QuoteProject
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
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the nature of time and the human tendency to overthink decisions before taking action.

T. S. Eliot's quote highlights the complexities of time management and decision-making in life. It suggests that individuals often spend too much time in contemplation and hesitation, caught in a cycle of indecision and revision, rather than acting decisively. The mention of 'toast and tea' symbolizes moments of pause or social interaction, underscoring how time can both be a source of anxiety and an opportunity for connection.

Themes

TimeDecisionsIndecisionRevisionContemplation

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about taking risks, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of action over contemplation.

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 allβ€” 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

How can you respect the world when you see it's being run by a bunch of kids turned old?
John UpdikeRead
When life is victorious, there is birth; when it is thwarted, there is death. A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace.
Morihei UeshibaRead
When people get taken over by the ego to such an extent, there is nothing else in their mind except the ego. They can no longer feel or sense their humanity - what they share with other human beings, or even with other life forms on the planet. They are so identified with concepts in their minds that other human beings become concepts as well.
Eckhart TolleRead
And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. All we can say is that this is a good deed, because it helps someone or that's an evil one because it hurts them. People are too complicated to have simple labels.
Philip PullmanRead
Nothing is so wearing as the possession or abuse of liberty.
Emile M. CioranRead
Thinking gives off smoke to prove the existence of fire. A mystic sits inside the burning. There are wonderful shapes in rising smoke that imagination loves to watch. But it's a mistake to leave the fire for that filmy sight. Stay here at the flame's core.
RumiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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

Quote by T. S. Eliot | QuoteProject