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.
¶ "The Cocktail Party" (1949)
Quotations by ...
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
The responsibility of tolerance lies in those who have the wider vision.
¶ "The Cocktail Party" (1949)
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 — but the harm does not interest them.
Or they do not see it, or they justify it
Because they are absorbed in the endless struggle
To think well of themselves.
¶ "The Cocktail Party" (1949)
(sometimes erroneously attributed to George Eliot)
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
¶ "The Hollow Men" (1925)
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.
¶ "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1917)
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.
¶ (Attributed)
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.
¶ Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, "The Ad-dressing of Cats" (1939)
Jellicle Cats come out tonight,
Jellicle Cats come one come all:
The Jellicle Moon is shining bright —
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.
¶ Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, "The Song of the Jellicles" (1939)
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
¶ The Rock, Chorus (1934)
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
¶ Preface to Transit of Venus: Poems by Harry Crosby (1931)
About WIST
WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
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