close, wary of rubble and falling stones. The arroyo cracking the road, the wind-bitten buttes, the canyons, Creeks swollen in midsummer from the flash-flood roaring into the narrow valley. Reeds beaten flat by wind and rain, Grey from the long winter, burnt at the base in late summer. — Or the path narrowing, Winding upward toward the stream with its sharp stones, The upland of alder and birchtrees, Through the swamp alive with quicksand, The way blocked at last by a fallen fir-tree, The thickets darkening, The ravines ugly.

Life is a Journey

Life is but a stopping place, a pause in what’s to be, A resting place along the road, to sweet eternity.

We all have different journeys, different paths along the way, We all were meant to learn some things, but never meant to stay…

Our destination is a place, far greater than we know. For some the journey’s quicker, for some the journey’s slow.

And when the journey finally ends, we’ll claim a great reward, And find an everlasting peace, together with the Lord

Journey Home

Rabindranath Tagore

The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.

I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.

It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.

The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.

My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!’

The question and the cry `Oh, where?’ melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!’

Breaking Surface

Let no one keep you from your journey, no rabbi or priest, no mother who wants you to dig for treasures she misplaced, no father who won’t let one life be enough, no lover who measures their worth by what you might give up, no voice that tells you in the night it can’t be done. Let nothing dissuade you from seeing what you see or feeling the winds that make you want to dance alone or go where no one has yet to go. You are the only explorer. Your heart, the unreadable compass. Your soul, the shore of a promise too great to be ignored.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Come, my friends, ’Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’ We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

The Journey

Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice— though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do— determined to save the only life you could save.

Come, seek, for seeking is the foundation of fortune: every success depends upon focusing the heart. Unconcerned with the business of the world, keep saying with all your soul, “Ku, ku,” like the dove… Even though you’re not equipped, keep searching… Whoever you see engaged in search, become her friend and cast your head in front of her, for choosing to be a neighbor of seekers, you become one yourself… Day and night you are a traveler in a ship. You are under the protection of a life-giving spirit… Step aboard the ship and set sail, like the soul going towards the soul’s Beloved. Without hands or feet, travel toward Timelessness just as spirits flee from non-existence. …By God, don’t linger in any spiritual benefit you have gained, but yearn for more like one suffering from illness whose thirst for water is never quenched… Leave the seat of honor behind: the Journey is your seat of honor.

What Life Should Be

Pat A. Fleming

To learn while still a child What this life is meant to be. To know it goes beyond myself, It’s so much more than me. To overcome the tragedies, To survive the hardest times. To face those moments filled with pain, And still manage to be kind. To fight for those who can’t themselves, To always share my light. With those who wander in the dark, To love with all my might. To still stand up with courage, Though standing on my own. To still get up and face each day, Even when I feel alone. To try to understand the ones That no one cares to know. And make them feel some value When the world has let them go. To be an anchor, strong and true, That person loyal to the end. To be a constant source of hope To my family and my friends. To live a life of decency, To share my heart and soul. To always say I’m sorry When I’ve harmed both friend and foe. To be proud of whom I’ve tried to be, And this life I chose to live. To make the most of every day By giving all I have to give. To me that’s what this life should be, To me that’s what it’s for. To take what God has given me And make it so much more To live a life that matters, To be someone of great worth. To love and be loved in return And make my mark on Earth.

Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

The Train of Life

At birth, we board the train and meet our parents, and we believe they will always travel b your side.

As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant i.e. our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of your life.

However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone.

Others will step down over time and leave a permanent vacuum.

Some, however, will go so unnoticed that we don’t realise they vacated their seats.

This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers requiring that we give the best of ourselves.

The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down.

So, we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are.

It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.

I wish you all a joyful journey.

Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Journey Of Life

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

  • Your Journey Through Life Poet: Julie Hebert , ©2011 Life can be wonderful and grand, It just takes a few helpful hands. A great attitude also helps, You must be your biggest fans. If you believe in you, There's not much you cannot do. Just be happy with what you have, And always stay true to you. We all can have our ups and downs, How you handle them that determines your frown. A frown can go either way, Facing down or up like a clown. Hoping life will treat you well, Although you can cast your own spell. Think of each day as one great ride, And you will always be so very swell!

think of each day as one great ride

  • Given That We Are John McLeod © Given that we are so often guided Let not your heart be sad when cares pile pelf The road you tread was long ago decided The hurdles crossed placed surely by yourself A course of obstacles to test the spirit Refine the soul and cause the need to strive Towards the light of God that shines so brightly From which we came, and where we shall arrive At journey's end, and after Life's full growing The bread we cast shall be as was foretold A measure of the Love we gave in sowing Returning to enrich ten thousandfold!
  • Go Through Life Poet: Minot J. Savage We go through life as Some tourists go through Europe, - So anxious to see the next sight, The next cathedral, the next picture, The next mountain peak, That we never stop to fill our sense With the beauty of the present one. Along all our pathways sweet flowers are blossoming, If we will only stop to pluck them and Smell their fragrance. In every meadow, birds are warbling, Calling to their mates, and Soaring into the blue, If we will only stop our grumbling Long enough to hear them.
  • To Thine Own Self Be True Poet: Pakenham Beatty By thine own soul's law learn to live, And if men thwart thee take no heed, And if men hate thee have no care; Sing thou thy song and do thy deed Hope thou thy hope and pray thy prayer, And claim no crown they will not give, Nor bays they grudge thee for thy hair. Keep thou thy soul-sworn steadfast oath, And to thy heart be true thy heart; What thy soul teaches learn to know, And play out thine appointed part; And thou shalt reap as thou shalt sow, Nor helped nor hindered in thy growth, To thy full stature thou shalt grow. Fix on the future's goal thy face, And let thy feet be lured to stray Nowhither, but be swift to run, And nowhere tarry by the way, Until at last the end is won, And thou mayst look back from thy place And see thy long day's journey done.
  • At The Cross Road Poet: W. A. Drews Along life's winding- highway Where twists and bends the trail Where men pass on each weary day Some reach the goal, some fail. Some wander on with little aim Just trust they're going straight Turn blindly wrong, then place all blame Upon an adverse fate. Yet the road winds on, with living freight And it branches before the end And there are those who walk it straight But more, the wrong branch wend. And those who struggle on to win They pass with footsteps brave While others o'er the rocks of sin Turn at the fork, to hopeless grave. And there are those with stride grown weak Bent and blanched 'neath guilty load At doubtful turns, right markers seek As they pause at the forks of the road. For them, Oh Lord, let the cross appear At the split of life's highway And point its arms to the road that's clear So none may go astray.
  • The Trail Poet: Arthur E. McFatridge As I stand on the street at eventide And watch the crowds go by, The rich and the poor, the large and the small, I am prone to wonder why - To try and guess what it's all about, And what they are going to do When they get to the end of the trail they're on - But perhaps they are wondering, too. Some may never reach the goal They are trying so hard to find; It may be, perchance, they are on the wrong road, The one they had in mind When they started alone on the journey of life. On the road that we all are on; The road to be traveled by those yet to come; The trail of those who are gone. The manner in which we walk may count; The things that we leave behind May have something to do, when we get to the end. With what we, there, will find. So, while we're upon the journey of life, Why not walk upright, and be Able to see at the end of the trail The things we may want to see?

life journey quotes

Inspired Life

77 Positive and Inspiring Journey Quotes

Embark on a journey of a lifetime with these inspiring journey quotes. Life’s a thrilling ride, filled with ups and downs.

It’s about braving the storms and cherishing time spent with loved ones.

So whether your path is spiritual, an exciting travel adventure, or just starting something new in life, let these quotes fuel your spirit for exploration and discovery.

Journey quotes to begin your path towards greatness

1. “Never give up on your dreams, no matter how painful and difficult your journey is.” – Lisa

2. “The journey is never ending. There’s always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.” – Antonio Brown

3. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu

positive journey quotes

4. “Sometimes its more about the journey than the destination.” – Jamal Crawford

5. “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” – Arthur Ashe

6. “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” – Greg Anderson

New journey quotes to inspire your success

7. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

8. “Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.” – Drake

inspiring journey quotes

9. “Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.” – Joseph B. Wirthlin

10. “Enjoy the journey and try to get better every day. And don’t lose the passion and the love for what you do.” – Nadia Comaneci

11. “Struggle teaches you a lot of things, and I am happy that I witnessed a roller coaster ride. The journey has improved me as a person and made me more matrure.” – Manoj Bajpayee

12. “Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.” – Henri Frederic Amiel

Life is a journey quotes

13. “Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” – Oliver Goldsmith

14. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

15. “Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it.” – Lolly Daskal

life's journey poems quotes

16. “Life is a journey that have a lot of different paths, but any path you choose, use it as your destiny.” – Unknown

17. “The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.” – Steve Maraboli

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18. “Life is a journey, not a destination.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

motivational journey quotes

19. “Everyday you got a chance to make your journey more beautiful than yesterday.” – Nitin Namdeo

20. “Every day is a journey and the journey itself is home.” – Matsuo Basho

21. “Everybody has their own story; everything has their own journey.” – Thalia

Enjoy the journey quotes

22. “Enjoy the journey as much as the destination.” – Marshall Sylver

your journey quotes

23. “Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame.” – Benedict Cumberbatch

24. “Enjoy the journey and try to get better everyday. And don’t lose the passion and the love for what you do.” – Nadia Comaneci

25. “Enjoy the journey, the destination will come.” – Verghese

26. “Don’t wait for everything to be perfect before you decide to enjoy your life.” – Joyce Meyer

