What was to be the value of the long looked forward to,Long hoped for calm, the autumnal serenityAnd the wisdom of age? Had they deceived usOr deceived themselves, the quiet-voiced elders,Bequeathing us merely a receipt for deceit?The serenity only a deliberate hebetude,The wisdom only the knowledge of dead secretsUseless in the darkness into which they peeredOr from which they turned their eyes. There is, it seems to us,At best, only a limited valueIn the knowledge derived from experience.The knowledge imposes a pattern, and falsifies,For the pattern is new in every momentAnd every moment is a new and shockingValuation of all we have been. We are only undeceivedOf that which, deceiving, could no longer harm.
deception experience knowledge maturity wisdom

About This Quote

About T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets.

Themes

  • Experience — Learning through living, doing, and facing the world
  • Knowledge — The pursuit of learning, understanding, and intellectual growth
  • Wisdom — Timeless insights drawn from experience and reflection

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