QuoteProject
The fool,fixed in his folly,may think He can turn the wheel on which he turns.
T. S. Eliot
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Awareness of one's ignorance is crucial for growth and change.

This quote by T. S. Eliot highlights the idea that a person who is unyieldingly stuck in their own misconceptions or foolishness may believe they have control over their circumstances. However, true wisdom comes from recognizing the limitations of one's understanding and being open to learning and change.

Themes

FollyWisdomIgnoranceAwarenessChange

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about personal growth, one might say, 'Remember what T. S. Eliot said: The fool, fixed in his folly, may think he can turn the wheel on which he turns.'

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

It's not just that reporting gives you a bigger slice of life, gives - lends verisimilitude to what you are doing - it's that it feeds the imagination.
Tom WolfeRead
Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan's egg.
Hans Christian AndersenRead
Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.
Isaac NewtonRead
You cannot go around and keep score. If you keep score on the good things and the bad things, you'll find out that you're a very miserable person. God gave man the ability to forget, which is one of the greatest attributes you have. Because if you remember everything that's happened to you, you generally remember that which is the most unfortunate.
Hubert H. HumphreyRead
They were small, brightly coloured, happy little creatures who secreted some of the nastiest toxins in the world, which is why the job of looking after the large vivarium where they happily passed their days was given to first-year students, on the basis that if they got things wrong there wouldn't be too much education wasted.
Terry PratchettRead
The intellect is not the means of creation, and creation does not take place through the functioning of the intellect; on the contrary, there is creation when the intellect is silent.
Jiddu KrishnamurtiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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