--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Set the foot down with distrust on the…" description: "\"Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world - it is thin.\" — Edna St. Vincent Millay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg" --- # Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world… ![“Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world - it is thin.” quote by Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg) > “Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world - it is thin.” [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet warns that trust is precarious because the foundations of reality are thin and unreliable. **In simple terms:** Trust is fragile because reality is thin. Key Takeaway Build trust cautiously. Themes trust precariousness existential Mood cautious thoughtful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - political alliances Key Concepts philosophy poetic metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you test the strength of a foundation? - When is skepticism warranted? A Different Perspective Trust can be broken by unseen forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I am confident I will set foot again in Tibet in my lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/i-am-confident-i-will-set-foot-again-in-tibet-in-my-lifetime/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [“No one wants to set foot outside unless it's to go somewhere”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-stibbe/no-one-wants-to-set-foot-outside-unless-it-s-to-go-somewhere/) [Nina Stibbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-stibbe/) > [“I always thought we only had two choices in our lives when it came to pizza crust—thin and crispy, or thick and doughy. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-always-thought-we-only-had-two-choices-in-our-lives-when-it-came-to/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Sometimes you have to be broken down to your core to get back to your essence. You have accumulated a crust from the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-gardot/sometimes-you-have-to-be-broken-down-to-your-core-to-get-back-to-your/) [Melody Gardot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-gardot/) > [I almost threw up the first time I set foot inside the University of California, San Francisco's Comprehensive Care Center and joined the stream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-corrigan/i-almost-threw-up-the-first-time-i-set-foot-inside-the-university-of/) [Kelly Corrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-corrigan/) > [I would love to set foot on another planet - lunar or Mars or somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-whitson/i-would-love-to-set-foot-on-another-planet-lunar-or-mars-or-somewhere/) [Peggy Whitson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-whitson/) > [I can't set one foot out of my house or anywhere in the world without security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geert-wilders/i-can-t-set-one-foot-out-of-my-house-or-anywhere-in-the-world-without/) [Geert Wilders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geert-wilders/) > [What you'll need most is courage. It is not an easy path that you've set your foot upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wall/what-you-ll-need-most-is-courage-it-is-not-an-easy-path-that-you-ve/) [Larry Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wall/) > [When my country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears, it was time to stir. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/when-my-country-into-which-i-had-just-set-my-foot-was-set-on-fire/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [I long to set foot where no man has trod before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-long-to-set-foot-where-no-man-has-trod-before/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I've gone where the hand of man has never set foot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/i-ve-gone-where-the-hand-of-man-has-never-set-foot/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [You go on. You set one foot in front of the other, and if a thin voice cries out, somewhere behind you, you pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/you-go-on-you-set-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-and-if-a-thin-voice/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“The river where you set your foot just now is gone those waters― hiving way to this, now this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/the-river-where-you-set-your-foot-just-now-is-gone-those-waters/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [My breath hovers over the river of God - / Softly I set my foot / On the path to my long home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/else-lasker-schuler/my-breath-hovers-over-the-river-of-god-softly-i-set-my-foot-on-the/) [Else Lasker-Schuler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/else-lasker-schuler/) > [Nobody ever wins by the cavalry coming to rescue you. It isn't a question of you're happy if you get married, or you get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/nobody-ever-wins-by-the-cavalry-coming-to-rescue-you-it-isn-t-a/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) ## More by Edna St. Vincent Millay > [Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/into-the-darkness-they-go-the-wise-and-the-lovely/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [There are a hundred places where I fear To go, --so with his memory they brim! And entering with relief some quiet place Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/there-are-a-hundred-places-where-i-fear-to-go-so-with-his-memory-they/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [The first rose on my rose-tree Budded, bloomed, and shattered, During sad days when to me Nothing mattered. Grief or grief has drained me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/the-first-rose-on-my-rose-tree-budded-bloomed-and-shattered-during/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/a-poem-from-edna-st-vincent-millay-grown-up-was-it-for-this-i-uttered/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [She is happy where she lies With the dust upon her eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/she-is-happy-where-she-lies-with-the-dust-upon-her-eyes/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [And reaching up my hand to try, I screamed to feel it touch the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/and-reaching-up-my-hand-to-try-i-screamed-to-feel-it-touch-the-sky/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“And you as well must die, beloved dust, And all your beauty stand you in no stead; This flawless, vital hand, this perfect head,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/and-you-as-well-must-die-beloved-dust-and-all-your-beauty-stand-you/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Oh, children, growing up to be Adventurers into sophistry, Forbear, forbear to be of those That read the rood to learn the rose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/oh-children-growing-up-to-be-adventurers-into-sophistry-forbear/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [After the feet of beauty fly my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/after-the-feet-of-beauty-fly-my-own/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Some of us have been thinking and talking too long without doing anything. Poems are perfect; picketing, sometimes, is better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/some-of-us-have-been-thinking-and-talking-too-long-without-doing/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“But, sure, the sky is big, I said; Miles and miles above my head; So here upon my back I'll lie And look my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/but-sure-the-sky-is-big-i-said-miles-and-miles-above-my-head-so-here/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [pity me that the heart is slow to learn what the swift mind beholds at every turn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/pity-me-that-the-heart-is-slow-to-learn-what-the-swift-mind-beholds/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Youth, have no pity; leave no farthing here For age to invest in compromise and fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/youth-have-no-pity-leave-no-farthing-here-for-age-to-invest-in/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [My god is all gods in one. When I see a beautiful sunset, I worship the god of Nature; when I see a hidden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/my-god-is-all-gods-in-one-when-i-see-a-beautiful-sunset-i-worship-the/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“Tea was sucha comfort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/tea-was-sucha-comfort/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) [Explore all 260 Edna St. Vincent Millay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) ## More Distrust quotes > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Distrust all those who love you extremely upon a very slight acquaintance and without any visible reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distrust-all-those-who-love-you-extremely-upon-a-very-slight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [We believe a scientist because he can substantiate his remarks, not because he is eloquent and forcible in his enunciation. In fact, we distrust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-a-richards/we-believe-a-scientist-because-he-can-substantiate-his-remarks-not/) [I. A. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-a-richards/) > [Our own distrust gives a fair pretence for the knavery of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/our-own-distrust-gives-a-fair-pretence-for-the-knavery-of-other-people/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Let not the world see fear and sad distrust govern the motion of a kingly eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-not-the-world-see-fear-and-sad-distrust-govern-the-motion-of-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/excessive-distrust-is-not-less-hurtfjul-than-its-opposite-most-men/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/objection-evasion-joyous-distrust-and-love-of-irony-are-signs-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [On one thing, at least, men & women both agree: They both distrust women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/on-one-thing-at-least-men-women-both-agree-they-both-distrust-women/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Our distrust of another justifies his deceit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/our-distrust-of-another-justifies-his-deceit/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to democracies as against despots.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/there-is-one-safeguard-known-generally-to-the-wise-which-is-an/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [When I arrived in America, though I had left the war physically far behind, in my mind, the soldiers were still chasing to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loung-ung/when-i-arrived-in-america-though-i-had-left-the-war-physically-far/) [Loung Ung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loung-ung/) > [If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [You have to believe in something, and you have to believe in the things that you feel and find value in those things, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-choi/you-have-to-believe-in-something-and-you-have-to-believe-in-the/) [Roy Choi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-choi/) [Browse all 582 Distrust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world - it is thin.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edna St. Vincent Millay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-crust-of-the-world-it-is-thin/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Distrust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-crust-of-the-world-it-is-thin/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_distrust_set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-c_2013102.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world - it is thin.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay", "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": "Edna St. Vincent Millay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Set the foot down with distrust...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-crust-of-the-world-it-is-thin/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/set-the-foot-down-with-distrust-on-the-crust-of-the-world-it-is-thin/#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 } } ] } ```