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Robert Bly

Robert Bly Quotes

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Famous Robert Bly Quotes

“What does it mean when a man falls in love with a radiant face across the room? It may mean that he has some soul work to do. His soul is the issue. Instead of pursuing the woman and trying to get her alone, away from her husband, he needs to go alone himself, perhaps to a mountain cabin, for three months, write poetry, canoe down a river, and dream. That would save some women a lot of trouble.”

MenNeedsWritingTryingMayMeanDoeSoulDreamFacesFallThreeRoomsIssuesTroubleMonthsHusbandMountainRiversFalling In LoveRadiantThree MonthsCabinsSoul Work
Author:Robert Bly
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“When anyone seriously pursues an art - painting, poetry, sculpture, composing - over twenty or thirty years, the sustained discipline carries the artist down to the countryside of grief, and that descent, resisted so long proves invigorating. . . . As I've gotten older, I find I am able to be nourished more by sorrow and to distinguish it from depression.”

YearsLongArtAbleArtistGriefPaintingDisciplineSorrowProveTwentiesPursueThirtyCarrieSculptureThirty YearsCountrysideComposingDescentInvigorating
Author:Robert Bly
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“We are living at an important and fruitful moment now, for it is clear to men that the images of adult manhood given by the popular culture are worn out; a man can no longer depend on them. By the time a man is thirty-five he knows that the images of the right man, the tough man, the true man which he received in high school do not work in life.”

KnowsMenLifeImportantMomentsSchoolCultureGivenClearFiveDependsHigh SchoolAdultsToughThirtyWornManhoodPopular CultureWorn OutTrue ManRight ManTough Man
Book:Iron John: A Book about Men
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“Don't go outside your house to see flowers. My friend, don't bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has a thousand petals. That will do for a place to sit. Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty inside the body and out of it, before gardens and after gardens.”

BodyHouseBeautyFlowerThousandSittingMy FriendsGardenYour BodyBotherGlimpsePetalsExcursionsBeauty On The Inside
Book:Kabir: Ecstatic Poems
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“One day while studying a Yeats poem I decided to write poetry the rest of my life. I recognized that a single short poem has room for history, music, psychology, religious thought, mood, occult speculation, character, and events of one's own life. I still feel surprised that such various substances can find shelter and nourishment in a poem. A poem in fact may be a sort of nourishing liquid, such as one uses to keep an amoeba alive. If prepared right, a poem can keep an image or a thought or insights on history or the psyche alive for years, as well as our desires and airy impulses.”

IfsFeelsWritingYearsWellsMayStillsCharacterFactsUseDesirePoetryReligiousRoomsStudyPsychologyAliveEventsOne DayDecidedPreparedVariousInsightMoodImpulseSubstanceShelterSpeculationLiquidNourishmentOccultAiryYeatsAmoeba
Author:Robert Bly
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