“I wanted to spend all my time writing poetry. But when I had children I couldn't do that anymore.” Quote by Robert Bly
“Adulthood has something to do with not choosing any of the pure points of view, but living about half of what you really want to live.” WantViewsHalfPurePoint Of ViewAdulthood Author:Robert Bly
“I got about half the time I wanted to write poetry. I got about half the time I needed to be a father. So there is something in adulthood that has to do with accepting the half of things, allowing a renunciation of the other half, accepting half a basket instead of a full basket.” WritingWantedFatherHalfAcceptingNeededAllowingAdulthoodOther HalfBasketsRenunciation Author:Robert Bly
“Adolescents believe that the world belongs to the living, or more particularly to living people their age, so they feel within their rights if they destroy the canon or rewrite the fairy stories or act like Red Guards.” PeopleIfsWorldFeelsBelieveStoriesAgeRightsRedFairyCanonFairy Stories Author:Robert Bly
“An elder is someone who understands that the world belongs to the dead.” WorldElders Author:Robert Bly
“The dead made this world. We didn't make it. They made the poetry and the songs and the customs.” WorldMadeSongThis WorldCustoms Author:Robert Bly
“The ancestors are very much invested in the children, because the children are the ones who are going to continue the world that the ancestors made.” WorldChildrenMadeAncestor Author:Robert Bly
“When an elder turns to face the dead, that means he turns away from facing the future and his own retirement in Phoenix, let's say. He turns and finds himself facing the children.” MeanChildrenFacesTurnsRetirementEldersPhoenix Author:Robert Bly
“To me, the hope lies in adults forgetting about their retirement and turning toward the adolescents and helping pull the adolescents over that mysterious line drawn on the ground into adulthood. If we don't do that, the adolescents are going to stay exactly where they are for the next 30 or 40 years.” IfsYearsHelpingLyingNextLinesForgetAdultsMysteriousRetirementAdulthood Author:Robert Bly
“In some Mayan villages they even have a stage beyond the elder that they call the Echo Person. They say that when an Echo Person, whether a man or a woman, speaks, the words echo both in this world and in the other world. That's why they are called Echo People.” PeopleMenWorldPersonsSpeakStageThis WorldVillageEchoesEldersOther Worlds Author:Robert Bly
“Attending church is one thing, belonging is another.” ChurchOne ThingBelongingAttendingAttending Church Author:John Henrik Clarke