WIST Quotations

Eliot, T. S. -- “East Coker” (1940), Four Quartets (1943)

Dave — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:50:52 +0000

For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“East Coker” (1940), Four Quartets (1943)

Eliot, T. S. -- “People,” Time (23 Oct 1950)

Dave — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:15:54 +0000

The years between 50 and 70 are the hardest. … You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“People,” Time (23 Oct 1950)

Eliot, T. S. -- “Philip Massinger,” The Sacred Wood (1920)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:32:33 +0000

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“Philip Massinger,” The Sacred Wood (1920)

Eliot, T. S. -- “Shakespeare and the Stoicism of Seneca” (1927)

Dave — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:12:46 +0000

Nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of oneself.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“Shakespeare and the Stoicism of Seneca” (1927)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Cocktail Party” (1949)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The responsibility of tolerance lies in those who have the wider vision.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Cocktail Party” (1949)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Cocktail Party” (1949)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Half the harm that is done in this world
Is due to people who want to feel important.
They don’t mean to do harm

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Cocktail Party” (1949)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Cocktail Party” (1949)

Dave — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:36:19 +0000

What is hell? Hell is oneself.
Hell is alone, the other figures in it
Merely projections. There is nothing to escape from
And nothing to escape to. One is always alone.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Cocktail Party” (1949)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Dry Salvages,” sec. 3, l. 131 Four Quartets (1943)

Dave — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 18:23:58 +0000

Time is no healer: the patient is no longer there.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Dry Salvages,” sec. 3, l. 131 Four Quartets (1943)
(Source)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Hollow Men” (1925)

Dave — Tue, 24 Feb 2004 14:26:43 +0000

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Hollow Men” (1925)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” l. 51 (1915)

Dave — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:08:01 +0000

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” l. 51 (1915)
(Source)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1917)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous —
Almost, at times, the Fool.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1917)

Eliot, T. S. -- “The Rock” (1934)

Dave — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:09:13 +0000

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Rock” (1934)

Eliot, T. S. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
(Attributed)

Eliot, T. S. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:24:25 +0000

If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
(Attributed)

Eliot, T. S. -- (Attributed) (1946)

Dave — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:45:52 +0000

Most editors are failed writers — but so are most writers.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
(Attributed) (1946)

Quoted by Robert Geroux, "A Personal Memoir," in Tate, Allen, ed. T. S. Eliot: The Man and his Work (1967) (orig. printed in the Sewanee Review, vol. 74 (1966)):

I first met T. S. Eliot in 1946, when I was an editor at Harcourt, Brace, under Frank Morley. I was just past thirty, and Eliot was in his late fifties. [...] agreed with the definition that most editors are failed writers, and he replied: `Perhaps, but so are most writers.'

Sometimes given as "Some editors ..." and prefixed with "I suppose most ..." and "I suppose some ..."

Eliot, T. S. -- Four Quartets, “Little Gidding” (1943)

Dave — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:49:21 +0000

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.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Four Quartets, “Little Gidding” (1943)

Eliot, T. S. -- Murder in the Cathedral, Act 1 [Thomas] (1935)

Dave — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:04:46 +0000

The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Murder in the Cathedral, Act 1 [Thomas] (1935)
(Source)

Eliot, T. S. -- Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “The Ad-dressing of Cats” (1939)

Dave — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:42:45 +0000

For some are sane and some are mad
And some are good and some are bad
And some are better, some are worse —
But all may be described in verse.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “The Ad-dressing of Cats” (1939)

Eliot, T. S. -- Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “The Song of the Jellicles” (1939)

Dave — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:50:38 +0000

Jellicle Cats come out tonight,
Jellicle Cats come one come all:
The Jellicle Moon is shining bright —
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “The Song of the Jellicles” (1939)

Eliot, T. S. -- Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” (1939)

Dave — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:55:36 +0000

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare;
At whatever time the deed took place — MACAVITY WASN’T THERE!

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” (1939)

Eliot, T. S. -- Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “The Ad-dressing of Cats” (1939)

Dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 23:12:54 +0000

Before a Cat will condescend
To treat you as a trusted friend,
Some little token of esteem
Is needed, like a dish of cream.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, “The Ad-dressing of Cats” (1939)
(Source)

Eliot, T. S. -- The Family Reunion, 2.3 (1939)

Dave — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 19:13:33 +0000

Success is relative:
It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
The Family Reunion, 2.3 (1939)

Eliot, T. S. -- The Rock, Chorus (1934)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
The Rock, Chorus (1934)

Eliot, T. S. -- Preface to Transit of Venus: Poems by Harry Crosby (1931)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Preface to Transit of Venus: Poems by Harry Crosby (1931)