There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
T. S. EliotRead
Television is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Television connects people through shared entertainment but can also foster feelings of isolation.
T. S. Eliot highlights the paradox of television as a form of entertainment that has the potential to unite millions of viewers through shared experiences, such as laughter from the same joke. However, despite this connectivity, it can leave individuals feeling lonesome, as the shared experience does not equate to genuine connection or interaction among people.
Themes
TelevisionEntertainmentIsolationLaughterConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about media's impact on society, one might quote Eliot to illustrate the isolation that can come from entertainment.
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
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I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!
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I am not conscious of a single experience throughout my three months' stay in England and Europe that made me feel that after all East is East and West is West. On the contrary, I have been convinced more than ever that human nature is much the same, no matter under what clime it flourishes, and that if you approached people with trust and affection you would have ten-fold trust and thousand-fold affection returned to you.
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Masonic ideas are the precious jewels of Speculative Masons; the should be kept bright and sparkling for all the brethren to see and to admire. As such, they should be the special care of Masonic leaders particularly those who teach and interpret the philosophy of Freemasonry.
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I didn't knowingly meet a conservative until, to my shame, I was 60 years old and sat down and said, 'Wow, I don't understand what this guy's talking about, but he has a great civility about him. Perhaps I better investigate this thing.'
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Men, as well as women, are much oftener led by their hearts than by their understandings.
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