---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly…"
description: "\"Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger by the hedgerows, but runs away early to the tropics, and is at home with palms and banyans - ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png"
---

#  Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger…

![“Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger by the hedgerows, but runs away early to the tropics, and is at home with palms and banyans - which is nourished on books of travel, and stretches the theatre of its imagination to the Zambesi.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png)

> “Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger by the hedgerows, but runs away early to the tropics, and is at home with palms and banyans - which is nourished on books of travel, and stretches the theatre of its imagination to the Zambesi.”

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Travel literature expands imagination, transporting readers to exotic places beyond their immediate surroundings.

**In simple terms:** Books let minds travel.

Key Takeaway

Read widely.

Themes

imagination travel literature

Mood

contemplative inspirational

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- career
- education
- personal growth

Key Concepts

cultural exposure escapism creativity

Questions to Reflect On

- How does reading about distant lands affect you?
- What insights do you gain from imagined journeys?

A Different Perspective

Travel can be romanticized, ignoring real hardships.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Away Early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/away-early-3460194/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Hedgerows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hedgerows/) [Hedgerows Runs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hedgerows-runs-3460196/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Zambesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-zambesi-3460192/) [Palms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palms/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Running away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running-away/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tropics Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tropics-home-3460195/) [Vagrancy Hardly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagrancy-hardly-3460193/)

## Related quotes

> [Fairy folk a-listening Hear the seed sprout in the spring, And for music to their dance Hear the hedgerows wake from trance, Sap that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/fairy-folk-a-listening-hear-the-seed-sprout-in-the-spring-and-for/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/)

[Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/)

> [A man who lives with nature is used to violence and is companionable with death. There is more violence in an English hedgerow than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/a-man-who-lives-with-nature-is-used-to-violence-and-is-companionable/)

[P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/)

> [“Maybe freedom really is nothing left to lose. You had it once in childhood, when it was okay to climb a tree, to paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/maybe-freedom-really-is-nothing-left-to-lose-you-had-it-once-in/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [The Venturer is one who keeps his eye on the hedgerows and wayside groves and meadows while he travels the road to Fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/the-venturer-is-one-who-keeps-his-eye-on-the-hedgerows-and-wayside/)

[O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/)

> [It is only necessary that man should start a fence that Nature should carry it on and complete it. The farmer cannot plow quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/it-is-only-necessary-that-man-should-start-a-fence-that-nature-should/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [I have a passion for ballad. . . . They are the gypsy children of song, born under green hedgerows in the leafy lanes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/i-have-a-passion-for-ballad-they-are-the-gypsy-children-of-song-born/)

[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/)

> [Mom's dad was in the army, stormed the beach at Normandy, fought through the French hedgerows, the Battle of the Ardennes, the Battle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hoppus/mom-s-dad-was-in-the-army-stormed-the-beach-at-normandy-fought/)

[Mark Hoppus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hoppus/)

> [“like brightly colored sparrows in and out of hedgerows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-moyes/like-brightly-colored-sparrows-in-and-out-of-hedgerows/)

[Jojo Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-moyes/)

> [There are three conditions which often look alike Yet differ completely, flourish in the same hedgerow: Attachment to self and to things and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-three-conditions-which-often-look-alike-yet-differ/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There is no reason why you should be bored when you can be otherwise. But if you find yourself sitting in the hedgerow with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/there-is-no-reason-why-you-should-be-bored-when-you-can-be-otherwise/)

[Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/)

> [...he put his foot on one pedal, scooted a few yards and swung his other leg over the saddle. He soared left into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/he-put-his-foot-on-one-pedal-scooted-a-few-yards-and-swung-his-other/)

[J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/)

> [There's more than one way between your world and ours. There's the changeling road, and there's the Ravishing, and there's those that Stumble through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/there-s-more-than-one-way-between-your-world-and-ours-there-s-the/)

[Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/)

> [Dose it ever amaze and delight you that of all the places in the world - cold grassy nests under hedgerows, warm patches of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevada-barr/dose-it-ever-amaze-and-delight-you-that-of-all-the-places-in-the/)

[Nevada Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevada-barr/)

> [Dishonor is like the Aaron's Beard in the hedgerows; it can only poison if it be plucked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/dishonor-is-like-the-aaron-s-beard-in-the-hedgerows-it-can-only/)

[Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/)

## More by George Eliot

> [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

[Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

## More Book quotes

> [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/)

[Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/)

> [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/)

[Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/)

> [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/)

> [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/)

[Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/)

> [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/)

[Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/)

> [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/)

[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/)

> [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/)

[Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/)

> [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/)

[Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/)

> [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/)

[Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/)

> [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/)

[Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/)

> [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/)

[Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/)

> [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/)

[Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/)

[Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger by the hedgerows, but runs away early to the tropics, and is at home with palms and banyans - which is nourished on books of travel, and stretches the theatre of its imagination to the Zambesi.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Eliot"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly-time-to-linger-by-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Book"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly-time-to-linger-by-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/george-eliot-84_book_our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly_381730.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger by the hedgerows, but runs away early to the…” — George Eliot",
                "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": "George Eliot",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly-time-to-linger-by-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/our-instructed-vagrancy-which-has-hardly-time-to-linger-by-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
