Rainer Marie Rilke

“And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.”

Rainer Marie Rilke

1907

What is it about this quote that has resonated so deeply with our customers, making it one of our favorite holiday cards sold this year? The quote was written in a letter dated January 1, 1907, by the poet Rainer Marie Rilke to his wife, the sculptor Clara Westhoff. The quote resonates so deeply because it is not imploring a call to reinvent ourselves with lists and resolutions, which is how most of us think about the New Year. But instead, Rilke urges us to welcome what is coming in the new year.

“Full of things that have never been” is a wonderful line because you don’t know what the year ahead will hold, but rather than controlling it, you are open to what will come your way, which could be intensely joyful or ordinary. However, remain awake to what is still possible ahead.

I first came across Rilke as an undergrad at NYU in the mid 1980’s after reading his well-known book, Letters to a Young Poet, in which he writes ten letters to a young poet that touch on the themes of creativity and living with uncertainty. I still have a slim paperback copy of it in my bookshelf. One of the most famous quoted passages from this book is, “the only journey is the one within,” And if you want to become an artist, you must change your life.”

We paired Rilke’s famous line,“And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been,” with the simple image of two birds. The birds are a reminder to take flight into the unknown, with wonder and hope.

Rainer Marie Rilke was born in 1875 in Prague and died from leukemia in 1926 at the Valmont Sanatorium in Switzerland at the age of 51. His writing continues to resonate today because he asks his readers to view life more profoundly and to pay attention to what is unfolding around us.

- written by Deirdre Keogh