Quote Of The Day By Pulitzer-Winning Poet Robert Frost: 'Home Is The Place Where, When You Have To Go There...'

Robert Frost was one of America's preeminent poets, and he wrote often and thought-provokingly about life in New England. Frost utilized straightforward yet incredibly descriptive language that helped illuminate the human condition. He was essentially a rockstar poet — Frost could easily fill auditoriums with his readings. Likewise, he was also the first ever poet to speak at a presidential inauguration — he recited "The Gift Outright" at John F. Kennedy's inauguration. Frost's thoughtfulness and powerful way with words inspired people all over the country. In a speech at Amherst College on the Arts, Kennedy remarked of Frost, "He saw poetry as the means of saving power from itself. When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses." 

Frost was born in San Francisco, California in 1874. His family relocated to Massachusetts when he was 10. In 1894, the ambitious young man had his first poem published; it was entitled "My Butterfly." It took several years until his work really gained traction, but he ended up winning four Pulitzer Prizes, alongside the Gold Medal for Poetry of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, among other accolades. Thanks to Frost's insights into the complexities of the world, he's been chosen as our quote of the day.

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." This line is taken from Robert Frost's poem "The Death of the Hired Man," which takes the form of a conversation between a farmer and his wife as they debate whether or not to let Silas, their old farmhand, back to work for them. The quote about the definition of home comes as they're questioning why Silas is returning instead of going somewhere else, including to his brother's house, which is nearby. 

Naturally, we don't have to be in the exact same situation as the characters in Frost's poem to understand the meaning behind it. From the quote, we can see that home is the one place where you can always return, no matter what's happened in the past.

When you look at the deeper meaning of Robert Frost's quote about home, from "The Death of the Hired Man," as well as the context in which it was written, it's clear that we can make our home wherever we want. It doesn't have to necessarily be with family. It's a place that operates as a constant. And, even if we leave for a time, we always have that one refuge to come back to. Frost's quote also acknowledges some of the complexities of home. For instance, even if we have worn out our welcome in other places, or if things have just completely fallen apart, when we come back to the home that he describes, there will be an obligation to be welcomed in and taken care of. 

In turns through life, we'll be the person looking for home and the one who provides it for others. As such, it may not always be easy to open our arms to others, or to ask for help, on the other side of it, but it is all part of being human. Keep your life and heart open to others in times of need, and trust that others will be there for you when you need them. If they aren't, then that isn't your home. And, when you do find the place and people where you feel safe and supported, make sure to appreciate it.

• "I don't like to write anything I don't see."
• "Before I built a wall I'd ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out / And to whom I was like to give offense."
• "So Eden sank to grief / So dawn goes down to day / Nothing gold can stay."
• "A poem...begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion finds the thought and the thought finds the words."
• "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."