--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk…" description: "\"Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.\" — Alexander Pope" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png" --- # Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools… ![“Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” quote by Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png) > “Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Warning that reckless actions without wisdom lead to disaster, contrasting boldness with caution. **In simple terms:** Fools rush where angels fear. Key Takeaway Think before acting impulsively. Themes caution hubris wisdom Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - financial decisions - career moves - personal relationships Key Concepts rationality risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - When have you rushed into something? - How can you balance bravery and prudence? A Different Perspective Boldness can be reckless if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altars/) [Angel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angel/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Foolishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolishness/) [Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/fools-rush-in-where-angels-fear-to-tread/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/for-fools-rush-in-where-angels-fear-to-tread/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [“There is a certain solid use in fools. It is not so much that they rush in where angels fear to tread, but rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/there-is-a-certain-solid-use-in-fools-it-is-not-so-much-that-they/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“rush in where angels fear to tread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/rush-in-where-angels-fear-to-tread/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“Demons rush in where angels fear to tread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pippa-dacosta/demons-rush-in-where-angels-fear-to-tread/) [Pippa DaCosta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pippa-dacosta/) > [“Fools "Sell Out" Where Angels Fear to Tread”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/fools-sell-out-where-angels-fear-to-tread/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [Fools rush in where incumbents fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-ralph-augustine/fools-rush-in-where-incumbents-fear-to-tread/) [Norman Ralph Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-ralph-augustine/) > [Fools rush in where angles fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fools-rush-in-where-angles-fear-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“No place so scared from such frops is barred Nor is Paul's Church more safe than Paul's Churchyard Na fly to alter there they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/no-place-so-scared-from-such-frops-is-barred-nor-is-paul-s-church/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [A little knowledge is a dangerous thing - it only hastens fools to rush in where angels fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-it-only-hastens-fools-to-rush/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings not red bull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paritoshik-sharma/i-don-t-know-about-angels-but-it-s-fear-that-gives-men-wings-not-red/) [Paritoshik Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paritoshik-sharma/) > [Doubt is a thief that often makes us fear to tread where we might have won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/doubt-is-a-thief-that-often-makes-us-fear-to-tread-where-we-might/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Sometimes angels rush in where fools fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-grant/sometimes-angels-rush-in-where-fools-fear-to-tread/) [Cary Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-grant/) > [The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-mob-rushes-in-where-individuals-fear-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“you must enter where you fear to tread”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/you-must-enter-where-you-fear-to-tread/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) ## More by Alexander Pope > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [To wake the soul by tender strokes of art, To raise the genius, and to mend the heart; To make mankind, in conscious virtue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/to-wake-the-soul-by-tender-strokes-of-art-to-raise-the-genius-and-to/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [A mighty maze! But not without a plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/a-mighty-maze-but-not-without-a-plan/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely who have written well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/let-such-teach-others-who-themselves-excel-and-censure-freely-who/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [For I, who hold sage Homer's rule the best, Welcome the coming, speed the going guest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/for-i-who-hold-sage-homer-s-rule-the-best-welcome-the-coming-speed/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Like following life through creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/like-following-life-through-creatures-you-dissect-you-lose-it-in-the/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [When two people compliment each other with the choice of anything, each of them generally gets that which he likes least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/when-two-people-compliment-each-other-with-the-choice-of-anything/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze th' unlearn'd and make the learned smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/such-labour-d-nothings-in-so-strange-a-style-amaze-th-unlearn-d-and/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/charms-strike-the-sight-but-merit-wins-the-soul/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [She went from opera, park, assembly, play, To morning walks, and prayers three hours a day. To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/she-went-from-opera-park-assembly-play-to-morning-walks-and-prayers/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/i-am-satisfied-to-trifle-away-my-time-rather-than-let-it-stick-by-me/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [The greatest advantage I know of being thought a wit by the world is, that it gives one the greater freedom of playing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/the-greatest-advantage-i-know-of-being-thought-a-wit-by-the-world-is/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Then say not Man's imperfect,Heav'n in fault; Say rather, Man's as perfect ashe ought:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/then-say-not-man-s-imperfect-heav-n-in-fault-say-rather-man-s-as/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [First follow Nature, and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same: Unerring nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchanged,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/first-follow-nature-and-your-judgment-frame-by-her-just-standard/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Who shall decide when doctors disagree, And soundest casuists doubt, like you and me?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/who-shall-decide-when-doctors-disagree-and-soundest-casuists-doubt/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) [Explore all 850 Alexander Pope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) ## More Altars quotes > [There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/there-are-different-kinds-of-fire-there-is-false-fire-no-one-knows/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [he cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-popova/he-cult-of-productivity-has-its-place-but-worshipping-at-its-altar/) [Maria Popova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-popova/) > [This is the sacrifice: the endless possibility that is offered up on the altar of the form...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-sacrifice-the-endless-possibility-that-is-offered-up-on/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [When a buddha is painted, not only a clay altar or lump of earth is used, but the thirty-two marks, a blade of grass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/when-a-buddha-is-painted-not-only-a-clay-altar-or-lump-of-earth-is/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [And in any preaching you do, admonish the people concerning repentance, and that nobody can be saved except he who receives the most holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-of-assisi/and-in-any-preaching-you-do-admonish-the-people-concerning-repentance/) [Francis of Assisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-of-assisi/) > [Yes, thou art ever present, power divine; not circumscribed by time, nor fixed by space, confined to altars, nor to temples bound. In wealth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/yes-thou-art-ever-present-power-divine-not-circumscribed-by-time-nor/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The revolting details of childbirth had been hidden from me with such care that I was as surprised as I was horrified, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/the-revolting-details-of-childbirth-had-been-hidden-from-me-with-such/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/it-is-by-far-the-most-elegant-worship-hardly-excepting-the-greek/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [For me it's really tough because you have to go to that place where you really, really don't want to go to or revisit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-chestnut/for-me-it-s-really-tough-because-you-have-to-go-to-that-place-where/) [Morris Chestnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-chestnut/) > [For piety lies not in being often seen turning a veiled head to stones, nor in approaching every altar, nor in lying prostratebefore the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/for-piety-lies-not-in-being-often-seen-turning-a-veiled-head-to/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [It is when we are in misery that we revere the gods; the prosperous seldom approach the altar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silius-italicus/it-is-when-we-are-in-misery-that-we-revere-the-gods-the-prosperous/) [Silius Italicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silius-italicus/) > [Pope Gelasius in his ninth letter (chap. 26) to the bishops of Lucania condemned the evil practice which had been introduced of women serving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xiv/pope-gelasius-in-his-ninth-letter-chap-26-to-the-bishops-of-lucania/) [Pope Benedict XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xiv/) [Browse all 329 Altars quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altars/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alexander Pope" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you-dead-for-fools-rush-in-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Altars" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you-dead-for-fools-rush-in-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/alexander-pope-235_altars_nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you_1270958.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” — Alexander Pope", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alexander Pope", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nay, fly to altars; there they'll...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you-dead-for-fools-rush-in-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/nay-fly-to-altars-there-they-ll-talk-you-dead-for-fools-rush-in-where/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```