Excerpts in English translation from approximately 7,000 of Rilke's German and French letters

On life and living: you have to live life to the limit -- On being with others: to be a part, that is fulfillment for us -- On work: get up cheerfully on days you have to work -- On difficulty and adversity: the measure by which we may know our strength -- On childhood and education: this joy in daily discovery -- On nature: it knows nothing of us -- On solitude: the loneliest people above all contribute most to commonality -- On illness and recovery: pain tolerates no interpretation -- On loss, dying, and death: even time does not "console"... it puts things in the place and creates order -- On language: that vast, humming, and swinging syntax -- On art: art presents itself as a way of life -- On faith: a direction of the heart -- On goodness and morality: nothing good, once it has come into existence, may be suppressed -- On love: there is no force in the world but love