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25 Inspirational Books to Change Your Life

  • Author: Admin
  • June 10, 2023
25 Inspirational Books to Change Your Life

If you want to change your life, you are going to have to do things differently. And sometimes, you can look to inspirational books to create a positive change in your life.

In order to transform your life, you will experience discomfort and pain. Change can be a painful process, but the rewards of going through the change are priceless. Motivation plays an important role in helping you achieve your biggest goals. Inspirational books create optimism and positivity in your life. They boost confidence and enable you to develop a positive outlook. Reading books will help you realize how powerful you are.

1. The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

1. The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

The 5 Second Rule is the secret to changing anything about your life. You can use the Rule and its countdown method to break any bad habit, interrupt self-doubt and negative self-talk, and push yourself to take the actions that will change your life.

If you struggle with motivation...
 
If you are tired of doubting yourself... 
 
If you know what you want but can't make yourself go get it...

You NEED The 5 Second Rule. The secret to changing your life isn't knowing what to do--it's knowing how to make yourself do it.

It's a simple tool, backed by research, and it has changed the lives of millions. It will work for you too.

Using the science of habits, riveting stories, and surprising facts from some of the most famous moments in history, Mel Robbins will explain the power of a five second decision. You'll also meet and inspired by hundreds of people around the world who are using the Rule to achieve their goals, reach their potential, and chase their dreams.

In the book, you'll learn the inspiring and relatable story of how Mel invented the 5 Second Rule during the worst moment of her life, when her anxiety and finances were so bad, she could barely get out of bed. Since creating the Rule, Mel has shared it with audiences around the world, the most respected brands, and people who want to make real and lasting change.

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.

3. The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

3. The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What's more, he'll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life, and that "the very motion of our life is towards happiness." How to get there has always been the question. He's tried to answer it before, but he's never had the help of a psychiatrist to get the message across in a context we can easily understand. Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.

4. The American Spirit by David McCullough

4. The American Spirit by David McCullough

A timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, the most honored historian in the United States—winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many others—that reminds us of fundamental American principles.

“Insightful and inspirational, The American Spirit summons a vexed and divided nation to remember—and cherish—our unifying ideas and ideals” (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Over the course of his distinguished career, McCullough has spoken before Congress, the White House, colleges and universities, historical societies, and other esteemed institutions. Now, at a time of self-reflection in America following the bitter 2016 election campaign that has left the country divided, McCullough has collected some of his most important speeches in a brief volume that celebrates the important principles and characteristics that are particularly American.

“The American Spirit is as inspirational as it is brilliant, as simple as it is sophisticated” (Buffalo News). McCullough reminds us of the core American values that define us, regardless of which region we live in, which political party we identify with, or our ethnic background. This is a book about America for all Americans that reminds us who we are and helps to guide us as we find our way forward.

5. Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett

5. Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett

“I’m a person who listens for a living.  I listen for wisdom, and beauty, and for voices not shouting to be heard.  This book chronicles some of what I’ve learned in what has become a conversation across time and generations, across disciplines and denominations.”
 
Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and National Humanities Medalist Krista Tippett has interviewed the most extraordinary voices examining the great questions of meaning for our time. The heart of her work on her national public radio program and podcast, On Being, has been to shine a light on people whose insights kindle in us a sense of wonder and courage. Scientists in a variety of fields; theologians from an array of faiths; poets, activists, and many others have all opened themselves up to Tippett's compassionate yet searching conversation.
 
In Becoming Wise, Tippett distills the insights she has gleaned from this luminous conversation in its many dimensions into a coherent narrative journey, over time and from mind to mind. The book is a master class in living, curated by Tippett and accompanied by a delightfully ecumenical dream team of teaching faculty.
 
The open questions and challenges of our time are intimate and civilizational all at once, Tippett says – definitions of when life begins and when death happens, of the meaning of community and family and identity, of our relationships to technology and through technology. The wisdom we seek emerges through the raw materials of the everyday. And the enduring question of what it means to be human has now become inextricable from the question of who we are to each other.
 
This book offers a grounded and fiercely hopeful vision of humanity for this century – of personal growth but also renewed public life and human spiritual evolution. It insists on the possibility of a common life for this century marked by resilience and redemption, with beauty as a core moral value and civility and love as muscular practice. Krista Tippett's great gift, in her work and in Becoming Wise, is to avoid reductive simplifications but still find the golden threads that weave people and ideas together into a shimmering braid.
 
One powerful common denominator of the lessons imparted to Tippett is the gift of presence, of the exhilaration of engagement with life for its own sake, not as a means to an end. But presence does not mean passivity or acceptance of the status quo. Indeed Tippett and her teachers are people whose work meets, and often drives, powerful forces of change alive in the world today. In the end, perhaps the greatest blessing conveyed by the lessons of spiritual genius Tippett harvests in Becoming Wise is the strength to meet the world where it really is, and then to make it better.

6. The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker

6. The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker

“If I could give each of you a graduation present, it would be this—the most inspiring book I've ever read." —Bill Gates

A provocative history of violence—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Stuff of Thought, The Blank Slate, and Enlightenment Now.

