Live cherishing yourself: The most precious words from poet Na Tae-joo

Author Na Tae-ju · Publisher Double Book · Publication Date 2025-06-12 · ISBN 9791193153710

About the Book

To live life well until the very end,
that is enough.

Many people say things like this to poet Na Tae-ju:
"Life is so hard. It's so painful to endure each day. How should I live?" To which the poet readily replies:

"No matter what, it's important to live this weary and difficult life well until the very end. Don't give up or be sad if you missed the bus this time. The next bus will surely come."


A warm voice that helps restore self-esteem

We often face moments when we want to give up because life is exhausting. Especially when living in a fiercely competitive society, we might compare ourselves to those we perceive as superior, feeling relative deprivation and inferiority, and consequently, our self-esteem gets hurt.

As these experiences repeat, our self-esteem gradually lowers, and we often feel unstable and confused. Moreover, in modern society, opportunities to deeply share personal emotions and communicate genuinely are decreasing, leaving us to bear loneliness and anxiety alone.

This book guides us on how to escape this sense of isolation ourselves. It also soothes our wounds with a warm voice that helps restore self-esteem.


Nine failures are nine beginnings

Poet Na Tae-ju says that realizing his past shortcomings and overcoming them was his life's goal. There was a time when he, too, was an unknown poet who was routinely rejected by publishers. He confesses that back then, he even self-published books at his own expense. He experienced times when he wasn't welcomed anywhere, and the pain of being repeatedly rejected by the women he loved.

However, the poet recalls that thanks to those experiences, he became a poet by writing poetry and met his lifelong partner. Looking back, he emphasizes that no failure, no life, was ever a meaningless period of time.

"If you failed nine times, you started nine times. So why hesitate to start the tenth time? Nine failures, in other words, means you started nine times. This doesn't mean you did better than someone who failed eight times, but it is proof that you tried harder."


Never be discouraged,
live happily, and even more happily.

This book contains the beautiful insights poet Na Tae-ju gained throughout his life. It is also composed of personal stories he confessed in numerous lectures and interviews, and inspiring stories of great figures he knew.

It introduces sayings from Hesse to Zhuangzi, Pushkin, poet Jo Ji-hoon, Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, philosopher Professor Kim Tae-gil, and American psychologist Angela Duckworth, and kindly explains what we should learn from their words.

Additionally, it includes episodes about the poet's father and grandmother, and a fond memory of a janitor who cleaned and ran errands at the school where the poet served as principal.

"Even in what appears to be insignificant or useless on the surface, great potential and value are hidden. Therefore, never be discouraged or downhearted."

The poet says that living a life that diligently cultivates small and ordinary daily routines is the most precious and beautiful. He emphasizes that we all have the right to be happy and must be happy. He comforts and encourages us, saying that it is our duty and we are fully deserving of it.

Table of Contents

1. Love yourself
and do what you want to do

Do what you love
Three lives
I will be nothing if not a poet
Live a life of enjoyment
Conditions for happiness
Poem_To a young friend
Glad, grateful, and happy
To love oneself
On work, love, and dreams
Self-esteem and pride
Poem_To a middle schooler again
A small and solid dream
The secret key to success
Keep a star in your heart
Poem_You are a star
Growth is a positive direction
The road not taken
Poem_Longing
How is more important than What
Hope is the effort to live
Your true self

2. The time when
the streetlights of life turn on

Poem_It's okay
The preciousness of trivial things
No life is meaningless
When you're lost
Poem_Don't try too hard
What will you live for?
Thank you for saying no
Unknown days
Study behind closed doors
Hope never fades
Regret
Life is an irony
Your heart is my heart
Even if it's useless now
It hurts because you're alive
To become a person who grows
Nevertheless
How to cross the desert of life
Spring and Autumn
Everyone is hurting
Why am I anxious?
I am a good person
Those who haven't experienced failure don't know the value of success
Poetry changes life
Poem_To a traveler
The secret of life
To you crossing the desert
The time when the streetlights turn on
If I change, the world changes too
Jar of the heart

3. Love is always clumsy, unrequited,
and always a first love

The person by your side now
Wound
Poem_I for you
That is love
Love is peace
Love and poetry
Poem_Praying from afar
Please don't be hurt
Good friend
Wife
Everyone but me is you
Love and alcohol
You are more than I deserve
Distance in relationships
Poem_Written on the snow
Love is clumsy and unfamiliar
Our love story
Eternal love and poetry
Poem_Request
Love is by our side

4. Things that define you

Read the book until the last page
Poem_Poem
The power of poetry
The secret of the epilogue
Clear writing and ambiguous writing
Poetry is a love letter
Poem_Stubby Pencil
My whole life
Poetry that brightens the heart
Poem_Life
Writing is a lifetime
Why I wrote the poem "Wildflower"
Things that define you
Poem_Home
A heart that shares sadness
Simple and plain truth
Poem_Poem
Great poetry goes to the barbershop
Good poetry contains God-given sentences
I am a crybaby
Writing while crying
Poem_This Autumn
For a fleeting spark
The best sentence
The heart's vital point
If you write with love
Poetry is a sculpture of language
Poem_Camellia

5. If you keep spring in your heart,
spring will surely come

Poem_A Walk
Flowers that keep their promise
Why I live in Gongju
People who find happiness
Keep spring in your heart, and it will be spring
Poem_Joy
God made the countryside, humans made cities
Emptying and leaving makes it fragrant
Smaller is better
You who make me
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Flowers
Poem_Iris
Vernalization

6. I lived today well

Hey, Na Tae-ju!
My name is Na Tae-ju
Every New Year
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
Poem_Prayer before sleep
Three "yous" of life
How to be happy
The gift of 'today'
You are an angel, this is heaven
What you did well today
Poem_Living
A friend like a teacher
If worry could eliminate worry, there would be no need to worry!
Living is a journey
Always be grateful and content in everything
Growing old
I am happy to be in the minor leagues
Watch gift
Poem_Watch Gift
Miracle of an ordinary day

7. May your life begin with you
and expand with others

Playing a solo game
So are you
Three misfortunes
On universality
Poem_Happiness
One who knows is one who acts
Time to clear your mind
Grass and flowers
Definition of success
Seeing the Buddha's smile in humble places
Merciful heart
Be strict with yourself
Hongik Ingan and Hunminjeongeum
Poem_Love today
Knowing shame
Time's rings
A great change made by one person
Let's be the one who yields
Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you
Poem_Thoughts on Pine Trees
Hungry and Angry
I am a happy person
The tragedy of life is
Four seasons of life
Three wishes
Poem_In the evening

8. Those who have hope
have a reason to live

Ninth beginning
To young people
Passion is needed
Poem_Life
Great art
Keep your promise to yourself
A miracle created by passion
Three reasons
Poem_Young Camel
True calling
Secret to staying young
Curiosity, the source of life
Poem_To a young friend asking about life