27. “Dream big, stay positive, work hard, and enjoy the journey.” – Urijah Faber

28. “The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance, and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.” – Oprah Winfrey

29. “Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete.” – Chanda Kochar

30. “Enjoy the journey, enjoy every moment, and quit worrying about winning and losing.” – Matt Biondi

31. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman

spiritual quotes about life journey

32. “I haven’t been everywhere but its on my list.” – Susan Sontag

33. “You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.” – Les Brown

Inspirational journey quotes

34. “You can never regret anything you do in life. You kind of have to learn the lesson from whatever the experience is and take it with you on your journey forward.” – Aubrey O’Day

35. “Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.” – Pope Francis

quotes about the end of a journey

36. “There’s no map for you to follow and take your journey. You are Lewis and Clark. You are the mapmaker.” – Phillipa Soo

37. “I’m different than most people. When I cross the finish line of a big race, I see that people are ecstatic, but I’m thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow. It’s as if my journey is everlasting, and there is no finish line.” – David Goggins

38. “We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” – Marcel Proust

39. “Though the road’s been rocky it sure feels good to me.” – Bob Marley

quotes about journey of life

40. “We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile.” – Earl Nightingale

41. “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” – Steve Jobs

42. “If my ship sails from sight, it doesn’t mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends.” – Enoch Powell

Motivational journey quotes 

43. “Make voyages. Attempt them. There’s nothing else.” – Tennessee Williams

44. “Gotta take that adventure in order to understand your journey.” – Jennifer Pierre

quotes on life journey

45. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

46. “The beauty of my journey is that it’s always been pretty unpredictable, so stay tuned.” – Andreja Pejic

47. “The journey not the arrival matters.” – T.S. Eliot

48. “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi

49. “The goal is to die with memories, not dreams.” – Unknown

50. “Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.” – Theodore Roosevelt

51. “The harder you work from something, the greater you’ll feel when you achieve it.” – Sudhashree Acharya

52. “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

53. “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – ILHQ

long journey quotes

54. “When setting out on a journey do not seek advice from someone who never left home.” – Rumi

Positive journey quotes

55. “You may only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

everyone has their own journey quotes

56. “Every day you got a chance to make your journey more beautiful than yesterday.” – Nitin Namdeo

57. “Stay positive. Better days are on their way.” – Unknown

58. “Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something.” – Ralph Marston

59. “You make a life out of what you have, not what you’re missing.” – Kate Morton

next journey quotes

60. “Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.” – Richie Norton

61. “Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains, become your greatest strengths.” – Drew Barrymore

62. “Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think you’ve lost time. There is no short-cutting life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time.” – Asha Tyson

63. “And suddenty you know…It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” – Meister Eckhart

64. “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” – Dolly Parton

journey quotes

65. “Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.” – Michelle Obama

66. “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

67. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

Journey of life quotes

68. “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins

our journey quotes

69. “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett

70. “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll

71. “You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing, no one to blame.” – Erica Jong

72. “If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.” – Dan Rather

73. “It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

74. “Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier & healthier life.” – Germany Kent

75. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz

76. “Our lives are the journey we take to find our true selves!” – Alyssa Gonzalez

embrace the journey quotes

77. “Your braver than you believe, stronger that you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne

Which of these journey quotes were your favorites?

We all have the potential within us to be great.

But greatness isn’t about luck. It’s a choice.

We must choose to succeed and take steps towards it.

Remember, the path to success is a journey, not a quick leap.

Let these quotes inspire you to stay focused on your goals and dreams, no matter what obstacles get in your way along the path.

life's journey poems quotes

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100+ life journey quotes to inspire you.

Life is a journey. How often have you heard that?

As we find our road through life, we all need inspiration and guidance. And this is never so true as when we are travelling, especially as solo travellers. 

This can come from many sources: friends, family, self-help books. But sometimes, a simple quote about life’s journey can provide inspiration or make us view our path through a different lens. 

Drawing on the writings of authors and poets, scholars and spiritual leaders here are my favourite life journey quotes. Is your favourite there? 

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Are you looking for a short and sharp travel caption to add to your images or social media feed? If so, check out these dreamy travel captions

IN THIS ARTICLE

My Top 10 Life Journey Quotes

There are many quotes about life as a journey out there and picking a list of favourites is a tough call. From Maja Angelou to Mark Twain, here are those that continue to inspire me.

image of beach with life journey quote

1. Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. – Maya Angelou

2. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.   – Mark Twain

3. Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. – Nikita Koloff

4. We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.  – Paulo Coelho

You are far from the end of your journey. The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. See how you love. Buddha

6. You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. – C.S. Lewis

7. When setting out on a journey do not seek advice from someone who never left home. – Rumi

LIFE JOURNEY QUOTE 1

One of the greatest journeys in life is overcoming insecurity and learning to truly not give a shit.  J. A. Konrath

9. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson 

10. Sometimes life takes you on a journey that changes everything you thought you wanted. – Melaina Rayne

Life Journey Quotes: First Steps

Every journey begins with a single step. Taking that first step is often the hardest part of any endeavour, whether that’s booking your first trip alone , quitting your job or moving overseas.

Be inspired to take the plunge with these inspirational life journey quotes.

image of fir trees in snow with life journey quote

11. Big things have small beginnings. – Prometheus 

12. The only impossible journey is the one you never begin . – Tony Robbins

13. A little step may be the beginning of a great journey. – Unknown

14. If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all. – Dan Rather

15. Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone’s hand is the beginning of a journey. – Vera Nazarian

Beginning are usually scary and ending are usually sad, but it’s everything in between that makes it all worth living. Bob Marley

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The Next Steps: Quotes on the Journey of Life

But that first step is just that; the first step on the road of life. Life – and travel – can present a series of obstacles to overcome.

17. Life’s journey is a collection of stories. Make yours a bestseller. – The Flashpacker ( Bridget Coleman )

graphic with an inspirational quote on the journey of life

18. One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time. – John Wanamaker

19 . … a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. – John Steinbeck

20. To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping. – Chinese Proverb 

21. Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right. – Pope Francis

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22. The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. – Alan Watts

23. Life is a journey, travel it well. – Unknown

The key to realising a dream is to focus not on success but significance, and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.  Oprah Winfrey 

25. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. – Helen Keller

26. No journey is too great, when one finds what one seeks. – Friedrich Nietzsche

27. Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete.  – Chanda Kochhar

man walking across empty beach in koh yao yai thailand at dusk

28. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike . – John Steinbeck

29. No journey is too great, when one finds what one seeks. – Friedrich Nietzsche

30. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. – John Steinbeck

31. I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. –  Jimmy Dean

32. Your journey will be much lighter and easier if you don’t carry your past with you! – Tamara Kulish

33. May the stars guide you on your journey, and your heart always lead you home. – Melaina Rayne

Life is a Journey Quotes to Inspire Solo Travellers

Any seasoned solo traveller knows that travelling alone has the power to change your life . But sometimes it can be difficult to find the words to describe your experiences. 

To empower you to travel alone , here is the pick of the best life journey quotes that can be applied to solo travel.

image of woman walking along path with life journey quote

34. It’s your road, and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. – Rumi

35. No one can decide the road that inspires us to kick-start a journey better than the one embarking on the path. We may find others joining our journey, but we have to take the first step alone to reach our destination.  – Dr Prem Jagyasi

36. Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it. – John Mayer

37. Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. – Buddha

There are some places in life where you can only go alone. Embrace the beauty of your solo journey. Mandy Hale

39. No one you have been and no place you have gone ever leaves you. The new parts of you simply jump in the car and go along for the rest of the ride. The success of your journey and your destination all depend on who’s driving. – Bruce Springsteen

40. The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready. – Henry David Thoreau

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41. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. – Neale Donald Walsh

42. If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone. – Maxwell Maltz

I have traveled many roads in my life. Some were imbued with pain and I needed to avert my gaze. Others were so beautiful that I would have remained there forever. But always, at some point in these routes, I reached a place where I encountered myself. Pablo Holmberg

a single set of footprints in the sand

44. The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before. – Albert Einstein

45. Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s okay. You’re here to live your life, not to make everyone understand.  – Banksy

Are you looking for more quotes to inspire you to travel alone? If so, check out these inspirational solo travel quotes

Making Friends on the Journey of Life

Of course, none of us needs to be alone. Other people can play a huge part in our life journey.

image of two teddy bears with life journey quote

46 . A journey is best measured in friends, not in miles . – Tim Cahill

47. Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life. – Pythagoras

48. In this journey of life, you will meet people who will make you feel alive! – Avijeet Das

49. On a hard jungle journey, nothing is so important as having a team you can trust. – Tahir Shah

50. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. – Izaak Walton

LIFE JOURNEY QUOTE 10

The main thing that you have to remember on this journey is, just be nice to everyone and always smile. Ed Sheeran

52. Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind. – Henri Frederic Amiel

53. We never know the journey another person has walked, so be kind to everyone. – Lynette Mather

group of people eating sitting around table

Having Faith in Yourself: Best Life Journey Quotes

Life throws obstacles at us, and it can be difficult to believe in yourself and in your ability to deal with these challenges. Even with those important first steps, you sometimes have to throw caution to the wind. 

54. Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be…Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before. – Erich Fromm

I believe that life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel, but we are well equipped for it if only we tap into our talents and gifts and allow them to blossom.  Les Brown

women with arms outstretched in desert

56. Trust yourself, trust the road, trust the weather, and trust your destination! This quarto-trust can create a miraculously successful journey!  – Mehmet Murat Īldan

57. Have faith in your journey. Everything had to happen exactly as it did to get you where you’re going next! – Mandy Hale

58. Things are only impossible until they’re not. – Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek ( the Star Trek universe can teach us much about travel )

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Finding Your Path on Life’s Journey

As profound as it may seem, sometimes getting lost is the first step to finding our way on the journey of life, and there is not necessarily one right path. The correct path is the one that is right for you. 

59. In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself astray in a dark wood where the straight road had been lost sight of.  – Dante Alighieri

60. Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost. – Erol Ozan

You have to get lost before you can be found. Jeff Rasley

62. Life is a journey that has a lot of different paths, but any path you choose use it as your destiny. – Ryan Leonard 

63. This thing we call life is not a destination with an end but a path down which we continue to journey as long as we can breathe. Life is to be lived not squandered or to give away waiting for the end to close upon us.  – Byron Pulsifer

64. The path isn’t a straight line; it’s a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths . – Barry H. Gillespie

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65. Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lessons Learnt Through the Life Journey

Some of the best life journey quotes relate to the lessons you learn along this journey. Many of these lessons may not be obvious at the time, especially in tough times, but ultimately they help shape who we are.

image of beach at sunset with life journey quote

66. A journey taken in vain is not a wasted journey if you have learnt something. – Anthony T. Hincks

67. All journeys have secret destinations of which traveler is unaware. – Martin Buber

68. Always remember life is a learning journey. Keep filling your mind with all that is worthy. – Catherine Pulsifer

69. One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. – Henry Miller

Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it.  Lolly Daskal 

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71. We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world. – Marcel Proust

72. Travel far enough, you meet yourself. – David Mitchell

73. In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse. – Anthon St. Maarten 

74. What you learn in tough times can be used in many ways to bless your personal life journey.  – Scott Gordon

75. Sometimes in your life you will go on a journey. It will be the longest journey you have ever taken. It is the journey to find yourself. – Katharine Sharp

Enjoy the Journey Quotes

Ultimately, what is it all for unless you enjoy the journey?

As travellers, we are often guilty of fixating on the destination, instead of learning to enjoy the journey, and celebrating the triumphs instead of stressing about the difficulties.

life journey quotes 7

76. Roads were made for journeys not destinations. – Confucius

77. Life Is What Happens When You’re Busy Making Other Plans . – John Lennon

78. The journey is the reward. – Tao Expression

79. In the tapestry of life, every thread matters. Weave a journey worth treasuring. – The Flashpacker (Bridget Coleman)

80. Life is a journey, and if you fall in love with the journey, you will be in love forever. – Peter Hagerty

81. It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.  – Ernest Hemingway

82. Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. – Greg Anderson

83. Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination . – Drake

84. Accomplishments will prove to be a journey, not a destination. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

85. And at the end of the day, there is nothing but the journey. Because destination is pure illusion. – Rich Roll

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86. Life is a journey, not a destination. Learn to enjoy the ride. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If ever there was a metaphor to illustrate the importance of the journey over the destination, it is life itself. For everyone who departs from birth is destined for death, so the journey IS life. Savor it! Michele Jennae

88. The journey in between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life takes place. – Barbara De Angelis

89. Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.  – Arthur Ashe

It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way! Penelope Riley

91. Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think you’ve lost time. There is no short-cutting to life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time. – Asha Tyson

92. Embrace your life journey with gratitude, so that how you travel your path is more important than reaching your ultimate destination. – Rosalene Glickman

image of winnie the pooh with life journey quote

93. Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved. Winnie the Pooh

94. Let your joy be in your journey – not in some distant goal. – Tim Cook

95. Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again. – Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek

96. Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride! Hunter S. Thompson

f lucca view and flashpacker

98. Every day is a journey filled with twists and turns. Every day, if you smile, you will feel alive, my son. – Santosh Kalwar

99. Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.  – Fitzhugh Mullan

100. I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be . – Douglas Adams

101. We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. – T.S. Eliot

102. Life is an opportunity, seize the day, live each day to the fullest. Life is not a project, but a journey to be enjoyed. – Catherine Pulsifer

103. I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. – Douglas Adams

104. Time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again. – Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek

Life Journey Quotes: Final Thoughts

Life for me, like travel, is all about the journey. The shape of that journey is up to the individual.

I hope that these life journey quotes help inspire you to live your best life. That’s all that any of us can aim for.  

Enjoy the journey.

Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind. Anthony Bourdain

sign saying life is a journey enjoy the ride

About Bridget

Bridget Coleman has been a passionate traveller for more than 30 years. She has visited 70+ countries, most as a solo traveller.

Articles on this site reflect her first-hand experiences.

To get in touch, email her at [email protected] or follow her on social media.

The Journey of Life

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This section is dedicated to helping you become the best version of yourself. Life is full of challenges and triumphs, and we believe that everyone deserves the tools and inspiration they need to navigate it successfully. That's why we turn to poetry, a powerful source of inspiration that has the ability to touch our hearts and minds, making us think deeply about life and motivating us to be our best selves. Whether you're on a journey of self-improvement, seeking work-life balance, or striving to live a more sustainable lifestyle, poetry can be a valuable tool to help you on your way.

Our website offers a carefully curated collection of inspiring poetry pieces and quotes, specifically selected to help you on your journey of self-discovery and personal growth. We have organized the poetry pieces into three main categories: Self-Improvement, Work-Life Balance, and Sustainability, to make it easy for you to find the inspiration you need for your specific journey. We also feature a beautiful gallery of art pieces inspired by poetry, showcasing the beauty and creativity that poetry can inspire. Additionally, we provide resources for further exploration of the world of poetry, including recommended books, websites, and apps.

Join us on this journey of self-discovery and personal growth through the power of poetry. Let us inspire and motivate you to become the best version of yourself, and to live a life filled with purpose, passion, and meaning. Remember to always prioritize the journey over the destination, seize the day, and travel your path with love and intention. After all, if there ever was a metaphor for life, it's that our choices and actions can greatly affect the journey we take.

Unlock Your Potential with Self-Improvement Poetry Self-improvement is an ongoing journey that requires motivation and inspiration. Here are some inspiring poetry pieces to help you on your way.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is one of the most popular and well-known poems in the English language. It reminds us that we all have choices in life and that the choices we make can make all the difference. The poem encourages us to take the less-traveled path, to be brave, and to be true to ourselves, which requires courage and determination.

"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley is a powerful poem that reminds us that we are the masters of our own fate, and that no matter what life throws our way, we can overcome it. The poem encourages us to be strong, to be resilient, and to never give up on ourselves. This mindset provides us with the opportunity to become better versions of ourselves.

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou is an empowering poem that reminds us to rise above adversity, to be strong and resilient, and to never give up on ourselves. The poem encourages us to be proud of who we are, to stand up for ourselves, and to keep moving forward no matter what obstacles we may face, which requires perseverance and emotional strength.

These inspiring poetry pieces remind us that self-improvement is a journey that requires treatment tools, such as self-reflection and introspection, to become better versions of ourselves. They encourage us to be true to ourselves, to focus on our goals, and to never give up on our dreams.

In addition to these inspiring poetry pieces, there is information out there that can help you on your journey of self-improvement. Some resources encourage us to embrace our flaws and imperfections, while others inspire us to be kind, compassionate, and understanding. Whatever your needs may be, there is everyone out there that can help you on your journey of self-improvement.

Remember, self-improvement is not a destination, but an ongoing journey. It is important to prioritize rest and relaxation, to find a functional work-life balance, and to prioritize self-care and well-being. By reading our blogs and newsletter, you will find helpful tips and resources from our trusted provider, so you can continue to improve and grow in a comfortable and supportive environment.

Achieving Balance in Life Through Poetry Finding balance in life can be a great challenge, especially when you're juggling work, family, and personal responsibilities. Every journey requires balance, and we believe that poetry can be a powerful tool to help you find balance and harmony in your life journey with gratitude.

Our collection of inspiring poetry pieces for work-life balance, such as "Leisure" by William Henry Davies, "If" by Rudyard Kipling, and "The Guest House" by Rumi, can help you arrive at a place of balance and fulfillment. These beautiful poems encourage us to take a short break, to take time for ourselves, to stay true to our values, and to embrace all of our emotions and experiences as a step of the way in the journey of life.

"Leisure" reminds us to take a walk and enjoy the simple pleasures in life, which can be a crucial part of finding balance. "If" provides guidance for living a balanced life and maintaining a sense of composure during difficult times, reminding us that balance is achievable. "The Guest House" encourages us to learn from the past, embrace the present moment, and be grateful for all that life has to offer, which can be essential components of living a balanced life journey.

We believe that finding work-life balance is essential for our overall well-being, and these inspiring poetry pieces can help you reach that balance. They remind us that the journey is life, and we have the power to create balance in our lives, even during challenging times. By embracing all of the emotions and experiences that happen along the way, we can achieve a greater sense of fulfillment.

In addition to these inspiring poetry pieces, there are many other poems that can amaze you and help you find balance in your life. From poems that encourage us to disconnect from technology and connect with nature, to poems that inspire us to be present in the moment and appreciate the beauty around us, there is a therapy out there that can help you find the balance you seek in your life journey.

At The Journey Within, we invite you to explore the world of poetry and discover the inspiring pieces that speak to you. Let poetry be your guide on your journey to finding balance and harmony in your life, every step of the way in your journey of life.

