Poetry Quote by Nayyirah Waheed — Inspiring Words on Life, Love & Wisdom

“you”

“creativity keeps the world alive, yet, everyday we are asked to be ashamed of honoring it, wanting to live our lives as artists. i’ve carried the shame of being a ‘creative’ since i came to the planet; have been asked to be something different, more, less my whole life. thank spirit, my wisdom is deeper than my shame, and i listened to who i was. i want to say to all the creatives who have been taught to believe who you are is not enough for this world, taught that a life of art will amount to nothing, know that who we are, and what we do is life. when we create, we are creating the world. remember this, and commit.”

“Someone can be madly in love with you and still not be ready. They can love you in a way you have never been loved and still not join you on the bridge. And whatever their reasons you must leave. Because you never ever have to inspire anyone to meet you on the bridge. You never ever have to convince someone to do the work to be ready. There is more extraordinary love, more love that you have never seen, out here in this wide and wild universe. And there is the love that will be ready.”

“No’ might make them angry but it will make you free.”

“If someone does not want me it is not the end of the world. But if I do not want me, the world is nothing but endings.”

“If you’re John Muir you want trees to”

“Everything is temporary,”

“so much of the world is plunged in darkness and chaos...”

“When you part from your friend, you grieve not;”

“Poetry is the art of saying what you mean but disguising it.”

“Like poetry, in times of intense emotion the image returns to me. Like poetry, it stroked my soul and, by turns, lulled and stoked my senses.”