QuoteProject
Goe and catche a falling starre, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me, where all past yeares are, Or who cleft the Divel's foot. Teach me to hear Mermaides' singing, Or to keep of envies stinging, And finde What winde Serves to advance an honest minde.
John Donne
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects a desire for knowledge beyond the ordinary, expressing the complexity of human experience and the quest for truth.

In this quote, John Donne conveys a profound longing for understanding the elusive and mysterious aspects of life. He challenges the reader to pursue knowledge that goes beyond the tangible, such as the mythical and the fantastical, while also yearning for insight into the deeper meanings of existence and the true essence of an honest mind. The whimsical imagery suggests that these inquiries are as difficult to grasp as catching a falling star, which underscores the futility yet fascination of such pursuits.

Themes

KnowledgeTruthWisdomLifeMystery

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a motivational speech about the pursuit of knowledge.

More from John Donne

Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies.
John DonneRead
Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right, By these we reach divinity
John DonneRead
All occasions invite His mercies, and all times are His seasons.
John DonneRead
If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, Whose fruit threw death on else immortal us, If lecherous goats, if serpents envious Cannot be damned; alas; why should I be?
John DonneRead
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
John DonneRead
I call not that virginity a virtue, which resideth onely in the bodies integrity; much less if it be with a purpose of perpetually keeping it: for then it is a most inhumane vice. - But I call that Virginity a virtue which is willing and desirous to yield it self upon honest and lawfull terms, when just reason requireth; and until then, is kept with a modest chastity of body and mind.
John DonneRead

Similar quotes

If you have a problem with people living their lives and being authentically who they are, you really should go and do some soul-searching.
Laverne CoxRead
During the Arab Spring, I learned all sorts of things from Twitter. I wouldn't necessarily trust that information, but it gave me ideas about questions to ask. You can really learn things from the wisdom of crowds.
Nicholas KristofRead
O powerful goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolution to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power for thy continual favours to me.
Benjamin FranklinRead
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
William ShakespeareRead
The sheep are happier of themselves, than under the care of wolves.
Thomas JeffersonRead
If we look at the world around us, we see that we are conditioned to not listen deeply. Because isn't that what silence is? It's a listening, a deep wordless listening.
AdyashantiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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