Inspirational Poetry for Sustainability At The Journey Within, we believe that living a sustainable lifestyle is crucial for the health of our planet and future generations. Poetry can serve as a powerful tool to inspire us to take action and make positive changes in our daily lives, whether we are looking to improve our wellness or meet new individual challenges, equip ourselves with tools to better care for our child or partner, or seek support from friends or professionals during difficult times.

Our collection of inspiring poetry pieces for sustainability includes "To Earthward" by Robert Frost, "The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry, and "What if a Tree" by Seshadri Ramkumar. These poems encourage us to appreciate the beauty and fragility of nature, to take action to protect the environment, and to live in harmony with the world around us.

"To Earthward" is a poem that reminds us of our connection to the earth and encourages us to take care of our environment. It urges us to take action to protect the planet and to be mindful of our impact on the natural world as we seek to establish healthy habits and routines in our daily lives.

"The Peace of Wild Things" is a poem that reminds us of the beauty and simplicity of nature, and encourages us to find peace and solace in the natural world. It reminds us that the natural world is a source of strength and inspiration, and that we should work to protect it as we seek to reduce stress and burnout and prioritize self-care and well-being.

"What if a Tree" is a poem that encourages us to think about the importance of trees in our lives and to appreciate their beauty and value. It reminds us that trees are not just objects, but living beings that have a vital role in the ecosystem. It inspires us to reduce waste and environmental impact, live a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle, and inspire others to do the same.

In addition to these inspiring poetry pieces, there are many other poems that can help inspire us to live a more sustainable lifestyle. From poems that encourage us to reduce waste and recycle, to poems that inspire us to take action to protect the environment, there is a poem out there that can help us on our journey to sustainability. At The Journey Within, we invite you to explore the world of poetry and discover the inspiring pieces that speak to you. Let poetry be your guide on your journey to living a more sustainable lifestyle. Let us work together to protect the planet and ensure a healthy future for generations to come as we seek greater balance and fulfillment in our daily lives.

Poetry in Art: A Fusion of Creativity Poetry can be a powerful source of inspiration for artists and creatives of all kinds. At Life's Journey, we celebrate the intersection of poetry and art, and showcase a gallery of art pieces inspired by poetry.

Our art gallery features a diverse range of pieces, including paintings, sculptures, and mixed media works, all inspired by the beauty and power of poetry. Each piece captures the essence of a particular poem and brings it to life through the artist's unique vision and interpretation.

One such piece is "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot, which has inspired many artists over the years. The poem's themes of loss, disillusionment, and fragmentation have been captured in various art forms, from paintings to sculptures. One notable example is the sculpture "The Waste Land" by Jane Ackroyd, which depicts the fragmented landscape of Eliot's poem.

Another inspiring piece is "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas, which has inspired numerous artists to create works that capture the poem's themes of resistance, defiance, and the struggle against mortality. One such piece is "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" by Janet Echelman, a breathtaking sculpture that captures the essence of the poem through its intricate net-like structure.

Our art gallery also features works inspired by the poetry of Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson, among others. Each piece tells a unique story, and offers a new perspective on the power of poetry to inspire and move us.

In addition to our art gallery, we also offer resources for further exploration of the intersection of poetry and art, including recommended books, websites, and galleries. At The Journey Within, we believe that art and poetry are powerful tools for self-expression, and we invite you to explore the world of art inspired by poetry and discover the pieces that speak to you.

Let poetry and art be your guide on your journey of self-discovery and personal growth, and let us celebrate the beauty and power of the intersection between the two.

At The Journey Within, we believe that poetry can be a powerful tool for personal growth, self-discovery, and inspiration. Poetry allows us to connect with ourselves, with others, and with the world around us. If you are looking to improve yourself in various areas of life, seeking work-life balance, or trying to live a sustainable lifestyle, poetry can offer a unique perspective and guide on your journey. Our collection of inspiring poetry pieces is just the beginning of what we have to offer. We invite you to choose a poem, allow us to guide you through the journey of self-discovery and personal growth. We have a wealth of resources available, including articles, books, and more to help you on this path.

We understand that personal growth takes time and patience, and we offer you the space to explore and learn at your own pace. Our mission is to provide you with the greatest tools and guidance you need to navigate life's challenges and find fulfillment and happiness along the way. It is truly a journey that lasts forever, and we hope that our resources can help you to know yourself better.

Through our poetry pieces, we hope to inspire and motivate you to take positive action towards your goals. Take a patient approach and list out your goals and objectives. By connecting with yourself through poetry, you can find the inspiration and guidance you need to live a happy, fulfilling, and meaningful life. Join us on this journey of self-discovery and personal growth, and let us help you find the tools and inspiration you need to make positive changes in your life.

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Do you ever find yourself struggling to come up with new ideas or feeling stuck in your creative pursuits? You're not alone.

Are you feeling stuck in your writing? Do you find yourself staring at a blank page, unable to put words down on paper? Writer's block can be frustrating and demotivating,

Do you ever feel like you're stuck in a creative rut? Perhaps you have a project that requires fresh ideas, but your brain seems to be running on empty.

Are you looking for ways to boost your productivity and achieve more in less time? Look no further than your own creative powers.

Have you ever found yourself struggling to express your emotions or make sense of a difficult experience? If so, writing may be the perfect tool for you.

Have you ever found yourself lost in the search for identity? Perhaps you feel like a puzzle with missing pieces, struggling to find where you fit in and who you truly are. This is a common experience, especially during times of transition or self-discovery.

Poetry and music are two of the most powerful forms of creative expression, but when combined they can create a force that is truly awe-inspiring.

Do you ever find yourself staring blankly at a page or canvas, struggling to come up with new ideas? Are you constantly overwhelmed by the demands of your creative work and feel like you're not making progress towards achieving your goals?

Have you ever felt stuck in your own head, unable to express yourself or understand your thoughts? Writing can be a powerful tool for mindfulness and self-discovery.

Have you ever felt lost or disconnected from your true self? Maybe you're searching for a way to express yourself creatively, but don't know where to start.

Are you looking for a way to deepen your spiritual practice? Have you been seeking a creative outlet that can help you connect with the divine within yourself and the world around you? Look no further than poetry.

Have you ever found yourself feeling stuck, overwhelmed or lost in your own thoughts? Perhaps it felt like no matter how hard you tried to push those negative feelings away, they just kept coming back.

Poetry is more than just a form of art or expression. It has the power to heal, transform and uplift those who read and create it.

Have you ever struggled to express your feelings in a relationship? Or felt like there was something missing between you and your partner, but couldn't quite put your finger on it?

Have you ever felt stuck in a creative rut? Maybe you're struggling to come up […]

Have you ever felt like there is a creative side of you waiting to be unleashed? Do you find yourself daydreaming about the things that could come to life if only you could tap into your inner artist?

Do you ever feel disconnected from the natural world? In our fast-paced, modern lives, it's easy to forget about the beauty and inspiration that surrounds us every day.

Are you feeling stuck in a creative rut? Do you find yourself struggling to come up with fresh and innovative ideas for your work or personal projects?

Have you ever felt like fear is holding you back from expressing yourself fully? Do you struggle to find your voice and share your thoughts with the world?

A poem to express thanks, from an interesting point of view.

Do you often find yourself staring at a blank page, struggling to conjure up any creative ideas? Maybe you're feeling stuck in your writing or just lacking inspiration altogether.

Thought for the week… A Poem “Take the journey within…” Since when did you think…That you can imprison me In your self-made temples, churches, mosque, and synagogues…

Join our community now and get access to valuable resources, tips, and support to help you achieve your goals.

That Texas Couple

100+ Life Journey Quotes To Inspire Wanderlust

Journey Quotes Pin Image

If you are looking for the perfect list of life journey quotes , then you are in the right place. I mean, we live by the mantra that “life is a journey!”

Honestly, that is what drove us to create our couple’s bucket list and our Texas bucket list !

Life’s journey is all about choosing a path and making your own way as you maneuver through the ups and downs.

This is especially true when you live a life of travel. Discovering journeys is what drives us and brings us life! Discovery consists in all of us innately!

That is what inspired us to create this list of journey quotes . We have tried to include quotes that are relevant to different points in your life to ensure that you find the quotes about journey that you are looking for. We have included happy journey quotes , safe journey quotes , life journey quotes , new journey quotes , journey of life , and much more!

These quotes about journey and destination remind us to be sure we are just enjoying the journey!

I hope you find the perfect quote from our list of journey quotes!!

*This post contains affiliate links.  By purchasing through these links, we get a small commission at no additional cost. That Texas Couple also participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.  As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Life Journey Quotes

Life is definitely a journey. Thinking about these life journey quotes truly helps to put things into perspective!

I mean, ultimately we each have control of our own path. That is truly what these inspirational quotes about the life journey are really all about.

To get through the hardest journey we need to take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping. -Chinese Proverb (One of the popular life journey quotes!)

I believe that life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel, but we are all well equipped for it if only we tap into our talent and gifts and allow them to blossom. -Les Brown

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This thing we call life is not a destination with an end but a path down which we will continue to journey as long as we can breath. Life is to be lived, not squandered or to give away waiting for the end to close upon us. -Byron Pulsifer

I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side. ― Roman Payne

Look at education as a continuous life long journey. -Catherine Pulsifer

One of the greatest journeys in life is overcoming insecurity and learning to truly not give a shit. -J.A. Konrath

Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it. -Lolly Daskal (A great journey of life quote!)

life's journey poems quotes

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. -Lao Tzu (Every journey begins with a single step quote)

Amazing Journey Quotes

  To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. – Ralph Waldo Emerson  (One of the journey quotes I love!)

