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Consolations II: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words
David Whyte’s Consolations use everyday words to present us with a prism through which to better understand ourselves and the lives we walk through. At the request of readers globally, Whyte returns with fifty-two short, elegant meditations on a single word ranging from ‘Anxiety’ to ‘Body’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Shame’ and ‘Moon’. He embraces their nuances, amplitudes and depths, and, in doing so, confronts realities that many of us would spend a lifetime trying senselessly to avoid.
In Consolations II, anxiety might be more mercifully understood as the preparation for being hurt, fixed beliefs are recognised as the very places where we do not wish to understand, guilt is a friend compassionately waiting for us to catch up and routine becomes a form of ritual and worship. Each piece in this life-affirming book is an invitation to slow down, shift our perspective and find comfort. In these pages, Whyte explores the full constellation of human experience.
In Consolations II, anxiety might be more mercifully understood as the preparation for being hurt, fixed beliefs are recognised as the very places where we do not wish to understand, guilt is a friend compassionately waiting for us to catch up and routine becomes a form of ritual and worship. Each piece in this life-affirming book is an invitation to slow down, shift our perspective and find comfort. In these pages, Whyte explores the full constellation of human experience.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2024
About the author
David Whyte
93 books1,625 followersPoet David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
The author of seven books of poetry and three books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.
His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.
An Associate Fellow at Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many European, American and international companies. In spring of 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.
In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today’s call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change, particularly through his unique perspectives on Conversational Leadership.
The author of seven books of poetry and three books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.
His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.
An Associate Fellow at Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many European, American and international companies. In spring of 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.
In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today’s call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change, particularly through his unique perspectives on Conversational Leadership.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 3, 2025
We’ve probably all seen those grids of seemingly random letters with the prophetic, “The first three words you find will predict your year.” I can’t help but look. The same way I can’t wait to crack open a fortune cookie or turn over the tag on a tea bag to see the message waiting. Every once in a while, I write down the first three words I see or tuck a fortune into the pocket of my wallet or snap a photo of a tea bag. Every once in a while I wonder if the words know something I have yet to understand.
That’s a bit like reading this gorgeous collection of words. It’s a little like a dictionary (each chapter is an essay on a word), a lot like poetry, a little like philosophy, a lot like meditations. And just like those grids of hiding words, a handful of them stood out to me as I went chapter by chapter: anguish, burnout, love, moon, you.
Underneath and in-between these words, I found some of my own, like a metronome for meaning: waves, invitation, liminal. His words taught me about my own. Everything is in motion, everything cycles. We are invited to the uncertain. We are always in-between.
That’s a bit like reading this gorgeous collection of words. It’s a little like a dictionary (each chapter is an essay on a word), a lot like poetry, a little like philosophy, a lot like meditations. And just like those grids of hiding words, a handful of them stood out to me as I went chapter by chapter: anguish, burnout, love, moon, you.
Underneath and in-between these words, I found some of my own, like a metronome for meaning: waves, invitation, liminal. His words taught me about my own. Everything is in motion, everything cycles. We are invited to the uncertain. We are always in-between.
May 17, 2025
I love Consolations I. I find myself picking it up again and again. Had hoped II would be more of the same, but it has not resonated in the same way. Still worth reading for Whyte’s beautiful way with words.
May 23, 2025
I like David Whyte's words a lot.
I feel it is almost essential to listen to him on a podcast or YouTube or something to get an imprint of his voice in your head before reading his essays (or I suppose, get the audiobook).
Thanks SPL for adding a copy to the collection on my request!
I feel it is almost essential to listen to him on a podcast or YouTube or something to get an imprint of his voice in your head before reading his essays (or I suppose, get the audiobook).
Thanks SPL for adding a copy to the collection on my request!
September 5, 2026
Whyte is a wordsmith. At times his phrasing just hits home, "slaps" as the kids say.
His section on "Belief" is a treat by itself. While useful, belief can hold us back and harm.
I believe I enjoyed Consolations 1 more than this one, but regardless this is fine writing best enjoyed a sip at a time.
Belief Section Quotes:
* My belief is never exactly your belief, and from a practical point of view, my belief can never be exactly your belief: belief is about fixing the world in place; no human being ever fixes the world in place in exactly the way their neighbour does. Therefore, in a never ceasing, moveable world, fixed beliefs are the beginning of all unhappiness between human beings.
