--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These places, and the ancient things you…" description: "\"These places, and the ancient things you know, You won't know soon. I'm working on it now.'\" — Andrew Motion" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/andrew-motion-12897_ancient_these-places-and-the-ancient-things-you_188261.png" --- # These places, and the ancient things you know, You won't… ![“These places, and the ancient things you know, You won't know soon. I'm working on it now.'” quote by Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/andrew-motion-12897_ancient_these-places-and-the-ancient-things-you_188261.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/andrew-motion-12897_ancient_these-places-and-the-ancient-things-you_188261.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/andrew-motion-12897_ancient_these-places-and-the-ancient-things-you_188261.png) > “These places, and the ancient things you know, You won't know soon. I'm working on it now.'” [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects uncertainty about future knowledge and a commitment to resolve it. **In simple terms:** Uncertainty about future knowledge and resolve to resolve it. Key Takeaway Embrace the unknown and act now. Themes uncertainty knowledge commitment Mood curious determined Type reflective motivational When to use this quote - research - personal projects - learning - decision making Key Concepts future insight personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What can you do today to reduce uncertainty? - How does commitment shape outcomes? A Different Perspective The unknown may remain unknowable despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-things-904144/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-soon-1162339/) [Now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/now/) [Places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/places/) [Places Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/places-ancient-1995502/) [Soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soon/) [Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things/) [Things Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-know/) [Working](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [When you get to know the me about you then it soon becomes us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siva-pillay/when-you-get-to-know-the-me-about-you-then-it-soon-becomes-us/) [Siva Pillay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siva-pillay/) > [I knew who you were from the start but now I dont know who you are, soon there will be nothing at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-emery/i-knew-who-you-were-from-the-start-but-now-i-dont-know-who-you-are/) [Gareth Emery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-emery/) > [I've thought about doing it as soon as it is possible with this new CD getting some wings and getting out there. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-jarreau/i-ve-thought-about-doing-it-as-soon-as-it-is-possible-with-this-new/) [Al Jarreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-jarreau/) > [Being patient is easy now. Cause I know as soon as I'm not, single anymore thats when every body going to get serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-patient-is-easy-now-cause-i-know-as-soon-as-i-m-not-single/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Terrible and ancient and scarred with the endless cold of space, the terrible and ancient things glistened with frozen moisture and colors played across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-kurt-unsworth/terrible-and-ancient-and-scarred-with-the-endless-cold-of-space-the/) [Simon Kurt Unsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-kurt-unsworth/) > [ We extol ancient things, regardless of our own times. \[Lat., Vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/we-extol-ancient-things-regardless-of-our-own-times-lat-vetera/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. For what is the time of a man, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/not-to-know-what-happened-before-you-were-born-is-to-be-a-child/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-cannot-do-a-kindness-too-soon-for-you-never-know-how-soon-it-will/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It's nice to know about something as soon as it happens, and obviously a newspaper can't provide that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabitha-soren/it-s-nice-to-know-about-something-as-soon-as-it-happens-and-obviously/) [Tabitha Soren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabitha-soren/) > [...in God's name I command you to let me know as soon as you are aware of the arrival of Fastolf; because if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-of-arc/in-god-s-name-i-command-you-to-let-me-know-as-soon-as-you-are-aware/) [Joan Of Arc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-of-arc/) > [“If you don't know what to do, do what you know and soon, what you're supposed to do will feel more appealing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-jacinta-mpalyenkana-ph-d-mba/if-you-don-t-know-what-to-do-do-what-you-know-and-soon-what-you-re/) [Dr. Jacinta Mpalyenkana, Ph.D, MBA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-jacinta-mpalyenkana-ph-d-mba/) > [Do you know what will soon be the ultimate in truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/do-you-know-what-will-soon-be-the-ultimate-in-truth/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/and-that-s-when-i-know-it-s-over-as-soon-as-you-start-thinking-about/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“Laugh soon because you never know how soon it will be too late”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-f-shubnell/laugh-soon-because-you-never-know-how-soon-it-will-be-too-late/) [Thomas F. Shubnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-f-shubnell/) > [You can not do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. -](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-can-not-do-a-kindness-too-soon-for-you-never-know-how-soon-it/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Andrew Motion > [In a general way, I want to be a kind of flag-waver, bunting hanger-up, drum-beater, you name it, for poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/in-a-general-way-i-want-to-be-a-kind-of-flag-waver-bunting-hanger-up/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I'm also a great believer in the dream life; that while we're asleep, a deep subconscious connection is made about our profoundest fears, hopes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-m-also-a-great-believer-in-the-dream-life-that-while-we-re-asleep-a/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I like eating out. I like buying beautiful paintings and being surrounded by beautiful things. I have to finance that life. I can barely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-like-eating-out-i-like-buying-beautiful-paintings-and-being/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I read ' Treasure Island' for the first time at university. And I started to notice then how unresolved some things were. Later, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-read-treasure-island-for-the-first-time-at-university-and-i-started/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [Poems are a hotline to our hearts, and we forget this emotional power at our peril](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/poems-are-a-hotline-to-our-hearts-and-we-forget-this-emotional-power/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [When you're being looked at very hard, it's very hard to look back. And that made me stop paying attention to the world in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/when-you-re-being-looked-at-very-hard-it-s-very-hard-to-look-back-and/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [If I were to die thinking that I'd written three poems that people might read after me, I would feel that I hadn't lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/if-i-were-to-die-thinking-that-i-d-written-three-poems-that-people/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I wish I'd been better able to resist the sense of obligation to write some of the poems I did. It's in the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-wish-i-d-been-better-able-to-resist-the-sense-of-obligation-to/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I'm not much given to making shamanistic remarks about all this, but I'm a great believer in the dream life. If I can carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-m-not-much-given-to-making-shamanistic-remarks-about-all-this-but-i/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [Honor the miraculousness of the ordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/honor-the-miraculousness-of-the-ordinary/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [Keats writes better about poems than anybody I've ever read. The things that he says about what he wants his own poems to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/keats-writes-better-about-poems-than-anybody-i-ve-ever-read-the/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I deeply adored my mum. She was an extraordinary person, even for the prejudice I'm likely to have. She was beautiful, amusing, a tremendous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-deeply-adored-my-mum-she-was-an-extraordinary-person-even-for-the/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I am writing more than I have ever done. My life has come back to me in the most extraordinary way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-am-writing-more-than-i-have-ever-done-my-life-has-come-back-to-me/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [I've found a different way to scent the air: already it's a by-word for despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/i-ve-found-a-different-way-to-scent-the-air-already-it-s-a-by-word/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) > [Like a lot of people, for a long time I thought that the road to hell is paved with bad sequels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/like-a-lot-of-people-for-a-long-time-i-thought-that-the-road-to-hell/) [Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) [Explore all 52 Andrew Motion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "These places, and the ancient things you know, You won't know soon. 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