We must risk delight to find out if it is true. — May Sarton
—What lingers after this line?
The Invitation to Vulnerability
May Sarton’s insight underscores a defining truth: the pursuit of delight demands vulnerability. By urging us to 'risk delight,' she implicitly acknowledges that joy is not simply bestowed—it must be sought with open-hearted exposure to uncertainty. This idea echoes Rainer Maria Rilke’s advice in his 'Letters to a Young Poet' (1903), where he counsels embracing the unknown as the gateway to authentic experience.
The Transformative Power of Taking Chances
Building on vulnerability, the willingness to risk signifies a break from complacency. Many transformative moments in life—whether falling in love, creating art, or speaking one’s truth—require stepping beyond safe boundaries. In Sarton’s poetry and journals, she repeatedly describes how her own creative fulfillment necessitated taking emotional and professional risks, thereby revealing delight’s true nature through bold action.
Delight as an Act of Faith
This progression leads us to consider delight not merely as a fleeting sensation, but as an act of faith. By 'risking' it, we trust that joy exists and is accessible, even if the outcome remains uncertain. This resonates with the philosophical optimism of William James, whose 'The Will to Believe' (1896) posits that faith itself can help create the very reality one hopes to find. Sarton’s quote positions delight as similarly contingent: we must embrace possibility for it to materialize.
Lessons from Nature and Creativity
Looking to nature—and to creativity, which Sarton cherished—we find countless examples of risk as the price for brilliance. A seed must split to sprout; an artist must dare a blank canvas. Sarton’s own garden, chronicled in 'Plant Dreaming Deep' (1968), is replete with moments when tending to beauty required enduring both literal and metaphorical storms. Thus, risking delight becomes an act of ongoing engagement with life’s unpredictability.
The Enduring Reward of True Delight
Ultimately, by risking delight we stand to gain more than transient pleasure—a deeper, more resilient joy takes root. When we test delight’s reality through our openness and courage, we may discover a wellspring of fulfillment that fortifies us against despair. In this sense, Sarton’s challenge becomes a roadmap for living: only by daring to seek and believe in our own happiness can we ever know its truth.
Recommended Reading
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
One-minute reflection
Why might this line matter today, not tomorrow?
Related Quotes
6 selectedWe must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness. — Jack Gilbert
Jack Gilbert
Jack Gilbert’s imperative to "risk delight" reframes joy as an act of bravery rather than a soft indulgence. In a world that often rewards vigilance, suspicion, and doomscrolling, he asks us to step toward the vulnerable...
Read full interpretation →We must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness. — Jack Gilbert
Jack Gilbert
At the outset, Jack Gilbert’s imperative to ‘risk delight’ sets a moral frame. In his poem A Brief for the Defense, collected in Refusing Heaven (2005), he argues for gladness ‘in the ruthless furnace of this world.’ Rat...
Read full interpretation →The hardest thing about loving someone deeply is letting them see your vulnerabilities. — Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
At first glance, Murdock’s insight seems to define love as an act of devotion toward another person. Yet the quote quickly turns inward: the hardest part is not simply feeling deeply, but allowing that feeling to expose...
Read full interpretation →To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one. — C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis begins with a stark truth: to love anything at all is to accept vulnerability.
Read full interpretation →Let yourself be gutted. Let it open you. Start there. — Cheryl Strayed
Cheryl Strayed
At first glance, Cheryl Strayed’s words sound brutal, yet their force lies in invitation rather than destruction. To be “gutted” is to be stripped of pretense, certainty, and emotional armor; however, Strayed immediately...
Read full interpretation →To be tough is to be fragile; to be tender is to be truly fierce. — Farhana Qazi
Farhana Qazi
Farhana Qazi’s quote turns conventional ideas of power upside down. At first glance, toughness appears protective, even admirable; however, she suggests that rigid hardness often hides insecurity, fear, or emotional brit...
Read full interpretation →More From Author
More from May Sarton →The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room, not try to be or do anything whatever. — May Sarton
At first glance, May Sarton’s reflection seems almost subversive in a culture that equates worth with productivity. Yet her point is gentle rather than defiant: the psyche, like the body, needs intervals of stillness.
Read full interpretation →A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. — May Sarton
May Sarton’s reflection turns the garden into more than a cultivated space; it becomes a compressed image of human life. At first glance, the statement seems gently pessimistic, yet its deeper balance is what gives it fo...
Read full interpretation →Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. — May Sarton
May Sarton’s quote begins with a quiet reversal of modern values: what slows us down is not necessarily an obstacle, but often a gift. In a culture that prizes speed, efficiency, and constant motion, she suggests that de...
Read full interpretation →Solitude is the salt of personhood. It brings out the authentic flavor of every experience. — May Sarton
May Sarton’s metaphor begins with a domestic certainty: salt doesn’t replace food; it reveals what’s already there. In the same way, solitude is not presented as an escape from life but as a condition that clarifies it,...
Read full interpretation →