--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [History is] that terrible mill in which…" description: "\"[History is] that terrible mill in which sawdust rejoins sawdust.\" — Edith Sitwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png" --- # \[History is\] that terrible mill in which sawdust rejoins… ![“[History is] that terrible mill in which sawdust rejoins sawdust.” quote by Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png) > “\[History is\] that terrible mill in which sawdust rejoins sawdust.” [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life's hardships are cyclical, each difficulty eventually returns to its source. **In simple terms:** Hardships repeat and return. Key Takeaway Accept cycles, find growth. Themes resilience cycle hardship Mood reflective somber Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal loss - career setbacks - health crises Key Concepts philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you break repeating patterns? - What can you learn from recurring hardships? A Different Perspective Cycles can trap without conscious change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-terrible-3576791/) [Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mills/) [Rejoins Sawdust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejoins-sawdust-4598195/) [Sawdust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sawdust/) [Sawdust Rejoins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sawdust-rejoins-4598196/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Terrible Sawdust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible-sawdust-4598194/) ## Related quotes > [Youth is terrible: it is a stage trod by children in buskins and a variety of costumes mouthing speeches they've memorized and fanatically believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/youth-is-terrible-it-is-a-stage-trod-by-children-in-buskins-and-a/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [The trouble with European cities is that they are drenched in their history, almost all of which is terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/the-trouble-with-european-cities-is-that-they-are-drenched-in-their/) [Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/) > [It had grown darker as they talked, and the wind was sawing and the sawdust was whirling outside paler windows. The underlying churchyard was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-had-grown-darker-as-they-talked-and-the-wind-was-sawing-and-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I wish that the circuses that were around now felt like they did then. They're not quite as elegant or as magical as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-lawrence/i-wish-that-the-circuses-that-were-around-now-felt-like-they-did-then/) [Francis Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-lawrence/) > [Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherised upon a table; Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-go-then-you-and-i-when-the-evening-is-spread-out-against-the-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you've ever done something you love and go do something you like, it's like chewing on sawdust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimbal-musk/if-you-ve-ever-done-something-you-love-and-go-do-something-you-like/) [Kimbal Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimbal-musk/) > [Humor is a hole that lets the sawdust out of a stuffed shirt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mckeithen/humor-is-a-hole-that-lets-the-sawdust-out-of-a-stuffed-shirt/) [John McKeithen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mckeithen/) > [Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, / The muttering retreats / Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels / And sawdust restaurants with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/let-us-go-through-certain-half-deserted-streets-the-muttering/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put the past together again. So let's remember: Don't try to saw sawdust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/all-the-king-s-horses-and-all-the-king-s-men-can-t-put-the-past/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Astrology is the sheerest hokum. This pseudoscience has been around since the day of the Chaldeans and Babylonians. It is as phony as numerology,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-j-kilpatrick/astrology-is-the-sheerest-hokum-this-pseudoscience-has-been-around/) [James J. Kilpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-j-kilpatrick/) > [“No matter how good he looks right now, Josh Bennett without work boots & the smell of sawdust is all sorts of wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katja-millay/no-matter-how-good-he-looks-right-now-josh-bennett-without-work-boots/) [Katja Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katja-millay/) > [If you can eat sawdust without butter, you can be a success in the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/if-you-can-eat-sawdust-without-butter-you-can-be-a-success-in-the-law/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Have you ever tried to split sawdust?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-mccarthy/have-you-ever-tried-to-split-sawdust/) [Eugene McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-mccarthy/) > [I've had my best times when trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I've always loved high style in low company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-loos/i-ve-had-my-best-times-when-trailing-a-mainbocher-evening-gown-across/) [Anita Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-loos/) > [It (suicide) became a possibility like Maybe when I grow up, I will be dead. Life was a cake that looked good on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/it-suicide-became-a-possibility-like-maybe-when-i-grow-up-i-will-be/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) ## More by Edith Sitwell > [The reason why Matthew Arnold, to my feeling, fails entirely as a poet (though no doubt his ideas were good - at least, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-reason-why-matthew-arnold-to-my-feeling-fails-entirely-as-a-poet/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The great sins and fires break out of me like the terrible leaves from the bough in the violent spring. I am a walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-great-sins-and-fires-break-out-of-me-like-the-terrible-leaves/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/eccentricity-is-not-as-dull-people-would-have-us-believe-a-form-of/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-am-not-eccentric-it-s-just-that-i-am-more-alive-than-most-people-i/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-am-patient-with-stupidity-but-not-with-those-who-are-proud-of-it/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“Said the lion to the lioness - "when you are amber dust - No more a raging fire like the heat of the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/said-the-lion-to-the-lioness-when-you-are-amber-dust-no-more-a-raging/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“The fusty showman fumbles, must Fit in a particle of dust The universe, for fear it gain Its freedom from my cube of brain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-fusty-showman-fumbles-must-fit-in-a-particle-of-dust-the-universe/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The trouble with most Englishwomen is that they will dress as if they had been a mouse in a previous incarnation they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-trouble-with-most-englishwomen-is-that-they-will-dress-as-if-they/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The poet is the complete lover of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-poet-is-the-complete-lover-of-mankind/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [What is the special privilege of youth? It is, I think, the power of looking forward, the firm belief that the future holds something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/what-is-the-special-privilege-of-youth-it-is-i-think-the-power-of/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [Rhythm is one of the principal translators between dream and reality. Rhythm might be described as, to the world of sound, what light is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/rhythm-is-one-of-the-principal-translators-between-dream-and-reality/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/winter-is-the-time-for-comfort-for-good-food-and-warmth-for-the-touch/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [Hot water is my native element. I was in it as a baby, and I have never seemed to get out of it ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/hot-water-is-my-native-element-i-was-in-it-as-a-baby-and-i-have-never/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The aim of flattery is to soothe and encourage us by assuring us of the truth of an opinion we have already formed about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-aim-of-flattery-is-to-soothe-and-encourage-us-by-assuring-us-of/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/a-great-many-people-now-reading-and-writing-would-be-better-employed/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) [Explore all 85 Edith Sitwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[History is] that terrible mill in which sawdust rejoins sawdust.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Sitwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-sawdust-rejoins-sawdust/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-sawdust-rejoins-sawdust/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e2/edith-sitwell-8023_history_history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-s_2163069.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[History is] that terrible mill in which sawdust rejoins sawdust.” — Edith Sitwell", "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": "Edith Sitwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[History is] that terrible mill in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-sawdust-rejoins-sawdust/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/history-is-that-terrible-mill-in-which-sawdust-rejoins-sawdust/#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 } } ] } ```