QuoteProject
To country people Cows are mild, And flee from any stick they throw; But I’m a timid town bred child, And all the cattle seem to know.
T. S. Eliot
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects the difference in perception of cows between rural and urban individuals, highlighting fear and unfamiliarity.

T. S. Eliot's quote illustrates the contrasting experiences between country folk and city dwellers. For country people, cows are seen as gentle creatures that instinctively avoid threats. In stark contrast, the speaker, a nervous child from the city, feels that the cattle are aware of their fear and respond to it. This emphasizes the theme of unfamiliarity and the anxiety that arises from encountering the natural world without prior experience.

Themes

CowsNatureFearCountryCity

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a discussion about the differences between rural and urban life.

More from T. S. Eliot

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
T. S. EliotRead
Half of 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.
T. S. EliotRead
I am an Anglo-Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature and a royalist in politics.
T. S. EliotRead
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?
T. S. EliotRead
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. EliotRead
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
T. S. EliotRead

Similar quotes

It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, The holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the sea: Listen! the mighty being is awake, And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thundereverlastingly.
William WordsworthRead
Through the ample open door of the peaceful country barn, A sun-lit pasture field, with cattle and horses feeding; And haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away.
Walt WhitmanRead
From Nature's chain whatever link you strike,_x000D_ Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike.
Alexander PopeRead
The wrongs done to trees, wrongs of every sort, are done in the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, for when the light comes, the heart of the people is always right.
John MuirRead
My heart is in a world of water and crystal, My clothes are damp in this time of spring rains.
Du FuRead
For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.
Jacques Yves CousteauRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.