Quotes by T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) — Dichter · Anglikanisch · England

Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965) war ein in den USA geborener, in England wirkender Dichter, Dramatiker und Literaturnobelpreisträger, der 1927 zur anglikanischen Kirche konvertierte. Seine Dichtungen thematisieren die Sinnkrise der Moderne sowie christliche Motive von Buße und Erlösung, während frühe Werke und Vorträge wegen antisemitischer Passagen in der Kritik stehen. Für Bibelleser bietet sein Werk eine sprachlich präzise Auseinandersetzung mit Zeit, Ewigkeit, menschlicher Gebrochenheit und göttlicher Gnade in einer säkularen Welt.

Era: The 20th Century

Recurring topics: Meaning & Identity, Wisdom & Understanding, Time & Transience, Courage & Strength, Suffering & the Question of God, Humility & Pride, Hope & Confidence, Loneliness & Abandonment

Quotes by T.S. Eliot

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

For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
T.S. Eliot

For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice.
T.S. Eliot

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

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.
T.S. Eliot

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
T.S. Eliot

There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.
T.S. Eliot

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
T.S. Eliot

For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.
T.S. Eliot

We don't actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice our absence, that we will disappear without a trace.
T.S. Eliot

Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T.S. Eliot

Do I dare Disturb the universe? In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
T.S. Eliot

Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.
T.S. Eliot

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.
T.S. Eliot

You are the music while the music lasts.
T.S. Eliot

Footfalls echo in the memory, down the passage we did not take, towards the door we never opened, into the rose garden.
T.S. Eliot

Words strain, Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, Will not stay still.
T.S. Eliot

I love you to the edges of language and beyond.
T.S. Eliot

The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.
T.S. Eliot

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

If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?
T.S. Eliot

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
T.S. Eliot

Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea.
T.S. Eliot

The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.
T.S. Eliot

Love is most nearly itself When here and now cease to matter.
T.S. Eliot

I learn a great deal by merely observing you, and letting you talk as long as you please, and taking note of what you do not say.
T.S. Eliot

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, and I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short, I was afraid.
T.S. Eliot

Light Light The visible reminder of Invisible Light.
T.S. Eliot

Success is relative. It is what we make of the mess we have made of things.
T.S. Eliot

Where does one go from a world of insanity? Somewhere on the other side of despair.
T.S. Eliot

The last act is the greatest treason. To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
T.S. Eliot

This is one moment, / But know that another / Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy.
T.S. Eliot

I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.
T.S. Eliot

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T.S. Eliot

If you haven’t the strength to impose your own terms upon life, then you must accept the terms it offers you.
T.S. Eliot

Whatever you think, be sure it is what you think; whatever you want, be sure that is what you want; whatever you feel, be sure that is what you feel.
T.S. Eliot

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.
T.S. Eliot

And would it have been worth it, after all, Would it have been worth while, After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets, After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor - And this, and so much more?
T.S. Eliot

We had the experience but missed the meaning. And approach to the meaning restores the experience in a different form.
T.S. Eliot

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
T.S. Eliot

68 quotes in total — browse the collection.

All quotes · lumen.bible