There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
T. S. EliotRead
Liberty is a different kind of pain from prison.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Liberty comes with its own challenges and burdens, differing from the constraints of imprisonment.
In this quote, T. S. Eliot suggests that while liberty is often viewed as a positive state, it also entails a unique set of struggles and responsibilities that can be just as painful as being confined. Unlike the physical limitations of prison, the pain of liberty could stem from the emotional, moral, and ethical dilemmas that come with freedom, illustrating the complexity of human existence.
Themes
LibertyPainFreedomStrugglesResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech, to emphasize the bittersweet nature of newfound freedom.
More from T. S. Eliot
All quotes βHalf 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 is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.
Pope Pius XRead
And I watch my words from a long way off. They are more yours than mine. They climb on my old suffering like ivy.
Pablo NerudaRead
If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of creation it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
In Quakerism, your understanding of God is revised in light of your own experience, while in research science, you revise your model in light of data from experiments.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
How can it be "mutually beneficial" to sell at world market prices the raw materials that cost the underdeveloped countries immeasurable sweat and suffering.
Che GuevaraRead
Deep within every man there lies the dread of being alone in the world, forgotten by God, overlooked among the tremendous household of millions and millions.
Soren KierkegaardRead