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T. S. Eliot Quotes

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Famous T. S. Eliot Quotes

“One thing you cannot know: The sudden extinction of every alternative, The unexpected crash of the iron cataract. You do not know what hope is, until you have lost it. You only know what it is not to hope: You do not know what it is to have hope taken from you Or to fling it away, to join the legion of the hopeless Unrecognized by other men, though sometimes by each other.”

KnowsMenSometimesHopeLostTakenOne ThingAlternativesUnexpectedIronHopelessCrashExtinctionHaving HopeFlingLegion
Book:The Complete Poems and Plays of T. S. Eliot
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“I think it was rather an advantage not having any living poets in England or America in whom one took any particular interest. I don't know what it would be like but I think it would be a rather troublesome distraction to have such a lot of dominating presences, as you call them, about. Fortunately we weren't bothered by each other.”

ThinkingKnowsWould BeAmericaPoetryInterestParticularPoetAdvantageEnglandDistractionBotheredTroublesomeDominating
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“We die to each other daily. What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. And they have changed since then. To pretend that they and we are the same is a useful and convenient social convention which must sometimes be broken. We must also remember that at every meeting we are meeting a stranger.”

PeopleKnowsSometimesMomentsRememberDiesSocialMemoriesRelationshipChangedBrokenMeetingsStrangerConventionsConvenientOur MemoriesCocktail Parties
Book:Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950
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“The Pekes and the Pollicles, everyone knows, Are proud and implacable, passionate foes; It is always the same, wherever one goes. And the Pugs and the Poms, although most people say that they do not like fighting, will often display Every symptom of wanting to join in the fray. And they Bark bark bark bark bark bark Until you can hear them all over the park.”

PeopleKnowsFightingProudPassionateParksDisplaySymptomsFoeBarkFrayPugs
Book:The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume II: Practical Cats and Further Verses
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“To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not, You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy. In order to arrive at what you do not know You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance. In order to possess what you do not possess You must go by the way of dispossession. In order to arrive at what you are not You must go through the way in which you are not. And what you do not know is the only thing you know And what you own is what you do not own And where you are is where you are not.”

KnowsWayOrderIgnoranceWhere You AreEcstasyQuartets
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“You do not know how much they mean to me, my friends, And how, how rare and strange it is, to find In a life composed so much, so much of odds and ends, (For indeed I do not love it ... you knew? you are not blind! How keen you are!) To find a friend who has these qualities, Who has, and gives Those qualities upon which friendship lives. How much it means that I say this to you- Without these friendships-life, what cauchemar!”

KnowsGivingMeanEndsQualityKnow HowStrangeMy FriendsBlindOddsOdds And Ends
Book:The Complete Poems and Plays of T. S. Eliot
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“The name that no human research can discover-- But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name.”

KnowsMindHumansReasonNamesMeditationResearchCatProfoundContemplationEngagedIneffableInscrutable
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“Before a Cat will condescend To treat you as a trusted friend, Some little token of esteem Is needed, like a dish of cream; And you might now and then supply Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie, Some potted grouse, or salmon paste — He's sure to have his personal taste. (I know a Cat, who makes a habit Of eating nothing else but rabbit, And when he's finished, licks his paws So's not to waste the onion sauce.) A Cat's entitled to expect These evidences of respect. And so in time you reach your aim, And finally call him by his name.”

KnowsLittlesMightNamesNeededHabitTasteWasteEatingEvidenceCatTreatsAimFinishedEsteemNow And ThenTrustedDishesCreamPieEntitledRabbitsSauceOnionsTokensPawsSalmonPersonal TasteTrusted Friends
Book:The Complete Poems and Plays of T. S. Eliot
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“We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea.”

KnowsFirstsChildrenTwoEndsEarthLastsLeftVoiceHalfKnownHeardTreeSeaSourceFirst TimeRiversWaveCeaseRememberedApplesGatesExplorationStillnessExploringWaterfallsQuartetsApple Trees
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“Now that lilacs are in bloom She has a bowl of lilacs in her room And twists one in her fingers while she talks. "Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know What life is, you who hold it in your hands"; (slowly twisting the lilac stalks) "You let it flow from you, you let it flow, And youth is cruel, and has no remorse And smiles at situations which it cannot see." I smile, of course, And go on drinking tea.”

KnowsHandsLife IsCoursesRoomsSituationYouthGoes OnMy FriendsFlowDrinkingFingersTeaBowlsRemorseTwistsStalkingI SmileLilacDrinking Tea
Book:The Waste Land, Prufrock and Other Poems
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“I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river is a strong brown god-sullen, untamed and intractable, Patient to some degree, at first recognized as a frontier; Useful, untrustworthy, as a conveyor of commerce; Then only a problem confronting the builder of bridges. The problem once solved, the brown god is almost forgotten By the dwellers in cities-ever, however, implacable. Keeping his seasons, and rages, destroyer, reminder Of what men choose to forget. Unhonored, unpropitiated By worshippers of the machine, but waiting, watching and waiting.”

ThinkingKnowsMenFirstsProblemStrongWaitingWaterForgetCitiesDegreesRainRiversMachinesSeasonsPatientForgottenRageBridgesBrownCommerceRemindersFrontiersBuilderConfrontingDestroyersSullenWorshippersDwellersUntamedUntrustworthy
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before; though we know not just when, or why, or how, or where. Men have left God not for gods, they say, but for no gods; and this has never happened before. That men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason, and the money, and power, and what they call life, or race, or dialect.The church disowned, the tower overthrown, the bells upturned, what have we to do but stand with empty hands and palms upturned in an age which advances progressively backwards?”

KnowsMenFirstsReasonHandsSeemsAgeLeftChurchReligiousRaceHappenedWorshipEmptyDenyBellsTowersBackwardsPalmsWorship GodDialectMoney And PowerEmpty Hands
Book:The Complete Poems and Plays of T. S. Eliot
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“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

KnowsLifeInspirationalFirstsEndsWisdomMotivationalFunnyPoetryTimeInspiringAwarenessMilitaryAdventureTravelFirst TimeExperienceSillyCeaseSelf DiscoveryEnlightenedLive ByExplorationLife ExperienceTime TravelDiscoveringHikingTraveledExploringTrekkingArrivingSpiritual JourneyInspiring TravelComputingTravel AdventurePlaces To LiveAdventure And TravelRoad TripLife Is An AdventureQuartetsMystery Of LifePhotography And TravelRoads TraveledLife AdventureAdventure And LifeBackpackingStages Of LifeTravel JourneyContinuous LearningJourney Of Self DiscoveryOcean ExplorationPlace And TimeWonder Of LifeSpirit Of LifeDiscovery In LifeWisdom And ExperienceWaste LandJourneys And PathsLive Love LifeHappy SpiritLost YourselfOutdoor AdventureTreasure ChestsJourney And DestinationExploration And AdventureExploring The WorldSpiritual ChangeLife EndingReaching The EndSpirit Of Place
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.”

KnowsWantMeanArtPoetryCoursesEmotionPoetExpressionPersonalityPoetry IsLiterary CriticismPoetry By Famous PoetsPoetry By PoetsLoosenessIndividual TalentWhat Is PoetryExpressing Emotions
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“When the Stranger says: "What is the meaning of this city? Do you huddle close together because you love each other?" What will you answer? "We all dwell together To make money from each other"? or "This is a community"? Oh my soul, be prepared for the coming of the Stranger. Be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions.”

KnowsSoulTogetherAsksCommunityAnswersCitiesKnow HowPreparedStrangerMy SoulMaking MoneyBe PreparedLove Each OtherWhat Is The Meaning
Author:T. S. Eliot
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