--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't keep forever on the public road…" description: "\"Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. Leave the beaten trac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3f/alexander-graham-bell-9356_beaten_don-t-keep-forever-on-the-public-road-go_1379168.jpg" --- # Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where… ![“Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods.” quote by Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3f/alexander-graham-bell-9356_beaten_don-t-keep-forever-on-the-public-road-go_1379168.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3f/alexander-graham-bell-9356_beaten_don-t-keep-forever-on-the-public-road-go_1379168.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3f/alexander-graham-bell-9356_beaten_don-t-keep-forever-on-the-public-road-go_1379168.jpg) > “Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods.” [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoid following the crowd blindly; seek unique paths to discover new opportunities. **In simple terms:** Think independently and explore beyond the usual. Key Takeaway Challenge conventional routes regularly. Themes individuality innovation courage Mood inspirational thought‑provoking Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - creative projects - career decisions - personal growth Key Concepts critical thinking exploration risk‑taking Questions to Reflect On - When have you deviated from the norm? - What benefits arise from exploring unknown paths? A Different Perspective Not all unconventional paths lead to success; risk is inherent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beaten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beaten/) [Beaten Track](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beaten-track-1733587/) [Believe in yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-in-yourself/) [Flocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flocks/) [Following](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/following/) [Forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forever/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Leave Beaten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave-beaten-2133248/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Public Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-road-829969/) [Road Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road-going-1170958/) [Sheep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheep/) [Track](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/track/) [Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woods/) ## Related quotes > [“Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. You'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/don-t-keep-forever-on-the-public-road-going-only-where-others-have-4/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [“Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/don-t-keep-forever-on-the-public-road-going-only-where-others-have/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/leave-the-beaten-track-behind-occasionally-and-dive-into-the-woods-2/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do you will be certain to find something you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/leave-the-beaten-track-behind-occasionally-and-dive-into-the-woods/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Its a toss-up when you decide to leave the beaten track. Many are called, few are chosen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/its-a-toss-up-when-you-decide-to-leave-the-beaten-track-many-are/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“Wasted, thwarted lives and all to no purpose. It's a toss up when you decide to leave the beaten track. Many are called, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maugham-w-somerset-william-1874-1965/wasted-thwarted-lives-and-all-to-no-purpose-it-s-a-toss-up-when-you/) [Maugham W. Somerset (William 1874-1965](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maugham-w-somerset-william-1874-1965/) > [It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/it-is-remarkable-how-easily-and-insensibly-we-fall-into-a-particular/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I've been lucky to have made a number of travel programmes with the BBC, the object being to see places off the beaten track.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-ve-been-lucky-to-have-made-a-number-of-travel-programmes-with-the/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [He who rides and keeps the beaten track studies the fences chiefly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/he-who-rides-and-keeps-the-beaten-track-studies-the-fences-chiefly/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [It's important to have people who will say to you that you're really off the beaten track.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-phair/it-s-important-to-have-people-who-will-say-to-you-that-you-re-really/) [Liz Phair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-phair/) > [O public road, I say back I am not afraid to leave you, yet I love you, you express me better than I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/o-public-road-i-say-back-i-am-not-afraid-to-leave-you-yet-i-love-you/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“To be an anarchist is to leave the beaten paths on which for hundreds of years generations of sheep have walked without reflection, break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-merriman/to-be-an-anarchist-is-to-leave-the-beaten-paths-on-which-for-hundreds/) [John Merriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-merriman/) > [“When given the chance to see China off the beaten track, definitely take it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-herzberg/when-given-the-chance-to-see-china-off-the-beaten-track-definitely/) [Larry Herzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-herzberg/) > [I'm very fond of Cuba and going anywhere off the beaten track.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-essex/i-m-very-fond-of-cuba-and-going-anywhere-off-the-beaten-track/) [David Essex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-essex/) > [Provence off the beaten track offers silence, stillness, sweet scents, eagles, chestnuts, endless avenues shaded by plane trees, fabulous walking, cycle tracks and beaches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-drinkwater/provence-off-the-beaten-track-offers-silence-stillness-sweet-scents/) [Carol Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-drinkwater/) ## More by Alexander Graham Bell > [First words on the first telephone - "Mr. Watson - come here - I want to see you."