Believe it or not, today we may be living in the most peaceful moment in our species' existence. In his gripping and controversial new work, New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows that despite the ceaseless news about war, crime, and terrorism, violence has actually been in decline over long stretches of history. Exploding myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly enlightened world.

7. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

7. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Gilbert offers insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

8. Black Elk Speaks: The Complete Edition by Black Elk, John G. Neihardt, Philip J. Deloria, Vine Deloria Jr.

8. Black Elk Speaks: The Complete Edition by Black Elk, John G. Neihardt, Philip J. Deloria, Vine Deloria Jr.

Black Elk Speaks, the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century, offers readers much more than a precious glimpse of a vanished time. Black Elk’s searing visions of the unity of humanity and Earth, conveyed by John G. Neihardt, have made this book a classic that crosses multiple genres. Whether appreciated as the poignant tale of a Lakota life, as a history of a Native nation, or as an enduring spiritual testament, Black Elk Speaks is unforgettable.

Black Elk met the distinguished poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt in 1930 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and asked Neihardt to share his story with the world. Neihardt understood and conveyed Black Elk’s experiences in this powerful and inspirational message for all humankind.

This complete edition features a new introduction by historian Philip J. Deloria and annotations of Black Elk’s story by renowned Lakota scholar Raymond J. DeMallie. Three essays by John G. Neihardt provide background on this landmark work along with pieces by Vine Deloria Jr., Raymond J. DeMallie, Alexis Petri, and Lori Utecht. Maps, original illustrations by Standing Bear, and a set of appendixes rounds out the edition.

9. Congratulations, By the Way by George Saunders

9. Congratulations, By the Way by George Saunders

Three months after George Saunders gave a graduation address at Syracuse University in 2013, a transcript of that speech was posted on the website of The New York Times, where its simple, uplifting message struck a deep chord. Within days, it had been shared more than one million times. Why? Because Saunders's words tap into a desire in all of us to lead kinder, more fulfilling lives. Powerful, funny, and wise, Congratulations, by the Way is an inspiring message from one of today's most influential and original writers.

10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

11. Educated by Tara Westover

11. Educated by Tara Westover

Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.

12. Emma and I by Sheila Hocken

12. Emma and I by Sheila Hocken

A touching and unique story of love and courage. This is Sheila Hocken's own story. A story of a young blind girl who sets out to fight for the right to live fully and to see again. Sheila's account of the events and people that transformed her life is moving and inspiring. Sheila introduces Emma, her beautiful chocolate-brown labrador, whose devotion and intelligence as a guide dog are inspiring. We also meet Don, who brings romance into Sheila's life - through a radio program. And furthermore, Mr Shearing, the skilled surgeon who performs the miracle which gives Sheila a whole new world.

13. Endings: Poetry and Prose by William Poe

13. Endings: Poetry and Prose by William Poe

Resentment, lost love, remorse, and death all feed into award-winning writer William Poe’s new book Endings: Poetry and Prose. Poe, winner of the 2013 International Book Award in the category Fiction: Gay and Lesbian, returns with a new book dedicated to life’s more dire experiences. A sharp contrast from previous novels, which dealt with self-discovery and battling for a satisfying life, Poe’s newest work pulls at your emotions from the other side of the spectrum. An artist makes a fatal decision all for the sake of art. A forgotten woman no longer cages her rage. A gay man struggles to find his place in the world. These are just some of the many narrative elements, as Poe writes about art, death, relationships, being, and reflecting. He writes in response to his own feelings of despair and loneliness as he captures the feeling of what it’s like to be unfulfilled. The saddest times in life become prime material for this book of riveting short stories and poetry.

14. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

14. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

In The Four Agreements, don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. The Four Agreements are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don't Take Anything Personally, Don't Make Assumptions, Always Do Your Best.

15. The Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

15. The Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life. A mother of five, an acclaimed writer and a pioneering aviator, Lindbergh casts an unsentimental eye on the trappings of modernity that threaten to overwhelm us: the time-saving gadgets that complicate rather than simplify, the multiple commitments that take us from our families. And by recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, she helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.

With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh’s daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.

The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.

After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research.

16. Hidden Solutions All Around You: Why Some People Can See Them and Some Can't by Daniel Castro

16. Hidden Solutions All Around You: Why Some People Can See Them and Some Can't by Daniel Castro

“If you want to see the world through the eyes of a serial entrepreneur, read this book. It will open your eyes to see opportunities you never knew existed.”
-Bob Fabbio, Founder of Tivoli Systems, Dazel Corporation, Ventix Systems,
and WhiteGlove Health

“Dan Castro knocks the cover off the ball. This book got me so stirred up I want to go out and do it all over again. Once you start reading it, you won’t put it down.”
- Red McCombs, Founder of McCombs Enterprises

“Dan Castro is the classic optimist, the self-improver, the eternal striver. You could not ask for a more cheerful, energetic, and intelligent approach to problem solving than what he provides in HIDDEN SOLUTIONS ALL AROUND YOU.”
- Paul M. Barrett, senior writer, BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, and best-selling author of LAW OF THE JUNGLE; GLOCK: The Rise of America’s Gun, and other books.

