Letters to a young poet

What Hacker News says

1. stevenwooOct 2026
   It’s just an excerpt and not applicable to some but Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet has a good if longer bit: “Are not all careers the same? Filled with demands and people filled with animosity towards the individual. At the same time absorbing the hatred of those who have silently and sullenly adapted to dull duty.”
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2. benleejaminSep 2026
   I really loved Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet! Very succinct. Currently working through The Tale of Genji (slowly) and Play It as It Lays (because I will read anything by Joan Didion).
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3. syldarionDec 2023
   Fiction:

   "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter" and "Tress of the Emerald Sea" - Two of Brandon Sanderson's "secret projects" that he released this year and easily my favorites of the bunch. Tress is just such a fun adventure and Yumi left me an emotional wreck by the end.

   "There Is No Antimemetics Division" - I had a brief period where I wanted to read some stories about clandestine operations around odd anomalies, SCP-adjacent if you will. This, alongside "Agents of Dreamland", is rather short and great for getting through in a couple sittings. It's all about taking on an entity that you actively can't remember the existence of.

   Non-Fiction:

   "Letters to a Young Poet" - This is a collection of ten letters sent from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke to a younger aspiring poet in the early 1900s. As a creative that sometimes struggles with the whole "what am I doing this for?", I found this a highly inspiring and comforting read.

   "On Writing" - I'm sure most of you know the book, or at the least know Stephen King. The info in here on writing (at least in the style of King) is fantastic, but I think the memoir portions are the killer part of this book. The man certainly has a storied past, for better or worse.

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4. hypertextheroJan 2023
   Get away from the computer and go for a walk every day for at least 30 minutes, preferably during work hours, to break up your day and think.

   Sit down somewhere and simply watch other people going about their day, and daydream.

   Write to your friends and try to meet them regularly.

   Get a paper notebook and a pencil or pen and keep it by you. Write ideas and thoughts as they come, not later. Write about what interests you and what you would like to happen in your life. Write ideas for personal projects and break them down into small items that you can do to move them forward. Tick them off as they get done.

   Spend time doing things other than programming. Draw. Take photographs with a digital camera and make sure to look at them after some time has passed (a few days to a few months) and mark the ones you like and put them in a folder. Play an instrument made of wood. Go to a concert or an art exhibit. Drink a beverage in a place that feels cozy. Seek out and listen to music that you like and watch movies that you like.

   Play video games that you like, especially ones with good sound and good humor, and cooperative PvE ones with friends. Some good ones are Zelda Breath of the Wild, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Everything, Noita, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Arma 3, Broforce, Jagged Alliance 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, and GTA Online in private lobbies with friends.

   Beware of sociopaths. They are few and far between, but can also work at FAANGs. Read The Psychopath Code by Pieter Hintjens.

   Spend time in a park or a forest walking and listening to the sounds that trees and birds and other things make. Seek out nature.

   Try exercising at least once every other day. Search "7 minute workout".

   Practice cooking something you really like yourself, and once you make a version you enjoy, make it a habit to do it once a fortnight or so. Go out and eat your favorite junk food once in a while, too.

   Read books made of paper about things that interest you. Use a pencil to draw lightly on the pages around the passages you like. Try a book like Think on These Things by Jiddu Krishnamurti and A Village Life by Louise Glück and Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.

   Always work on your own projects, at least in your paper notebook or in your mind or on your computer, even when at work working for someone else.

   Don’t worry about what other people who are not dear to you say. In the end, it doesn’t matter.

   Love someone. Help someone. Be kind.

   Good luck!

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5. genjipressFeb 2022
   The new translation of "Letters To A Young Poet", which restores the half of the conversation that had previously never seen print in English before, is a must-read. (ISBN 978-1-63149-767-4)
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6. genjipressJun 2021
   "Letters To A Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke. There is a new edition of this work that now includes the letters the young poet wrote in response, long thought to be lost. I plan to pick that one up in addition to my Stephen Mitchell translation.
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