* Beliefs held privately may be given the sanctity of self-examination to see how or how not they might be true as we test them on the world. Beliefs held publicly, held in place and defended, are always predictable in their ability to divide the believer from the non-believer.
* Belief stops being merely belief and becomes real presence when the unknown is kept alive, where what is living in my belief is kept alive by the way I keep testing that belief in the real world and in the unknown world that awaits me.
* Fixed beliefs have consequences in a human life: where reality does not align with my belief, I have to stop paying attention and turn my face away, I have to actually absent myself from reality in order to continue thinking the world is made exactly the way I and my co-believers have been telling ourselves it has always been made.
* The Resurrection is not just a belief: but a felt experience that occurs again and again in a human life as we bring ourselves back from the dead in every succeeding loss and disappearance. The Resurrection is not just for people who believe they are Christians: resurrection belongs to everyone.
Belief is often my act of defence and preservation: belief keeps a part of me alive that I know will disappear if I have a real conversation with the unknown. Beliefs must be defended, beliefs are the foundation of all dead-end arguments.
* Holding to a belief through thick and thin is often associated with courage: human beings will go to the stake over the tiniest shade of interpretation, but perhaps it takes an even greater courage to live in conversation with the great unknown that is constantly pulling us by the collar, up and over the horizon of our ability to name and categorise. To live fully, in the constant gravitational field of arriving ‘beautiful questions’, without fixing them into beliefs, is to become fully incarnated and fully here: to live without barriers and beliefs is to ask the beautiful, invitational question: and to become an invitation ourselves: seeing others and their approach to life as an intriguing, surprising conversation always worth having.
* Perhaps the healthiest belief of all, is one that disarms all the rest: the belief that fixed beliefs are the enemy of all human peace, personal and public. Through that belief we allow every belief, most especially my own, to be more of a curious invitation, a way to come to an understanding, a beautiful question leading all of us together, to somewhere better, beyond belief. As one famous Zen master said to his temporarily lost student: ‘Not knowing is most intimate.’
Some of my favorite quotes:
* Anxiety is the disembodied state I feel when I pretend to put things right by worrying about them instead of truly conversing with them.
Positive view of “nagging”
* We are nagged quite often because we are not really listening, to another, to our conscience, to what is good for our health, to the courageous, beckoning path we refuse again and again to take.
* Nagging is transformed when the judgment and critical observation are turned through the helpless vulnerability of care into proper intimate invitations combined with a deeper, more silent, less judgmental attention to another.
* “Shame is the inverse measure of our ability to incarnate fully into our bodies and the vast overwhelming, and astonishing, tidal body of the world”
* “The measure of our maturity as a human being is the measure of our willingness to be undeceived on a moment by moment basis: by evidence, by paying attention, by listening to what we are told; by realising how much of what we have been telling ourselves has been a nonsense all along.”
His section on "Belief" is a treat by itself. While useful, belief can hold us back and harm.
I believe I enjoyed Consolations 1 more than this one, but regardless this is fine writing best enjoyed a sip at a time.
Belief Section Quotes:
* My belief is never exactly your belief, and from a practical point of view, my belief can never be exactly your belief: belief is about fixing the world in place; no human being ever fixes the world in place in exactly the way their neighbour does. Therefore, in a never ceasing, moveable world, fixed beliefs are the beginning of all unhappiness between human beings.
* Beliefs held privately may be given the sanctity of self-examination to see how or how not they might be true as we test them on the world. Beliefs held publicly, held in place and defended, are always predictable in their ability to divide the believer from the non-believer.
* Belief stops being merely belief and becomes real presence when the unknown is kept alive, where what is living in my belief is kept alive by the way I keep testing that belief in the real world and in the unknown world that awaits me.
* Fixed beliefs have consequences in a human life: where reality does not align with my belief, I have to stop paying attention and turn my face away, I have to actually absent myself from reality in order to continue thinking the world is made exactly the way I and my co-believers have been telling ourselves it has always been made.
* The Resurrection is not just a belief: but a felt experience that occurs again and again in a human life as we bring ourselves back from the dead in every succeeding loss and disappearance. The Resurrection is not just for people who believe they are Christians: resurrection belongs to everyone.
Belief is often my act of defence and preservation: belief keeps a part of me alive that I know will disappear if I have a real conversation with the unknown. Beliefs must be defended, beliefs are the foundation of all dead-end arguments.
