--- title: "5 Definitions Quotes By Robert Penn Warren" description: "5 Definitions quotes by Robert Penn Warren. Plus more from Robert Penn Warren and more Definitions sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/robert-penn-warren-2118_boxes_by-the-time-we-understand-the-pattern-we_390945.jpg" --- > [...by the time we understand the pattern we are in, the definition we are making for ourselves, it's too late to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/by-the-time-we-understand-the-pattern-we-are-in-the-definition-we-are/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/robert-penn-warren-2118_boxes_by-the-time-we-understand-the-pattern-we_390945.jpg) > [America was based on a big promise--a great big one: the Declaration of Independence. When you have to live with that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/america-was-based-on-a-big-promise-a-great-big-one-the-declaration-of/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/170/robert-penn-warren-2118_america_america-was-based-on-a-big-promise-a-gre_579024.jpg) > [Yet the definition we have made of ourselves is ourselves. To break out of it, we must make a new self. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/yet-the-definition-we-have-made-of-ourselves-is-ourselves-to-break/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/robert-penn-warren-2118_break_yet-the-definition-we-have-made-of-ourse_2358966.jpg) > [And all times are one time, and all those dead in the past never lived before our definition gives them life, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/and-all-times-are-one-time-and-all-those-dead-in-the-past-never-lived/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f3/robert-penn-warren-2118_all-time_and-all-times-are-one-time-and-all-those_2359400.jpg) > [In separateness only does love learn definition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/in-separateness-only-does-love-learn-definition/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/robert-penn-warren-2118_definitions_in-separateness-only-does-love-learn-def_3109180.jpg) ## Other authors on Definitions ## More by Robert Penn Warren > [If you are an idealist, it does not matter what you do or what goes on around you because it isn't real anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/if-you-are-an-idealist-it-does-not-matter-what-you-do-or-what-goes-on/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“The child comes home and the parent puts the hooks in him. The old man, or the woman, as the case may be, hasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-child-comes-home-and-the-parent-puts-the-hooks-in-him-the-old-man/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The poem is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-poem-is-a-little-myth-of-man-s-capacity-of-making-life-meaningful/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“There is nothing more alone than being in a car at night in the rain. I was in the car. And I was glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/there-is-nothing-more-alone-than-being-in-a-car-at-night-in-the-rain/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“No, the Boss corrected, I'm not a lawyer. I know some law. ... but I'm not a lawyer. That's why I can see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/no-the-boss-corrected-i-m-not-a-lawyer-i-know-some-law-but-i-m-not-a/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [ \[A\]nd soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, out of history into history and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/a-nd-soon-now-we-shall-go-out-of-the-house-and-go-into-the-convulsion/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“Those were the ones which would turn loose their grip on the branch before long-- not in any breeze, the fibers would just relax,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/those-were-the-ones-which-would-turn-loose-their-grip-on-the-branch/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“Sometimes sleep gets to be a serious and complete thing. You stop going to sleep in order that you may be able to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/sometimes-sleep-gets-to-be-a-serious-and-complete-thing-you-stop/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“He thought of night coming on. He thought of the loneliness of tonight, this first night in the ground. This, he thought, was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/he-thought-of-night-coming-on-he-thought-of-the-loneliness-of-tonight/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [I reckon I am a smart aleck, but it is just a way to pass the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/i-reckon-i-am-a-smart-aleck-but-it-is-just-a-way-to-pass-the-time/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The poem is not a thing we see; it is, rather, a light by which we may see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-poem-is-not-a-thing-we-see-it-is-rather-a-light-by-which-we-may/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The asking and the answering which history provides may help us to understand, even to frame, the logic of experience to which we shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-asking-and-the-answering-which-history-provides-may-help-us-to/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [Process as process is neither morally good nor morally bad. We may judge results but not process. The morally bad agent may perform the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/process-as-process-is-neither-morally-good-nor-morally-bad-we-may/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The end of man is knowledge, but there is one thing he can't know. He can't know whether knowledge will save him or kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-end-of-man-is-knowledge-but-there-is-one-thing-he-can-t-know-he/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [For the truth is a terrible thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/for-the-truth-is-a-terrible-thing/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definitions/robert-penn-warren/#itemlist", "name": "5 Definitions Quotes By Robert Penn Warren", "numberOfItems": 5, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...by the time we understand the pattern we are in, the definition we are making for ourselves, it's too late to break out of the box. 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