--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some run the cliffs, and set upon an…" description: "\"“Some run the cliffs, and set upon an eagle’s wings. Others mire in the den, and once within, can never leave again.”\" — Chris Galford" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/chris-galford-28541_cliffs_some-run-the-cliffs-and-set-upon-an-eagl_3168893.jpg" --- # Some run the cliffs, and set upon an eagle’s wings. Others… ![“Some run the cliffs, and set upon an eagle’s wings. Others mire in the den, and once within, can never leave again.” quote by Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/chris-galford-28541_cliffs_some-run-the-cliffs-and-set-upon-an-eagl_3168893.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/chris-galford-28541_cliffs_some-run-the-cliffs-and-set-upon-an-eagl_3168893.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/chris-galford-28541_cliffs_some-run-the-cliffs-and-set-upon-an-eagl_3168893.jpg) > ““Some run the cliffs, and set upon an eagle’s wings. Others mire in the den, and once within, can never leave again.”” [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contrasting bold ambition with entrapment; daring pursuits versus self‑imposed confinement. **In simple terms:** Bold actions vs. being stuck. Key Takeaway Choose daring over confinement. Themes ambition freedom entrapment choice Mood reflective inspirational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career risk - creative projects - personal growth - relationship decisions Key Concepts risk self‑sabotage psychology Questions to Reflect On - What fears keep you in the den? - How can you balance risk and safety? A Different Perspective Bold moves can lead to failure or loss of safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cliffs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cliffs/) [Cliffs Set](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cliffs-set-5759032/) [Eagle Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eagle-wings-1281153/) [Isolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Run Cliffs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/run-cliffs-5759030/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Wings Mire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings-mire-5759031/) ## Related quotes > [From my birth I have aspired like the eagle - but unlike the eagle, my wings have failed. . . . Congratulate me then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/from-my-birth-i-have-aspired-like-the-eagle-but-unlike-the-eagle-my/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [“Believe you can fly so high on the eagle's wings and elucidate the soupcon of susurration, buzz, fizzle, whiz and silver-lining façade of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anyaele-sam-chiyson/believe-you-can-fly-so-high-on-the-eagle-s-wings-and-elucidate-the/) [Anyaele Sam Chiyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anyaele-sam-chiyson/) > [Fame has eagle wings, and yet she mounts not so high as man's desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/fame-has-eagle-wings-and-yet-she-mounts-not-so-high-as-man-s-desires/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [“My dreams have wings. But not soaring eagle wings, more like the wings of a butterfly—colorful and easily ripped off. The last time my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/my-dreams-have-wings-but-not-soaring-eagle-wings-more-like-the-wings/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Sometimes I fly like an eagle but with the wings of a wren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/sometimes-i-fly-like-an-eagle-but-with-the-wings-of-a-wren/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-cannot-fly-like-an-eagle-with-the-wings-of-a-wren/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Guernsey itself was overcrowded, but its cliffs were utterly empty. I spent a wonderful year with a friend, climbing them. It was sheer magic:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mawer/guernsey-itself-was-overcrowded-but-its-cliffs-were-utterly-empty-i/) [Simon Mawer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mawer/) > [Ignorantly is how we all fall in love; for it is a kind of fall. Closing our eyes, we leap from that cliff in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/ignorantly-is-how-we-all-fall-in-love-for-it-is-a-kind-of-fall/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I could see how easy it would be to fall into loving Bella. It would be exactly like falling: effortless. Not letting myself love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-could-see-how-easy-it-would-be-to-fall-into-loving-bella-it-would/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And yes, Holden would keep those kids from falling off the cliff, but WHO WOULDN'T? Does she think I would just fold my arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/and-yes-holden-would-keep-those-kids-from-falling-off-the-cliff-but/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [There are some moments in life that are like pivots around which your existence turns—small intuitive flashes, when you know you have done something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/there-are-some-moments-in-life-that-are-like-pivots-around-which-your/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [You've got to junp off cliffs all the time and build wings on the way down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pradeepkumardevi/you-ve-got-to-junp-off-cliffs-all-the-time-and-build-wings-on-the-way/) [Pradeepkumardevi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pradeepkumardevi/) > [O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap May who ne'er hung there. Nor does long our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-manley-hopkins/o-the-mind-mind-has-mountains-cliffs-of-fall-frightful-sheer-no-man/) [Gerard Manley Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-manley-hopkins/) > [We are about to change history, said Saphira. We’re throwing ourselves off a cliff without knowing how deep the water below is. Ah, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/we-are-about-to-change-history-said-saphira-we-re-throwing-ourselves/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) ## More by Chris Galford > [“Everything burned, everyone lied, and no one paid for it but the ones in the muck.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/everything-burned-everyone-lied-and-no-one-paid-for-it-but-the-ones/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Life moved in circles. Such was the path. What came would come again, breath to breath, until each riddled out the truth within. War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/life-moved-in-circles-such-was-the-path-what-came-would-come-again/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Hold mirth tight against your breast, but answer every injury with bladed heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/hold-mirth-tight-against-your-breast-but-answer-every-injury-with/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“That was magic, sweetest.” The witch flexed her fingers, wriggled them in front of her. “Did she think it a wave of the hands?