* Holding to a belief through thick and thin is often associated with courage: human beings will go to the stake over the tiniest shade of interpretation, but perhaps it takes an even greater courage to live in conversation with the great unknown that is constantly pulling us by the collar, up and over the horizon of our ability to name and categorise. To live fully, in the constant gravitational field of arriving ‘beautiful questions’, without fixing them into beliefs, is to become fully incarnated and fully here: to live without barriers and beliefs is to ask the beautiful, invitational question: and to become an invitation ourselves: seeing others and their approach to life as an intriguing, surprising conversation always worth having.
* Perhaps the healthiest belief of all, is one that disarms all the rest: the belief that fixed beliefs are the enemy of all human peace, personal and public. Through that belief we allow every belief, most especially my own, to be more of a curious invitation, a way to come to an understanding, a beautiful question leading all of us together, to somewhere better, beyond belief. As one famous Zen master said to his temporarily lost student: ‘Not knowing is most intimate.’
Some of my favorite quotes:
* Anxiety is the disembodied state I feel when I pretend to put things right by worrying about them instead of truly conversing with them.
Positive view of “nagging”
* We are nagged quite often because we are not really listening, to another, to our conscience, to what is good for our health, to the courageous, beckoning path we refuse again and again to take.
* Nagging is transformed when the judgment and critical observation are turned through the helpless vulnerability of care into proper intimate invitations combined with a deeper, more silent, less judgmental attention to another.
* “Shame is the inverse measure of our ability to incarnate fully into our bodies and the vast overwhelming, and astonishing, tidal body of the world”
* “The measure of our maturity as a human being is the measure of our willingness to be undeceived on a moment by moment basis: by evidence, by paying attention, by listening to what we are told; by realising how much of what we have been telling ourselves has been a nonsense all along.”
December 29, 2025
Really intriguing book with beautiful, excellent writing that will make a reader think, laugh and occasionally disagree.
David Whyte walks through the alphabet from "Anguish" to "Zen" laying out the meaning of everyday words. Don't be confused, this is not the Merriam-Webster meaning, but a set of thoughts--usually three to five pages--of what that word brings to Whyte's mind.
There is plenty here to make one think: ("Injury is the invitation to live from the inside out. Injury is how we are shocked into discovery."; "The sound in the word 'moon' is like the moon itself, coming and going while giving a reassuring sense of being eternally present.")
There is also much to make one laugh: ("It might be difficult to found an Institute of Future Studies in Ireland, a title that goes against all logic as well as intuition grounded in the timeless, or if this institute does come to exist it could only be founded by American or English academics, or Irish who have spent too long in America."; "The inclusion of the word in 'Nowadays' is often just a prelude to a speaker's underlying conservatism and reluctance to move into the actual now as in, 'kids nowadays.'")
And, there is ample opportunity for disagreement: ("...fixed beliefs are the beginning of all unhappiness between human beings...Perhaps the healthiest belief of all, is one that disarms all the rest: the belief that fixed beliefs are the enemy of all human peace." [Isn't this, then, a fixed belief?]; "Guilt is the word that secretly carries its own cure.")
But there is nothing whatsoever in the book that is boring or of little use.
One critique: He covers the whole alphabet other than "X" (understandable) but also skips over J, K, Q, and W. What's wrong with "Joy", or "Kind", or "Quintessential" or "War"?
David Whyte walks through the alphabet from "Anguish" to "Zen" laying out the meaning of everyday words. Don't be confused, this is not the Merriam-Webster meaning, but a set of thoughts--usually three to five pages--of what that word brings to Whyte's mind.
There is plenty here to make one think: ("Injury is the invitation to live from the inside out. Injury is how we are shocked into discovery."; "The sound in the word 'moon' is like the moon itself, coming and going while giving a reassuring sense of being eternally present.")
There is also much to make one laugh: ("It might be difficult to found an Institute of Future Studies in Ireland, a title that goes against all logic as well as intuition grounded in the timeless, or if this institute does come to exist it could only be founded by American or English academics, or Irish who have spent too long in America."; "The inclusion of the word in 'Nowadays' is often just a prelude to a speaker's underlying conservatism and reluctance to move into the actual now as in, 'kids nowadays.'")