Why is it that ten people can be looking at the same pile of trash and only one of them see the treasure?
The answers are in this book!

17. Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant

17. Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant
A groundbreaking look at why our interactions with others hold the key to success, from the bestselling author of Originals

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. In Give and Take, Adam Grant, an award-winning researcher and Wharton’s highest-rated professor, examines the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom. Praised by social scientists, business theorists, and corporate leaders, Give and Take opens up an approach to work, interactions, and productivity that is nothing short of revolutionary.

18. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

18. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

19. Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart by James Doty

19. Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart by James Doty

The award-winning New York Times bestseller about the extraordinary things that can happen when we harness the power of both the brain and the heart
 
Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end until at twelve he wandered into a magic shop looking for a plastic thumb. Instead he met Ruth, a woman who taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires. Her final mandate was that he keep his heart open and teach these techniques to others. She gave him his first glimpse of the unique relationship between the brain and the heart.
 
Doty would go on to put Ruth’s practices to work with extraordinary results—power and wealth that he could only imagine as a twelve-year-old, riding his orange Sting-Ray bike. But he neglects Ruth’s most important lesson, to keep his heart open, with disastrous results—until he has the opportunity to make a spectacular charitable contribution that will virtually ruin him. Part memoir, part science, part inspiration, and part practical instruction, Into the Magic Shop shows us how we can fundamentally change our lives by first changing our brains and our hearts.

20. The Journey is the Destination by Dan Eldon

20. The Journey is the Destination by Dan Eldon
The best-selling and critically acclaimed book The Journey Is the Destination, is now in paperback. Featuring a selection of over 200 pages from the journals of photojournalist Dan Eldon, it is the legacy of a young artist killed just as his creative powers were beginning to be recognized by himself and others. Already an international inspiration for a documentary, a feature film, a clothing line, and the Spring 2011 collection of Tom's Shoes, Dan's life sets an admirable example of how to be young, human, and aliveand will continue to inspire future generations as it has for the past decade.

21. The More You Do The Better You Feel by David Parker

21. The More You Do The Better You Feel by David Parker

This practical book is loaded with proven ideas to help you overcome procrastination and get more done.

-Brian Tracy, Author of the International Bestseller: Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

A well put together informative book that brings awareness to disabling and habitual procrastinating behavior patterns. This is the best self-help book I have read in years!

-Kenneth Reddan PhD, LCSW

Are You A Human Ostrich?

Do you stick your head in the sand at the thought of dealing with a task that seems boring, complicated, or unpleasant? Do you pay your bills late because the last time you balanced your checkbook was more than six months ago? While working on a task do you keep thinking you should be dealing with a different task?

Is your living space messy and your life unorganized?
Do you clean up only when family or friends will be visiting-only to let your place fall back into untidiness after they've gone?
After you've cleaned for visitors, do you tell yourself "it doesn't count!" because you weren't doing it for yourself?
Have you stopped having visitors over because you're ashamed of your mess?
Do you worry you'll feel embarrassed if the landlord, a plumber, or a repairperson needed to visit your place?
Do you constantly compare yourself to people who seem to "have it together?"
Does your habitual procrastination leave you feeling depressed and anxious?
Do you know the 25 characteristics and behaviors of the human ostrich?
Are you concerned that your child or someone you care deeply about is becoming a habitual procrastinator?

The Solution To Your Habitual Procrastination Is Here!

Learn the golden rules of overcoming procrastination.
Stop falling victim to the downward cycle of procrastination and depression.
Stop feeling overwhelmed and immobilized with fear by learning how to effectively cope with your tasks and responsibilities.
Become a "do"-er by learning easy to use and highly effective new tool - The J.O.T. Method™.

22. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life... And Maybe the World by William McRaven

22. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life... And Maybe the World by William McRaven

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university's slogan, "What starts here changes the world," he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better.

Admiral McRaven's original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life's darkest moments.

23. Listen by Joseph Kerman and Gregory Tomlinson

23. Listen by Joseph Kerman and Gregory Tomlinson

With its superb recording package and innovative listening charts, this landmark text teaches students how to listen to music better than any other. "Listen" makes music approachable by placing it in its cultural context with lavish illustrations, timelines, and maps. Equipped with a free Study Guide CD-ROM, the new edition is more accessible than ever, offering additional help in focused listening and in music fundamentals.

24. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

24. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

25. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

25. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

In 1903, a student at a military academy sent some of his verses to a well-known Austrian poet, requesting an assessment of their value. The older artist, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), replied to the novice in this series of letters—an amazing archive of remarkable insights into the ideas behind Rilke's greatest poetry. The ten letters reproduced here were written during an important stage in Rilke's artistic development, and they contain many of the themes that later appeared in his best works. The poet himself afterwards stated that his letters contained part of his creative genius, making this volume essential reading for scholars, poetry lovers, and anyone with an interest in Rilke, German poetry, or the creative impulse.