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/that-was-magic-sweetest-the-witch-flexed-her-fingers-wriggled-them-in/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Everyone was trying to forget something, but they could never seem to find the way to do it. All they ever seemed to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/everyone-was-trying-to-forget-something-but-they-could-never-seem-to/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Nothing lives long but the mountains and the earth. All the rest is air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/nothing-lives-long-but-the-mountains-and-the-earth-all-the-rest-is-air/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Are we not all one flesh? One mind? A sword brings power. Knowledge brings coin. With either, one can make blood reckoned, can earn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/are-we-not-all-one-flesh-one-mind-a-sword-brings-power-knowledge/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“A penny for the moat, where all the ashen song be wrote—a tune for man, so long eloped in hours of decision and derisive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/a-penny-for-the-moat-where-all-the-ashen-song-be-wrote-a-tune-for-man/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Logic kills. Faith burns. Better to be the one with the torch than the one on the pyre.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/logic-kills-faith-burns-better-to-be-the-one-with-the-torch-than-the/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Man tames not vengeance; vengeance breaks the man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/man-tames-not-vengeance-vengeance-breaks-the-man/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“That was one of the inherent flaws of faith. Belief without knowing. But worse yet: belief without action. It could be good in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/that-was-one-of-the-inherent-flaws-of-faith-belief-without-knowing/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Say what you will, dear sister, we do what we do for the promise of our youth. Yet it is always they who scar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/say-what-you-will-dear-sister-we-do-what-we-do-for-the-promise-of-our/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“The simple truth? History was never simply history. If it was anything it was another collar—another means to control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/the-simple-truth-history-was-never-simply-history-if-it-was-anything/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Without shame, without conscience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/without-shame-without-conscience/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Madness is a regenerating thing. Like a phoenix, when one strand dies, another burns anew.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/madness-is-a-regenerating-thing-like-a-phoenix-when-one-strand-dies/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) [Explore all 19 Chris Galford quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) ## More Cliffs quotes > [But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [We are about to change history, said Saphira. We’re throwing ourselves off a cliff without knowing how deep the water below is. Ah, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/we-are-about-to-change-history-said-saphira-we-re-throwing-ourselves/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap May who ne'er hung there. Nor does long our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-manley-hopkins/o-the-mind-mind-has-mountains-cliffs-of-fall-frightful-sheer-no-man/) [Gerard Manley Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-manley-hopkins/) > [You've got to junp off cliffs all the time and build wings on the way down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pradeepkumardevi/you-ve-got-to-junp-off-cliffs-all-the-time-and-build-wings-on-the-way/) [Pradeepkumardevi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pradeepkumardevi/) > [There are some moments in life that are like pivots around which your existence turns—small intuitive flashes, when you know you have done something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/there-are-some-moments-in-life-that-are-like-pivots-around-which-your/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [And yes, Holden would keep those kids from falling off the cliff, but WHO WOULDN'T? Does she think I would just fold my arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/and-yes-holden-would-keep-those-kids-from-falling-off-the-cliff-but/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [I could see how easy it would be to fall into loving Bella. It would be exactly like falling: effortless. Not letting myself love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-could-see-how-easy-it-would-be-to-fall-into-loving-bella-it-would/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorantly is how we all fall in love; for it is a kind of fall. Closing our eyes, we leap from that cliff in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/ignorantly-is-how-we-all-fall-in-love-for-it-is-a-kind-of-fall/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Guernsey itself was overcrowded, but its cliffs were utterly empty. I spent a wonderful year with a friend, climbing them. It was sheer magic:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mawer/guernsey-itself-was-overcrowded-but-its-cliffs-were-utterly-empty-i/) [Simon Mawer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mawer/) > [I'm an adrenaline junkie. I love climbing crazy trees or cliffs, which doesn't make my mom very happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colletti/i-m-an-adrenaline-junkie-i-love-climbing-crazy-trees-or-cliffs-which/) [Stephen Colletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colletti/) > [I had killed our careful relationship by driving my tongue through its heart and pushing it off a cliff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-lindsay/i-had-killed-our-careful-relationship-by-driving-my-tongue-through/) [Jeff Lindsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-lindsay/) > [“You’ve got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down. —Ray Bradbury”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellery-adams/you-ve-got-to-jump-off-cliffs-and-build-your-wings-on-the-way-down/) [Ellery Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellery-adams/) > [The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-knowledge-that-she-would-never-be-loved-in-return-acted-upon-her/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [The entrepreneurial journey starts with jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/the-entrepreneurial-journey-starts-with-jumping-off-a-cliff-and/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [In our system, at about 11:30 on election night, they just push you off the edge of the cliff-and that's it. You might scream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-f-mondale/in-our-system-at-about-11-30-on-election-night-they-just-push-you-off/) [Walter F. Mondale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-f-mondale/) [Browse all 452 Cliffs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cliffs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Some run the cliffs, and set upon an eagle’s wings. 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