Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888 – 1965), best known as T. S. Eliot, was one of the twentieth century’s major poets. He was also an essayist, publisher, playwright, and literary and social critic. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States, he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25, settling, working, and marrying there. Eliot wrote some of the most widely recognized poems in the English language, including The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, and Four Quartets. He was also known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Quotes by T. S. Eliot…
When the whole world is running headlong towards the precipice, one who walks in the opposite direction is looked at as being crazy.
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future. And time future contained in time past.
We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started,
And to know that place for the first time.
Only those who are willing to go too far will ever know how far they can go.
At the still point of the turning world, neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope. For hope would be hope for the wrong thing.