David Whyte (b. 1955) is an Anglo-Irish poet whose poetry is known for its eclectic and spiritual bent. Also a philosopher and a corporate consultant on creativity, he is an associate fellow at Saïd Business School at Oxford University.
Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, Whyte holds a degree in marine zoology from Bangor University. He traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural sciences history expeditions in the Andes, the Amazon, and the Himalayas.
Whyte moved to America in 1981 and began a career as a poet and speaker. He consults and lectures on organizational leadership models in the U.S. and U.K., exploring the role of creativity in business.
Whyte has produced ten volumes of poetry and four books of prose. His poetry collections include Where Many Rivers Meet (1990,) Everything is Waiting for You (2003,) and The Bell and the Blackbird (2018.)
Whyte’s prose works frequently deal with his commitment to using poetry in business and organizational settings to encourage creativity, leadership, and engagement. His notable works of prose are The House of Belonging (1997,) The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self & Relationship (2010,) and Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (2021.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by David Whyte
To have a firm persuasion in our work, to feel that what we do is right for ourselves and good for the world at exactly the same time—is one of the great triumphs of human existence.
—David Whyte
Some things cannot be spoken or discovered until we have been stuck, incapacitated, or blown off course for awhile. Plain sailing is pleasant, but you are not going to explore many unknown realms that way.
—David Whyte
Forgiveness is a heartache and difficult to achieve because strangely, it not only refuses to eliminate the original wound, but actually draws us closer to its source. To approach forgiveness is to close in on the nature of the hurt itself, the only remedy being, as we approach its raw centre, to reimagine our relation to it.
—David Whyte
If I can reduce my work to just a job I have to do, then I keep myself safely away from the losses to be endured in putting my heart’s desires at stake.
—David Whyte
To some extent, while we think we are simply driving to work every morning to earn a living, the soul knows it is secretly engaged in a life-or-death struggle for its existence.
—David Whyte
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