And, there is ample opportunity for disagreement: ("...fixed beliefs are the beginning of all unhappiness between human beings...Perhaps the healthiest belief of all, is one that disarms all the rest: the belief that fixed beliefs are the enemy of all human peace." [Isn't this, then, a fixed belief?]; "Guilt is the word that secretly carries its own cure.")
But there is nothing whatsoever in the book that is boring or of little use.
One critique: He covers the whole alphabet other than "X" (understandable) but also skips over J, K, Q, and W. What's wrong with "Joy", or "Kind", or "Quintessential" or "War"?
March 3, 2026
Having re-read the first entry to Consolations multiple times, I am aware of how my perception of these entries can change quite a bit over time. Some passages strike you better on days when you are more open or more focused on a particular path of thinking. Consolations II shares the first book’s goal of exploring and elucidating meaning from everyday words.
However, I felt that the execution (and sometimes the tone) was noticeably different.
My first reading of Consolations II was read out loud. Featured heavily is Whyte's repetitive sentence structure and twisty, comma-filled sentences that wind and mix so thoroughly that, much like this sentence about them, they can lose less attentive readers. Consider reading just one of these aloud to someone and you'll see the challenge. These are best read to yourself.
I also felt like Whyte's tone was more prescriptive and assertive this time around and that there were many forced "I" statements after making sweeping generalities. I will be looking back into Consolations I to see if these were there before, but I don't remember them being so prominent.
Perhaps my favorite passage from this book were his notes on "Ireland". Not just a departure from his normal style and approach to breaking down words, this one seemed to have a deeply human touch to it that extended past viewing life through an analytical didactic lens. I wish that I would as strongly as this about the majority of these entries, but perhaps I just need time with them.
I will give this 3 stars for right now, the high moments were soaring and validating, but there were too many hit-and-miss entries for me to ignore. Glad to have read something I felt strongly about. 3/5
Finally, highly recommend you read any of Whyte's poetry, or better yet, hear him read it yourself either online or in person. He is such a special talent.
However, I felt that the execution (and sometimes the tone) was noticeably different.
My first reading of Consolations II was read out loud. Featured heavily is Whyte's repetitive sentence structure and twisty, comma-filled sentences that wind and mix so thoroughly that, much like this sentence about them, they can lose less attentive readers. Consider reading just one of these aloud to someone and you'll see the challenge. These are best read to yourself.
I also felt like Whyte's tone was more prescriptive and assertive this time around and that there were many forced "I" statements after making sweeping generalities. I will be looking back into Consolations I to see if these were there before, but I don't remember them being so prominent.
Perhaps my favorite passage from this book were his notes on "Ireland". Not just a departure from his normal style and approach to breaking down words, this one seemed to have a deeply human touch to it that extended past viewing life through an analytical didactic lens. I wish that I would as strongly as this about the majority of these entries, but perhaps I just need time with them.
I will give this 3 stars for right now, the high moments were soaring and validating, but there were too many hit-and-miss entries for me to ignore. Glad to have read something I felt strongly about. 3/5
Finally, highly recommend you read any of Whyte's poetry, or better yet, hear him read it yourself either online or in person. He is such a special talent.
September 18, 2026
QUOTES
"Love takes us deeper while subverting what we imagined deeper meant. Love beckons to begin with and then in a quick change of mood, always begins to frighten. Love seems to push us away, but the step toward love or the step away from love is always the choice we make when we feel we are making no choice at all" ("Love," 171)
"...and in the end - no matter any difficult symptoms we exhibit, love seems to be the one and only cure for the pains, the vulnerabilities, the contradictions, the drama and the continued never ending heartbreak of love itself" ("Love," 176)
"More interestingly still, my sense of identity is a meeting of two extraordinary unknowns, what is inside of me as hidden and unspoken potential and what is waiting for me as a potential hidden by the world. To become human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others. To become fully human is to become equally appreciative of all the gifts emerging from the hearts and minds of others" ("Public," 204)
"Love takes us deeper while subverting what we imagined deeper meant. Love beckons to begin with and then in a quick change of mood, always begins to frighten. Love seems to push us away, but the step toward love or the step away from love is always the choice we make when we feel we are making no choice at all" ("Love," 171)
"...and in the end - no matter any difficult symptoms we exhibit, love seems to be the one and only cure for the pains, the vulnerabilities, the contradictions, the drama and the continued never ending heartbreak of love itself" ("Love," 176)
"More interestingly still, my sense of identity is a meeting of two extraordinary unknowns, what is inside of me as hidden and unspoken potential and what is waiting for me as a potential hidden by the world. To become human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others. To become fully human is to become equally appreciative of all the gifts emerging from the hearts and minds of others" ("Public," 204)
May 9, 2025
The amazing thing about Whyte is that he is always able to go beyond the usual definition of a word and into its larger meaning — sometimes the opposite of what you are thinking it will be. Some words are more powerfully analyzed than others in this book, but the book is absolutely worth a slow read so the meanings can sink in. I re-read specific words when I’m in need of the lesson Whyte is imparting.