The journey was a surreal dream. This world was about knowing the person you’d always wanted to be and setting your foot down to it, remembering the person you’d thought you were as a child and rejoicing in its living, breathing actuality. – Christopher Hawke

The best part of life is to decide to make the journey through life like a best selling book. Tell a fantastic story when you are ready to tell others how you did it. Make sure life the best story ever written through a journey filled with overcoming obstacles, taking risks, and continuing to develop. – Catherine Pulsifer  (One of the best quotes about journey!)

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. -Robert Louis Stevenson

Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. -Drake

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life's journey poems quotes

A journey taken in vain is not a wasted journey if you learnt something. -Anthony T. Hincks

Sometimes life takes you on a journey that changes everything you thought you wanted. -Melaina Rayne (There has never been a life journey quote that is more true!)

Our life is an endless journey; it is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs. – Chogyam Trungpa

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Life Is a Journey Quotes

Man, life is a journey for sure. The journey of life is full of ups and downs, but we have to continue the journey no matter what. That is where these life is a journey quotes come in handy, to remind us to keep going!

I hope these quotes about journey help you along in your life journey!

Check out this list of the best journey quotes!

Life is a journey, travel it well. -Unknown

life's journey poems quotes

Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right. -Pope Francis

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. – Charles Warner

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. — Don Williams, Jr

Each new year that rings in on this journey of life brings new challenges and dreams for us to explore. May this new year bring you happiness and lots of love. – Catherine Pulsifer 

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A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out nor ends when we have reached our door, step once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over because the film of memory continues running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel, and the disease is essentially incurable. – Ryszard Kapuściński

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. — Ivy Baker Priest

life's journey poems quotes

Reflective Quotes About the Journey of Life

In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself astray in a dark wood where the straight road had been lost sight of. – Dante Alighieri

Even journey has an end. – Seneca (One of the true journey quotes.)

life's journey poems quotes

Accomplishments will prove to be a journey, not a destination. -Dwight D. Eisenhower (This is one of the best journey quotes!)

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lesson come from the journey, not the destination. -Don Williams, Jr

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Life is an opportunity, seize the day, live each day to the fullest. Life is not a project but a journey to be enjoyed. -Catherine Pulsifer

What you learn in tough times can be used in many ways to bless your personal life journey. – Scott Gordon

life's journey poems quotes

Life is a journey of either Fate or Destiny. Fate is the result of giving in to one’s wounds and heartaches. Your Destiny unfolds when you rise above the challenges of your life and use them as Divine opportunities to move forward to unlock your higher potential. – Caroline Mys (One of the thought provoking journey quotes)

Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s okay. You’re here to live your life, not to make everyone understand. -Banksy

Life is a journey, and if you fall in love with the journey, you will be in love forever. -Peter Hagerty (One of my favorite life journey quotes!)

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Life Journey Quotes You Will Love

Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations. -Oliver Goldsmith

life's journey poems quotes

Embrace your life journey with gratitude, so that how you travel your path is more important than reaching your ultimate destination. -Rosalene Glickman

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow! What a ride!” -Hunter S. Thompson ( This is my favorite life journey quote. This is how I want to live my life!)

Always remember life is a learning journey. Keep filling your mind with all that is worthy. -Catherine Pulsifer

The benefits of the accomplished journey cannot be weighed in terms of perfect moments but in terms of how this journey affects and changes our character. -Ella Mailart

Improvement in the most important areas of you life can and should be an ongoing journey. -Mark Sanborn (Another one of the best journey quotes!)

I’m an idealist. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on   my way . — Carl Sandburg

Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost .  – Erol Ozan

life's journey poems quotes

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Happy Journey Quotes

These happy journey quotes are sure to make you smile and put you in a positive frame of mind!

The journey is the reward. -Tao Expression (One of the best quotes about journey that reminds us to focus on the journey!)

I tramp a perpetual journey. -Walt Whitman

Life is a journey filled with unexpected miracles. -Unknown (One of my favorite happy journey quotes!)

You must remain focused on your journey to greatness. -Les Brown

The journey is yours. Enjoy each and every step. -Unknown

It’s all about the journey, not the outcome. -Carl Lewis

life's journey poems quotes

Positive Life Journey Quotes

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it. -Greg Anderson

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and just celebrate the journey. -Fitzhugh Mullan

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We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. – Paulo Coelho ( One of my favorite inspirational quotes about journey and destination!)

I haven’t a clue how my journey will end, but that’s all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, that’s when you discover the stars. -Nancy Willard

Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved. -Winnie the Pooh

life's journey poems quotes

Embrace your life journey with gratitude, so that how you travel your path is more important than reaching your ultimate decision. -Rosalene Glickman

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Big things have small beginnings. -Prometheus (One of the deep, but thoughtful journey quotes!)

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just enough baggage. -Charles Warner

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. -Ursula K. Leguin

life's journey poems quotes

Safe Journey Quotes

We always want our loved ones to have a safe journey! Hopefully you can use these safe journey quotes next time you are saying “see you later” to someone.

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. -Matsuo Basho

Life’s a journey, not a race. -Unknown (One of the safe journey quotes to share when someone is setting out on a road trip!)

life's journey poems quotes

Life is a journey that has a lot of different paths, but any path you choose, use it as your destiny. -Ryan Leonard (This quote reminds us that our journey and destination are intertwined with our destiny. One of the inspirational quotes for sure! We all have a different path to travel!)

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In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse. -Anthon St. Maarten

It is better to travel well than to arrive. -Arthur C. Custance

There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk. — Guy Gavriel Kay

life's journey poems quotes

If all difficulties were known at the onset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all. -Dan Rather

Trust yourself, trust the road, trust the weather, and trust your destination! This quarto-trust can create a miraculously successful journey! -Mehmet Murat Ildan

Focus on the journey not arriving at a certain destination. -Chris Hadfield (One of my favorite safe journey quotes)

life's journey poems quotes

New Journey Quotes

These inspirational quotes are some of the best quotes about journey. They remind us that when we set out on a journey we should always stay focused.

Sometimes it’s about the journey and destination, sometimes it is just about the journey!

A journey is a purpose in itself; no two are alike. -John Steinbeck

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The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. -Tony Robbins

The only journey is the one within. -Rainer Maria Rilke

Gotta’ take that adventure in order to understand your journey. -Jennifer Pierre

life's journey poems quotes

It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way! -Penelope Riley

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.   – Arthur Ashe

Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be…Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before. – Erich Fromm (What do you think about this journey and destination quote?)

Journey Quotes-Inspirational

What you learn in tough times can be used in many ways to bless your personal life journey. -Scott Gordon

There ain’t no journey what don’t change you some. -David Mitchell

Every day is a new journey for me, and I feel like, in my lifetime, I’ve been blessed to experience such a lot. -Bindi Irwin

The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for. -Louis L’Amour (One of the journey quotes that I love and one of the reasons that we embrace slow travel.)

You don’t have to understand my journey, you just need to respect it. -Izey Victoria Odiase

life's journey poems quotes

The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That is all there ever is. -Alan Watts

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time. -Lyndon B. Johnson

One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time. -John Wanamaker ( One of the quotes about journey that reminds us that anything is possible!)

The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday. -Steve Maraboli

You have to get lost before you can be found . – Jeff Rasley

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The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place. -Barbara De Angelis

Here I am, safely returned over those peaks from a journey far more beautiful and strange than anything I had hoped for or imagined – how is it that this safe return brings such regret? – Peter Mathiesson

Make voyages. Attempt them. There’s nothing else. – Tennessee Williams

life's journey poems quotes

Life is a journey, it’s not where you end up but its how you got there. -Unknown

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. -Martin Buber (This is one of the best journey quotes!

When setting out on a journey do not seek advice from someone who never left home. -Rumi

Journey Through Life Quotes That Include Friends

These quotes about journey include the importance of including friends and loved ones on your journey. I know that we love being able to share experiences and be there for one another.

I feel that these inspirational quotes reiterate the value of relationships and help to make our journey complete. For life’s journey is the ultimate journey!

Enjoy these quotes about journey with friends!

On a hard jungle journey, nothing is so important as having a team you can trust. – Tahir Shah

If ever there was a metaphor to illustrate the importance of the journey over the destination, it is life itself. For everyone who departs from birth is destined for death, so the journey IS life. Savor it! -Michele Jennae

We never know the journey another person has walked, so be kind to everyone. – Lynette Mather

life's journey poems quotes

In this journey of life, you will meet people who will make you feel alive! – Avijeet Das

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are. -Joss Whedon (This is one of the best journey quotes for sure!)

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind .  – Henri Frederic Amiel

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Life’s Greatest Journey Quotes

The main thing that you have to remember on this journey is, just be nice to everyone and always smile.-Ed Sheeran

The journey of every ignorant and obedient society always ends up in the same place: In the desert! – Mehmet Murat ildan

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. -Izaak Walton (This is one of my favorite quotes about journey with friends.)

A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles. -Tim Cahill

life's journey poems quotes

And at the end of the day, there is nothing but the journey. Because destination is pure illusion.  –Rich Roll

A journey is a gesture inscribed in space,   it vanishes even as it’s made. You go from one place to another place, and on to somewhere else again, and already behind you there is no trace that you were ever there. ― Damon Galgut

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip . — Robert J. Hastings

Sometimes reaching out and taking someone’s hand is the beginning of a journey. -Vera Nazarian

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Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight:

We love using CheapOAir, Kayak, and Kiwi to search for the best flight prices. We love using these search engines because they search the web for airlines worldwide to ensure you get the best deal! In addition to flights, you can also find great hotel prices on Kayak and Kiwi.

