Robert Frost’s Wit and Wisdom: Timeless Lessons on Life

Much is written about Robert Frost, and much of what he wanted written about him, he wrote or spoke himself. A muser on nature, time, people, plus stone walls and trees, winter nights, the moon and summer breeze, he could be ironic – and funny.

Some of his best observations are not in poems, but prose. On the serious side: “Live life like it is the last breath you take, for that breath is the whole essence of living, the little things in life … what connects us to all the big things we live for.”

Laconically, having seen sadness and joy, he noted: “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.”

Reflecting Mark Twain’s outlook, a touch of realism hidden in humor, he wrote: “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.”

Isn’t it funny how, a hundred years after those lines, they ring true? If we could listen with new ears to his wisdom, what would we learn? “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” Are we still educated?

Referencing a farmer’s bull, but also our modern tendency to remake, take down, set aside, and forget much for good reason: “Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.”

In the name of more humility, respect for age, and a light hat tip to love, he quipped: “A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes.”

Slowing us down, urging persistence, fidelity, tireless journeys, yet making people wonder, he ended his epic poem: “But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” Don’t we all?

No fan of socialism, yet not political, perhaps quietly the New England man of self-held views, he poked at those who wanted more for less: “The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.”

Sometimes, his use of words was economical, yet still poetic. “I'm not confused. I'm just well mixed,” or this truism: “There never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate.”

What endures as much as his candor, cadence, wry wit, and occasional humor is his ability to stay focused, creative, and positive until almost 90, happy with each day, whatever it brought. “Come grow old with me, for the best is yet to come!”

With a shelf full of his books by Robert Frost, I think he may be on to something, and a refresher in Frost is never time lost - a reminder of life’s joys and “miles to go.”