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/first-words-on-the-first-telephone-mr-watson-come-here-i-want-to-see/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/concentrate-all-your-thoughts-upon-the-work-in-hand-the-sun-s-rays-do/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [We are all too much inclined, I think, to walk through life with our eyes shut. There are things all round us and right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/we-are-all-too-much-inclined-i-think-to-walk-through-life-with-our/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [ “Mr. Watson — Come here — I want to see you. \[ First intelligible words spoken over the telephone \]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/mr-watson-come-here-i-want-to-see-you-first-intelligible-words-spoken/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [I have heard articulate speech produced by sunlight I have heard a ray of the sun laugh and cough and sing! … I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/i-have-heard-articulate-speech-produced-by-sunlight-i-have-heard-a/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [“Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/concentrate-all-your-thoughts-on-the-task-at-hand-the-sun-s-rays-do/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Such a chimerical idea as telegraphing vocal sounds would indeed, to most minds, seem scarcely feasible enough to spend time in working over. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/such-a-chimerical-idea-as-telegraphing-vocal-sounds-would-indeed-to/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/sometimes-we-stare-so-long-at-a-door-that-is-closing-that-we-see-too/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [One day every major city in America will have a telephone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/one-day-every-major-city-in-america-will-have-a-telephone/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [I do not recognize the right of the public to break in the front door of a man's private life in order to satisfy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/i-do-not-recognize-the-right-of-the-public-to-break-in-the-front-door/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Dumbness comes from the fact that a child is born deaf and that it consequently never learns how to articulate, for it is by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/dumbness-comes-from-the-fact-that-a-child-is-born-deaf-and-that-it/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [When one door closes, another one opens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/when-one-door-closes-another-one-opens/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/there-cannot-be-mental-atrophy-in-any-person-who-continues-to-observe/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [Observe, Remember, Compare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/observe-remember-compare/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/what-this-power-is-i-cannot-say-all-i-know-is-that-it-exists-and-it/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) [Explore all 72 Alexander Graham Bell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) ## More Beaten quotes > [I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/i-think-children-have-talent-and-insight-but-it-gets-beaten-out-of/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [It's kind of the yin and yang that fascinate me. That for all the evil men do, there are also people who work obnoxiously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gardner/it-s-kind-of-the-yin-and-yang-that-fascinate-me-that-for-all-the-evil/) [Lisa Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gardner/) > [It's always a wake-up call to get beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usain-bolt/it-s-always-a-wake-up-call-to-get-beaten/) [Usain Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usain-bolt/) > [“I felt my heart skip a beat, just one, but it was enough that I took notice. It was nice to know that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/i-felt-my-heart-skip-a-beat-just-one-but-it-was-enough-that-i-took/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [Class clowns are never allowed to date anybody decent, but you don't get beaten up, you're invited to parties, and everybody likes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/class-clowns-are-never-allowed-to-date-anybody-decent-but-you-don-t/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [I know from my own clinical work that when people are beaten and hurt, they numb out so that they cant feel anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/i-know-from-my-own-clinical-work-that-when-people-are-beaten-and-hurt/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) > [You could be beaten down by anybody and by everybody and it doesn't matter what everybody else thinks it's how you see yourself and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cuban/you-could-be-beaten-down-by-anybody-and-by-everybody-and-it-doesn-t/) [Mark Cuban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cuban/) > [Could beauty be beaten out, O youth the cities have sent to strike at each other's strength, it is you who have kept her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/could-beauty-be-beaten-out-o-youth-the-cities-have-sent-to-strike-at/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfeld deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/the-midget-bush-and-that-rumsfeld-deserve-only-to-be-beaten-with/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [Like with every form of cancer, early detection is what it is all about. I urge everyone to learn the facts about this condition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/like-with-every-form-of-cancer-early-detection-is-what-it-is-all/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [A man who is determined never to move out of the beaten road cannot lose his way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/a-man-who-is-determined-never-to-move-out-of-the-beaten-road-cannot/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [I admit that I've been beaten up so many times in films, but we do not fake it - we actually have to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min-sik-choi/i-admit-that-i-ve-been-beaten-up-so-many-times-in-films-but-we-do-not/) [Min-sik Choi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min-sik-choi/) > [I do not approve of children being beaten. It is always a confession of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-wentworth/i-do-not-approve-of-children-being-beaten-it-is-always-a-confession/) [Patricia Wentworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-wentworth/) > [If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can't have any practical result whatsoever, you've beaten them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-can-feel-that-staying-human-is-worth-while-even-when-it-can-t/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Browse all 665 Beaten quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beaten/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. 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