Book Your Vacation Package:

If you want to book an entire vacation package, we suggest using Expedia. We love how easy Expedia is to use, and we always find good deals on entire vacation packages on their site.

Another great site for vacation packages is BookVIP . BookVIP offers super cheap vacation packages to incredible destinations. You are sure to save money using their site!

For full guided vacations, including hotels, some meals, transportation, and guides, then we book with Trafalgar. Trafalgar is a trusted tour company that will meet all your needs while ensuring a great experience.

Trip.com allows you to book flights, hotels, train tickets, rental cars, airport transfers, tours, and more all on one site. Owned by the parent company that also owns Skyscanner, this is a trusted resource for travel booking and a great “one-stop shop.”

Book Your Accommodations:

We always begin our search by checking out honest reviews on TripAdvisor hotels. This allows us to narrow our search for specific properties once we are ready to book. Of course, you can also book directly on the TripAdvisor site!

There are several accommodation sites that we like to use. One of our favorites is Booking.com because it offers a wide variety of hotels and guesthouses at a good price.

Another “go-to” hotel booking site for us is Hotels.com . We love their loyalty program that allows you to earn free nights, and their “secret prices” for members are fabulous deals!

HotelsCombined is another cool site. They allow you to compare all the top travel sites with one search to ensure you find the best deal out there. Kayak works in this way as well.

If you want a luxurious all-inclusive vacation, consider checking out the Sandals/Beaches properties. Sandals properties are for couples only and Beaches are for families. We have visited Sandals in the past and absolutely love the attention to detail and the service they provide.

Tour Companies We Trust:

We love taking guided tours when visiting new places. Our go-to tour companies are Viator.com and Get Your Guide . Both of these companies have been in business for years and provide excellent customer service. You can trust booking tours from their sites for sure!

For a guided city tour, check out City Sightseeing and BigBus Tours . These bus tours are so much fun and easy to hop on and hop off at top attractions in cities around the world.

CityPass is a great way to save money when visiting large cities. CityPass allows you to get free admission to major attractions once you buy their pass. The savings add up quickly with this pass, often saving 50% with combined admissions.

Another great pass to save money in larger cities is the Sightseeing Pass . This pass allows you to save valuable time and money by combining admissions to major attractions. They also have a handy app that keeps everything you need at your fingertips.

Looking to Save Time and Money?

Check out our resource page for all of our favorite vendors. These companies help us to save time and money on our travels!

Michelle Snell-Founder That Texas Couple

About the Author

Michelle Snell is a travel writer, history buff, wine lover, and enthusiast of different cultures. Michelle enjoys bringing places to life through creative content creation and her informative writing style on her blogs, That Texas Couple and Totally Texas Travel and accompanying social media accounts.  She is happiest sipping wine in Italy or chilling on a beach with her husband, Marty.

Sunday 9th of January 2022

Your comprehensive list of quotes are so inspirational. One of my favorites is “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu. It’s that first step that can be the most difficult but also rewarding.

thattexascouple

Monday 10th of January 2022

Hi Michelle! Thank you so much for the kind words. I agree with you, the first step is often times very difficult, but we never know the reward if we don't take it.

Absolutely love this post! All of these journey quotes are so inspirational for wanderlusts.

Thank you so much!

The life's journey quotes especially spoke to me at this time in my life. Since I lost my son 2 years ago and with my oldest daughter currently in hospital fighting for her life, I have relied on quotes to get me through the days and help me to remain positive. That's what I love about travel, the opportunity to see all of the beauty this world has to offer. I'm going to steal some of these to make a calendar lol.

Kelly! I am so sorry to hear about your loss and pray that you daughter has a speedy recovery. I am deeply touched by your comment and agree with you completely. Please feel free to reach out anytime if you need to talk or just share favorite quotes!

Loving. Healing. Touching.

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Famous Life Poems

Published: December 16, 2022

Famous Poems On The Human Experience And Life's Journey

Since the dawn of civilization, artists of all forms have sought to express the essence of the human condition and the full range of human experience. Poetry has been one of the most common forms of this expression from the ancients until now. These words have an ability to capture the abstract emotions and concrete experiences that have been part of our humanity throughout the ages. Turning to the words of classic poems can help us to clarify and understand our own experiences better by connecting us to those others who have sought to do the same.

This collection of famous poems explores the human experience and the journey of life. From love and loss to joy and sorrow, these poems delve into the emotions and challenges that shape our lives. Whether you're seeking inspiration or a deeper understanding of the world around you, these poems offer a poignant and thought-provoking look at the human condition.

Famous Poems On The Human Experience And Life's Journey

See it through.

  • By Edgar A. Guest

Famous Poem

Many of the poems by Edgar Guest (1881-1959) are encouraging and share important life lessons. In this poem, he shares powerful advice about standing strong in the face of trials and dark days. The poetic technique of repetition is used at the end of each stanza with the line, “See it through.” That brings the reader's attention to the themes of courage and perseverance.

in Famous Inspirational Poems

When you’re up against a trouble, Meet it squarely, face to face; Lift your chin and set your shoulders, Plant your feet and take a brace.

Go To Complete Poem

I was feeling down, discouraged, confused and all sorts of unpleasant ways today. Going through a failed marriage, raising two young boys by myself, but moreover struggling with my own...

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The Paradoxical Commandments

  • By Kent M. Keith

This selection, entitled, "The Paradoxical Commandments", was written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 when he was a 19 year old Harvard Student. Since then, it has been quoted by millions and even mistakenly attributed to Mother Teresa who had a version hung as a poem on a wall in her Children's Home in Calcutta. The text contains 10 commandments. The theme and the paradox is to persevere in doing good for humanity and acting with integrity even if your efforts aren't appreciated.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

The Paradoxical Commandments By Kent M. Keith

This poem is very touching. I think the poem is all about staying positive no what happens in life. People won't appreciate you for the your good deeds, but still have a positive attitude...

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  • By Jessie B. Rittenhouse

You’ve probably heard the saying, “The grass is greener on the other side.” This poem captures that sentiment. Often, we look longingly at what others have while looking down on what is ours. The irony is that others see such beauty in what we have.

in Famous Sad Poems

I looked through others' windows On an enchanted earth, But out of my own window- Solitude and dearth.

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  • By W. H. Davies

We are often in such a hurry in life that we move from one thing to the next without stopping to notice the beauty around us. Famous poet W.H. Davies (1871-1940) reminds us that life passes by quickly, and he encourages readers to take moments to “stand and stare.” W.H. Davies was a Welsh poet who devoted himself to writing poetry in his late 20s. Many of his poems were filled with themes of hardship and the natural world.

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare No time to stand beneath the boughs,

This is a wonderful poem and has always been one of my favourites. At this time of lockdown restrictions and protecting ourselves, we have that time to stop and look at the world - to enjoy...

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It's Fine Today

  • By Douglas Malloch

In this world, we face troubles of many kinds. Things are not always going to go our way. Some people wallow in that misery, but others have a positive perspective and can push past the trouble they face. What makes the difference? Douglas Malloch (1877-1938) shares the answer in this poem. When we don’t focus on our problems, they get smaller and smaller. We can’t worry about what happened in the past or what could happen in the future. Instead, we need to look at what is positive for us today. Douglas Malloch came from simple roots, and that simplicity is seen in the dialect of this poem.

Sure, this world is full of trouble I ain't said it ain't. Lord, I've had enough and double Reason for complaint;

Wow, this poem gives a cool perspective on life. This poem makes one realize worrying doesn't help.

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  • By Henry Van Dyke

Time feels different for different people. Depending on the situation we’re facing, our perception of time is altered. Sometimes, time moves slowly, and other times, it flashes in the blink of an eye. “Time Is” is one of Henry van Dyke’s best-known poems. It was originally written to be inscribed on a sundial. This was published in the 1904 collection “Music and Other Poems,” and it was read aloud at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.

Time is Too Slow for those who Wait, Too Swift for those who Fear, Too Long for those who Grieve,

When we look at our work as a burden, we can quickly become discouraged and discontent. Often, people wish they didn't have to work, but there's a blessing in being able to work. To have a job is to have a gift. Henry van Dyke (1852-1933) challenges himself and others to change the way we look at our jobs. Even when work is challenging, exhausting, tedious, or overwhelming, let's look at the blessing we have.

Let me but do my work from day to day, In field or forest, at the desk or loom, In roaring market-place or tranquil room; Let me but find it in my heart to say,

Life Is Fine

  • By Langston Hughes

In this poem, the speaker is considering giving up on life, but he can’t go through with it. He finds that since he hasn’t died, he has something to live for. This poem has a strong sense of structure. It’s made up of single lines and quatrains with the ABCB rhyme scheme.

in Famous Poems

I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn't, So I jumped in and sank.

Everyone is born for a purpose, but we forget that in pursuit of money. Then God gifted me with poetry and uses it as a medium to educate people, and in each of my poems there is a story...

This poem encourages us to get the most out of life and push the boundaries. Famous poet Jessie B. Rittenhouse encourages us not to become complacent. We need to keep pushing forward. Sometimes we aim too low, and where you aim, you will hit.

I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store;

Love After Love

  • By Derek Walcott

Much of the inspiration for Derek Walcott's poetry comes from the history of Saint Lucia, where he was born. This poem has a theme of accepting yourself as you are. Before you can love others, you need to love yourself.

The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror,

My husband died 10 years ago. He was the love of my life, my soul-mate, my best friend. I have not known how to 'adjust' to him being gone until I read this poem, "Love After Love." Everyone...

A Naughty Little Comet

  • By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

This classic, fun, and rhythmic poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) is a cautionary tale about a mother-daughter struggle that will be familiar to many parents of teenagers. The lesson taught is the virtues of a cautious and modest approach to life. The bold and fun loving daughter doesn't listen to the scolding of her wise mother and instead runs wild, reveling in her youth and beauty. In the end the mother's fears come true.

in Famous Funny Poems

There was a little comet who lived near the Milky Way! She loved to wander out at night and jump about and play. The mother of the comet was a very good old star;

All The World's A Stage

  • By William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is regarded by many as one of the greatest poets/playwrights in history. This poem is an excerpt from his play "As You Like It." The poem compares the world to a stage and life to a play, and catalogs seven stages in a man's life: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, aging man, and finally facing imminent death. The poem suggests that each stage in a man's life calls upon him to play another role.

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,

He gets tired of his childhood and hastens to grow up; then he becomes nostalgic about his childhood. To gain wealth, he would endanger his health; then to regain his lost health, he spends...

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Langston Hughes (1902-1967) settled in Harlem, New York, in 1924 and was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance. In this poem, he wrote of the reality that faced many in the black community and how they were regarded as “less than” by other people. The poem ends with the hope that one day it would be different. He shared the expectation that those who looked down on them would be ashamed.

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen

Let America Be America Again

For many people, it has been a struggle to attain the american dream. langston hughes (1902-1967) shares how many groups of people have not been able to experience the america that people dream it to be. they have struggled for freedom and equality. langston hughes himself experienced the difficulty of living out his dream of being a writer because it was difficult to earn money in that profession. although this poem has a very somber feel, hope is presented at the end. many of the lines in this poem use alliteration (multiple words beginning with the same sound)..

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.

Fire And Ice

  • By Robert Frost

A poem about the end of days, when the world will end by either fire or ice. "Fire and Ice" is one of Robert Frost's most popular poems. It was first published in 1920 in Harper's Magazine.

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire.

Robert Frost is a poet of great repute. It is not within our jurisdiction to comment on such a literary giant. However, in view of your invitation, I would say that he might have been in...

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Advice To A Son

  • By Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was an American author and poet who lived from 1899-1961. He loved adventure and used his various experiences to inspire his writing. This poem was his chance to impart wisdom on his sons. He was married four times and had three sons.

in Famous Family Poems

Never trust a white man, Never kill a Jew, Never sign a contract, Never rent a pew.

My Lost Youth

  • By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This poem could be considered a lyrical autobiography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s early years. He remembers his hometown and the boy he was many years ago. Even though he has grown, he can still feel like a child again by returning to his hometown of Portland, Maine (which was still part of Massachusetts when he was born in 1807). All his memories are tucked into the many places of the city. This poem has a strong sense of structure with the repetition of the last two lines of each stanza.

in Famous Narrative Poems

Often I think of the beautiful town That is seated by the sea; Often in thought go up and down The pleasant streets of that dear old town,

I was born in a village away from the busy city. My village was blessed with many natural resources like streams, mountains, and small scale waterfalls. Most of the villagers were farmers....

It Might Have Been

Ella wheeler wilcox (1850-1919) uses this poem to show that people have the power to make their own destiny. most of the stanzas start with “we will (be/do/climb),” which brings attention to the belief that we will each become what we set out to become. this poem is made up of quatrains (four-line stanzas) that follow the abab rhyme scheme. although ella wheeler wilcox was born to poor family and received many rejection letters for her poetry, she remained optimistic and kept working hard for what she wanted..

We will be what we could be. Do not say, "It might have been, had not or that, or this." No fate can keep us from the chosen way; He only might who is.

Sometimes it’s hard to see past what is right in front of us in order to see the beauty around us. It can be easy to allow circumstances to cloud our view. In this poem, mist and clouds fill the valley, preventing the people living there from seeing the beauty of the surrounding mountains.

in Famous Nature Poems

I came to the mountains for beauty And I find here the toiling folk, On sparse little farms in the valleys, Wearing their days like a yoke.

I Hear America Singing

  • By Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was an American poet who lived from 1819-1892. Some of his poetry was controversial because of the nature of its content, but he is believed to be the father of free verse (but he did not invent this form of poetry). He is also seen as a "poet of democracy" because he wrote so strongly about the American character. In this poem, Whitman shows how America is made up of a variety of people. It's the stories of those people who make America the strong and unique nation that it is.

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

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I Used to Cringe at Self-Help Books. Until This One Changed My Life.

How a best-selling classic from 1992 helped me rediscover my creativity.

By Jillian Steinhauer

A photograph of the book “The Artist’s Way.”

I have written about art my whole career. I find it and its creators endlessly fascinating, but I’ve always seen myself as something of a different kind — a journalist and critic, yes, but never an “artist,” with all the imaginative power that word conveys. Recently, though, I conducted a particularly poignant, intimate interview. The artist and I talked about childhood and the struggle of making oneself heard. There were tears. Afterward I had a thought: What would it be like if I were the one being interviewed? Could I be the artist, possessed of creative vision, like one of my subjects? The prospect was equally thrilling and terrifying.

These questions grew out of a long period in which I had been feeling alternately adrift and stuck. I regularly write about contemporary art for publications like this one, but for a while I’ve been in creative limbo. At first I wasn’t sure why, or even how, to describe it. Sometimes I said I felt disconnected from my voice; other times that my work and life, which was then filled with death and illness, seemed to have grown far apart.

I tried to address this through my usual methods: talking to friends, family, my therapist. When those didn’t work, I turned to a remedy several people had suggested: the 1992 book “The Artist’s Way,” by Julia Cameron. Structured as a 12-week course that leads the reader on a spiritual journey of “creative recovery,” the book began as a class and a collection of typed-up pages that Cameron photocopied and sold in bookstores, until she found a publisher willing to take it on. “We didn’t know where to put it on the shelves,” Joel Fotinos, who published the book at Penguin, said in a 2019 interview. “Eventually there was a category called ‘Creativity,’ and ‘The Artist’s Way’ launched it.” The book has sold more than five million copies since its publication, and Cameron has become a kind of guru.

I knew none of this when I ordered “The Artist’s Way,” only that it was some kind of woo-woo self-help book, and that it had popularized the phrase “morning pages” (which seemed like journaling, in the morning?). When I sat down to read, I almost immediately cringed. On the first page of the introduction, Cameron invokes “The Great Creator,” a.k.a. capital “G” God. That immediately set off my internal alarm; I underlined it wavily and wrote “Mmm” alongside. Turning the page, I realized to my horror that random inspirational quotes set in the margins were going to be a recurring feature. (An example: “I shut my eyes in order to see,” credited to Paul Gauguin.) The following chapters brought a bewildering jumble of metaphors.

I like to think I’m receptive, but I am also a critic — someone who prides herself on her discerning taste, at least in certain realms, including books. This was like a compendium of questionable taste. It took me back to the days of being a preteen, when I pored over the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series and published my bad poetry in school magazines. That version of me was so earnest that in retrospect I found her a bit embarrassing. But I also envied her nerve. She seemed a lot less self-conscious than the person I had become.

As it turned out, the beauty of “The Artist’s Way” was in asking people like me to set aside matters of taste entirely. Instead, Cameron prompted me to turn inward. One of her two core practices is the morning pages, writing three longhand pages upon waking up, which Cameron says “get us to the other side: the other side of our fear, of our negativity, of our moods” by creating space to contend with them. The other is the “artist date,” a weekly solo excursion or activity meant to cultivate inspiration. I didn’t always manage to do these tasks, but I recognized their value. I had arranged to do “The Artist’s Way” with a small group of women, and as one of them put it in a meeting, the exercises offered a way of witnessing ourselves.

There was something refreshing about a text that didn’t need to be perfect, that came from a place of urgency.

Cameron’s writing encouraged that exploration. She spoke plainly and directly, without elaborate flourishes and conspicuous erudition. I came to appreciate the book’s many flaws: There was something refreshing about a text that didn’t need to be perfect, that came from a place of urgency. She said what needed to be said — and when she did, I often felt as if she were seeing and dragging me simultaneously. “Most blocked creatives have an active addiction to anxiety,” she wrote. “We prefer the low-grade pain and occasional heart-stopping panic attack to the drudgery of small and simple daily steps in the right direction.” “My god,” I responded in the margins.

Cameron seemed at home in her voice; her tutelage made me think about mine. I realized that after 17 years as a journalist and critic, the balance was off: I had allowed my professional taste-making — an inherently public concern — to obscure other interests and curiosities. I had honed my professional voice at the expense of my private one. Loving “The Artist’s Way” feels strangely embarrassing — because it’s less rational than it is sincere. But as Cameron knows, authenticity is the best place for an artist to begin.

