Quotes from T. S. Eliot

History may be servitude. History may be freedom. See, now they vanish. The faces and places, with the self which, as it could, loved them, to become renewed, transfigured, in another pattern.

The historical sense involves a perception not only of the pastness of the past but of its presence.

Where there is no temple there shall be no homes.

In a world of fugitives the one who stays home will seem to be running away

I shall not want Honor in Heaven For I shall meet Sir Philip Sidney And have talk with Coriolanus And other heroes of that kidney.

The only hope, or else despair Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre - To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Before a cat will condescend to treat you as a trusted friend, some little token of esteem is needed, like a dish of cream.

Human kind cannot bear much reality.

In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away.

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.

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you Which shall be the darkness of God. . . . So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.

People exercise an unconscious selection in being influenced.

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.

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

Any religion is forever in danger of petrifaction into mere ritual and habit, though ritual and habit be essential to religion.

Our high respect for a well read person is praise enough for literature.

After such knowledge, what forgiveness?

I believe the moment of birth Is when we have knowledge of death I believe the season of birth Is the season of sacrifice.

There is, it seems to us, At best, only a limited value In the knowledge derived from experience.

Knowledge is invariably a matter of degree: you cannot put your finger upon even the simplest datum and say this we know.

We should not confuse information with knowledge.

Finding a way to live the simple life is one of life's supreme complications.

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.

I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different.