January 22, 2026
The first Consolations is one of my favourite books of all time.. hence why I may be particularly harsh on this follow up. But I feel the edition I own is a shambles as far as editing goes, with a myriad of basic mistakes, unnecessary repetition and overly-complex prose riddling its copy.
I’m afraid the simple elegance and eloquence of Consolations I was lost here and I just hope Mr Whyte finds it again with a fresh approach very soon.
I’m afraid the simple elegance and eloquence of Consolations I was lost here and I just hope Mr Whyte finds it again with a fresh approach very soon.
February 4, 2025
A Thoughtful and Expansive Exploration of Everyday Language
David Whyte’s Consolations II continues his masterful exploration of language, offering an easy yet profound read that invites deep reflection. Like the first volume, it doesn’t just illuminate the words he writes about—it shifts the way you see all language, making even the most familiar words feel newly significant.
David Whyte’s Consolations II continues his masterful exploration of language, offering an easy yet profound read that invites deep reflection. Like the first volume, it doesn’t just illuminate the words he writes about—it shifts the way you see all language, making even the most familiar words feel newly significant.
September 1, 2025
David Whyte writes with beauty, insight and compassion.
Consolations II felt too didactic for me - I could easily see him make the opposite argument, and run with it with as much enthusiasm.
I am a massive fan of Whyte's poems though, and a great appreciator of the first Consolations book. It is all, in the end, subjective. I look forward to his future books!
Consolations II felt too didactic for me - I could easily see him make the opposite argument, and run with it with as much enthusiasm.
I am a massive fan of Whyte's poems though, and a great appreciator of the first Consolations book. It is all, in the end, subjective. I look forward to his future books!
December 5, 2025
Such a beautiful book with so many great thoughts and interesting perspectives. I still don’t think anything quite compares to his first one, but this comes close. It’s wild how much my life has been changed lately by books that feel like actual works of art. This one is definitely at the top of my list. What a gift.
January 6, 2025
Whyte never fails to impress.
This volume is an excellent addition to anyone's library. He offers fascinating thoughts and descriptions about seemingly everyday words. Each paragraph opens up a new enlightening thought about words that many of us find to be "everyday words."
Outstanding.
This volume is an excellent addition to anyone's library. He offers fascinating thoughts and descriptions about seemingly everyday words. Each paragraph opens up a new enlightening thought about words that many of us find to be "everyday words."
Outstanding.
January 29, 2025
Reflections and lessons learned/the content of this book made me feel…
Reflective is such a huge way that it made me feel part sad too? Life can’t always be roses though, and this book really does highlight this without trying to be depressive…
Reflective is such a huge way that it made me feel part sad too? Life can’t always be roses though, and this book really does highlight this without trying to be depressive…
March 13, 2025
I really enjoyed this. This author writes in a style that I really appreciate.
March 16, 2025
I didn’t find as many poems resonated in this collection as in Consolations (1st book). Death, by far my favourite poem in this book, providing me with a new perspective.
March 18, 2025
Beautiful essays encouraging us to consider a commonly used word in a deeper way. makes for good meditation, self reflection and changing one's perspective.
Read
May 8, 2025A bit weird how it ends with a white man defining "Zen". Other than that, good passages, in general a bit on the conservative side and felt a bit didactic at times.
July 9, 2025
Another balm for my heart, best read after Consolations I
March 25, 2026
Nice slow read.
May 23, 2026
Not practical, but an inspirational read. Liberating, mentally.
August 25, 2026
This was as delightful as the first book.
Makes you stop, think and shine new, often romantically poignant perspective on things.
Author narration is a joyful treat.
Makes you stop, think and shine new, often romantically poignant perspective on things.
Author narration is a joyful treat.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews