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Quote by T. S. Eliot

Work

Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950

This book is a compilation of the author's works, including both poetry and plays, spanning the years 1909 to 1950. It offers a comprehensive view of the author's creative output during this period. more

Author

T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot, a British playwright and poet, was born on September 26, 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and died on January 4, 1965, in London, England. His works are known for their profound philosophical thoughts and unique poetic style, making him one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century. more

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“Destiny ... a word which means more than we can find any definitions for. It is a word which can have no meaning in a mechanical universe: if that which is wound up must run down, what destiny is there in that? Destiny is not necessitarianism, and it is not caprice: it is something essentially meaningful. Each man has his destiny, though some men are undoubtedly "men of destiny" in a sense in which most men are not.”

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“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.”

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“As a rule, with me an unfinished [idea] is a thing that might as well be rubbed out. It's better, if there's something good in it that I might make use of elsewhere, to leave it at the back of my mind than on paper in a drawer. If I leave it in a drawer it remains the same thing but if it's in the memory it becomes transformed into something else.”

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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.”

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