Jillian Steinhauer is a critic and reporter who covers the politics of art and comics. She won a 2019 Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant and was previously a senior editor at Hyperallergic. More about Jillian Steinhauer

Embrace the Journey of Emotions: Introducing “Love, Hope, Heartbreak” – Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about “Love, Hope, Heartbreak” – A Poetry Collection

Dive into the depths of human emotion with the Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection, an exquisite poetry collection that transcends boundaries and touches the soul. Authored by the talented Author Brandon Reta Cantu, this book invites readers on a poignant exploration of love, hope, and heartbreak through the following key points:

  • Emotional Authenticity: In Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection, Brandon Reta Cantu delves fearlessly into the heart of human emotion, crafting each poem with raw honesty and authenticity. From the euphoria of love's embrace to the piercing ache of heartbreak, readers will resonate deeply with the emotions laid bare on the pages.
  • Universal Themes: Through evocative verse, this collection navigates the universal themes that connect us all: Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection. With exquisite imagery and profound insights, Brandon Reta Cantu captures the essence of the human experience, inviting readers to reflect on their own journey through life's triumphs and tribulations.
  • Poetic Mastery: With lyrical finesse and a keen eye for detail, Brandon Reta Cantu demonstrates a mastery of the poetic craft. Each poem is a masterpiece in its own right, weaving together language and emotion to create a symphony of words that resonates with readers long after the final page is turned.
  • A Journey of Resilience: Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection is more than just a poetry collection; it is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Through moments of joy, longing, and heartbreak, Brandon Reta Cantu reminds us of the beauty found in vulnerability and the strength that emerges from embracing our emotions fully.
  • Accessible and Inspirational: Whether you're a seasoned poetry enthusiast or new to the genre, Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection offers something for everyone. Its accessible language and universal themes make it a compelling read for anyone seeking inspiration, solace, or simply a deeper connection to the human experience.

Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection is now available for purchase in paperback and e-book formats on Retailer and Brandon Reta Cantu's Website. Join Brandon Reta Cantu on this unforgettable journey through the tapestry of human emotion and discover the power of poetry to illuminate the depths of the soul.

For review copies or interview requests, please contact Brandon Reta Cantu.

life's journey poems quotes

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  4. 50+ Journey Quotes For Travel And Life Inspiration

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  5. 100+ Life Journey Quotes To Inspire You

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  2. A Journey into Dreamland

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COMMENTS

  1. 11 Life Journey Poems to Encourage You

    Related Poems & Quotes: Poems About New Beginnings Poems About Travel Poems About Fate Journey Of Faith Journey of Life Journey With Jesus Poems Famous Poems About Life Featured Famous Poets: Ella Wheeler Wilcox Edgar A. Guest Catherine Pulsifer Patience Strong More Famous Poems We hope these poems about life journey have inspired you to live each day. Our lives are meant to be enjoyed and ...

  2. 40 Transformative Poems About Life Everyone Should Know

    It advocates that life is neither made to suffer through, nor is it made to solely enjoy. While both these emotions are a part of the journey, the purpose of life is 'to act', improve oneself, and make each day better than the previous one. 13. "Do not go gentle into that good night", by Dylan Thomas.

  3. Famous Poems On The Human Experience And Life's Journey

    Famous Poem. We are often in such a hurry in life that we move from one thing to the next without stopping to notice the beauty around us. Famous poet W.H. Davies (1871-1940) reminds us that life passes by quickly, and he encourages readers to take moments to "stand and stare.".

  4. 10 Awesome Poems About the Journey of Life

    10 Amazing Poems About The Journey of Life. 1. Pathways Unfold. In life's journey, a path winds and bends, A story that twists, turns, and extends. Each step, a tale of dreams and fears, Years of laughter, joy, and tears. We walk in the light, and sometimes in the dark, Marking our trail with an indelible mark.

  5. The Journey of Life: Exploring the Beauty of Poems about Journeys

    Life's journey often involves a search for meaning, purpose, and self-discovery. Many poets have explored this theme by portraying characters embarking on an introspective journey, uncovering truths about themselves along the way. These poems inspire us to reflect on our own identities and the transformative power of self-exploration.

  6. 17 Short Poems About Life Journey

    Here are five short poems about life journey that can inspire and offer insight into our own paths. The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. "Ithaka" by C.P. Cavafy. The Journey" by Mary Oliver. "Footprints" by Margaret Fishback Powers. "Life" by Charlotte Bronte.

  7. 34+ Poems About Life: Beautiful Journey in Verses

    Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it.

  8. The Power of Uplifting Poems: Finding Inspiration in Life's Journey

    In this article, we will explore a selection of uplifting poems that celebrate life and provide inspiration along the way. 1. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. 2. "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. 3. "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. 4. "The Guest House" by Rumi.

  9. 163 Meaningful Poems About Life (+ My #1 Favorite)

    Life is but a troubled ocean, Hope a meteor, love a flower. Which blossoms in the morning beam, And whithers with the evening hour. Ambition is a dizzy height, And glory, but a lightning gleam; Fame is a bubble, dazzling bright, Which fairest shines in fortune's beam.

  10. 10 of the Best Poems about Journeys

    It is mentioned that they are fleeing England because of 'prelates' rage', namely religious persecution - so 'Bermudas' is a poem about undertaking a difficult journey to find a new place where a community of people can start afresh. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The bright-eyed Mariner.

  11. 25 Beautiful Poems About Life

    One bird can herald Spring. One smile can bring a friendship, One handclasp can lift a soul; One star can guide a ship at sea, One cheer can obtain a goal. One vote can change a Nation, One sunbeam can lift a room; One candle wipes out darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom.

  12. 10 Of The Best Poems About Life Ever To Have Been Written

    Learn to labor and to wait. 2. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. Life is made up of a succession of choices. This famous poem begins at a fork in a wooded path and ushers the reader along one "road" as a means of explaining that we must choose one way or another and not dilly-dally in life.

  13. Life as a Journey (poems)

    John McLeod. It's the little bit of sunshine. Lighting up the dullest day, That brings a glow of pleasure. As we journey on Life's way. It's the simple things that please us. Like a willing kindness done, That son blow away each storm-cloud. 'Till once more we see the sun.

  14. 115 Life Journey Quotes, Short Quotes

    115 Life Journey Quotes, Short Quotes. Keeping yourself mentally stimulated is very important - maybe even critical - to a long life. Seymour Schulich, Get Smarter Life and Business Lessons. Poems of Encouragement. The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.

  15. Life journey Poems

    The howling storm winds of tornadic life. spun me out on forlorn dusty paths to begin. a journey that's led to faraway lands unknown. where I might never have found myself. I mused, yet I followed me all along, unfolding myself like a secret subway map, revealed only as I dared venture out of safety.

  16. Life Journey Quotes (156 quotes)

    Quotes tagged as "life-journey" Showing 1-30 of 156. "If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer's day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation. In order to complete our amazing ...

  17. Journey Of Life

    We can all use encouragement in our journey, let these poems inspire and motivate you to see the best in life! Short Poems & Quotes / Poems About Life / Journey Of Life Life's Voyages Poet: Lillian E. Curtis Then the varied seasons come and go, There's summer's sun and winter's snow; To some they bring akin to unbroken joy.

  18. Journey Of Life Quotes (470 quotes)

    The real journey begins in the long, dangerous descent that lies ahead.". "Why do travelers depart as they do, leaving an incomplete tale of footprints in the earth.". 470 quotes have been tagged as journey-of-life: Mandy Hale: 'You'll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken.

  19. 77 Positive and Inspiring Journey Quotes

    1. "Never give up on your dreams, no matter how painful and difficult your journey is.". - Lisa. 2. "The journey is never ending. There's always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what's right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.". - Antonio Brown.

  20. 100+ Life Journey Quotes To Inspire You

    One of the greatest journeys in life is overcoming insecurity and learning to truly not give a shit. J. A. Konrath. 9. Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson. 10. Sometimes life takes you on a journey that changes everything you thought you wanted.

  21. The Journey Within

    These beautiful poems encourage us to take a short break, to take time for ourselves, to stay true to our values, and to embrace all of our emotions and experiences as a step of the way in the journey of life. "Leisure" reminds us to take a walk and enjoy the simple pleasures in life, which can be a crucial part of finding balance.

  22. 100+ Life Journey Quotes To Inspire Wanderlust

    Life is a journey, and if you fall in love with the journey, you will be in love forever. -Peter Hagerty (One of my favorite life journey quotes!) Read Next: 125 Songs About Travel. Life Journey Quotes You Will Love. Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations. -Oliver Goldsmith

  23. Life Changer's review of Shades of Existence: A ...

    4/5: "Shades Of Existence" is a poetry filled with a lot of emotions that every human being can relate. It's an exhilarating journey that mirrors our lives. This book calmed me and was like the author was affirming me at every turn. I found it to be really inspiring and motivating. It feels almost therapeutic reading this. The words, colours and illustrations were so calming to read and ...

  24. 30 Famous Poems On The Human Experience And Life's Journey

    Famous Life Poems. Published: December 16, 2022 Since the dawn of civilization, artists of all forms have sought to express the essence of the human condition and the full range of human experience. Poetry has been one of the most common forms of this expression from the ancients until now.

  25. I Used to Cringe at Self-Help Books. Until This One Changed My Life

    Turning the page, I realized to my horror that random inspirational quotes set in the margins were going to be a recurring feature. (An example: "I shut my eyes in order to see," credited to ...

  26. Embrace the Journey of Emotions: Introducing "Love, Hope, Heartbreak

    A Journey of Resilience: Book: Echoes of Solitude: Poems of Love and Loss about "Love, Hope, Heartbreak" - A Poetry Collection is more than just a poetry collection; it is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Through moments of joy, longing, and heartbreak, Brandon Reta Cantu reminds us of the beauty found in vulnerability and the ...