--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: T. S. Eliot once wrote, “I said to my…" description: "\"“T. S. Eliot once wrote, “I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope; for hope would be hope for the wrong thing.”\" — Jaycee Dugard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26d/jaycee-dugard-23760_eliot_t-s-eliot-once-wrote-i-said-to-my-soul-b_3197571.jpg" --- # T. S. Eliot once wrote, “I said to my soul be still, and… ![“T. S. Eliot once wrote, “I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope; for hope would be hope for the wrong thing.” quote by Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26d/jaycee-dugard-23760_eliot_t-s-eliot-once-wrote-i-said-to-my-soul-b_3197571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26d/jaycee-dugard-23760_eliot_t-s-eliot-once-wrote-i-said-to-my-soul-b_3197571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26d/jaycee-dugard-23760_eliot_t-s-eliot-once-wrote-i-said-to-my-soul-b_3197571.jpg) > ““T. S. Eliot once wrote, “I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope; for hope would be hope for the wrong thing.”” [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hope can be misguided; waiting without realistic expectations may lead to disappointment. **In simple terms:** Blind hope is risky. Key Takeaway Seek realistic goals and grounded optimism. Themes hope expectations disillusionment Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - career planning - relationship decisions - health goals - financial investments Key Concepts psychology of hope self‑awareness Questions to Reflect On - What hopes do you hold without a plan? - How can you align hope with actionable steps? A Different Perspective Hope without direction can cause stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eliot/) [Eliot Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eliot-wrote-1996818/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hope Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-wrong-1407340/) [Soul Wait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul-wait-1712408/) [Wait Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wait-hope-360217/) [Without hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-hope/) ## Related quotes > [I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope, For hope would be hope for the wrong thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-said-to-my-soul-be-still-and-wait-without-hope-for-hope-would-be-3/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/i-said-to-my-soul-be-still-and-wait-without-hope-for-hope-would-be-4/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [ The great ages did not perhaps produce much more talent than ours,' \[T.S.\] Eliot wrote. 'But less talent was wasted. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/the-great-ages-did-not-perhaps-produce-much-more-talent-than-ours-t-s/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [ “It might be said of Miss \[Djuna\] Barnes,” \[T.S. Eliot\] wrote, “who is incontestably one of the most original writers of our time, that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-wetzsteon/it-might-be-said-of-miss-djuna-barnes-t-s-eliot-wrote-who-is/) [Ross Wetzsteon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-wetzsteon/) > [“Someday, sometime, you will be sitting somewhere. A berm overlooking a pond in Vermont. The lip of the Grand Canyon at sunset. A seat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/someday-sometime-you-will-be-sitting-somewhere-a-berm-overlooking-a/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“My trust and hope were indeed put in the wrong person(s), but nevertheless it still lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/my-trust-and-hope-were-indeed-put-in-the-wrong-person-s-but/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/i-said-to-my-soul-be-still-and-wait-without-hope-for-hope-would-be-2/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-said-to-my-soul-be-still-and-wait-without-hope-for-hope-would-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“i said to my soul be still and wait so the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/i-said-to-my-soul-be-still-and-wait-so-the-darkness-shall-be-the/) [t.s. eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [Whatever men you take, keep the idea of man intact: let your soul wait whether your body does or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/whatever-men-you-take-keep-the-idea-of-man-intact-let-your-soul-wait/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [“The Golden Bough captured the imagination of many artists in the early twentieth century. Eliot, certainly, was immersed in it, discussing it familiarly in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel-spears-brooker/the-golden-bough-captured-the-imagination-of-many-artists-in-the/) [Jewel Spears Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel-spears-brooker/) > [“Eliot's own reflections on the primitive mind as a model for nondualistic thinking and on the nature and consequences of different modes of consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel-spears-brooker/eliot-s-own-reflections-on-the-primitive-mind-as-a-model-for/) [Jewel Spears Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel-spears-brooker/) > [“T. S. Eliot wrote almost a century ago about a phenomenon that he believed to be the product of the nineteenth century: “When there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-jacobs/t-s-eliot-wrote-almost-a-century-ago-about-a-phenomenon-that-he/) [Alan Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-jacobs/) > [The President's speech suggested to me that were we to follow his leadership, we will be in Iraq not for months, but for years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-inouye/the-president-s-speech-suggested-to-me-that-were-we-to-follow-his/) [Daniel Inouye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-inouye/) > [When we hope, we usually hope for the wrong thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/when-we-hope-we-usually-hope-for-the-wrong-thing/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) ## More by Jaycee Dugard > [“I enjoy life so much more now, and I try hard to appreciate each and every day, but deep down I am still afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/i-enjoy-life-so-much-more-now-and-i-try-hard-to-appreciate-each-and/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“I am not proud of that today, but I did what I had always done... tried to survive an impossible situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/i-am-not-proud-of-that-today-but-i-did-what-i-had-always-done-tried/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“She reminds me of a turtle; you can never quite know wha ta turtle is thinking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/she-reminds-me-of-a-turtle-you-can-never-quite-know-wha-ta-turtle-is/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“I've learned that verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse and take longer to heal from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/i-ve-learned-that-verbal-abuse-can-be-just-as-damaging-as-physical/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“Ask yourself, "what would you do to survive?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/ask-yourself-what-would-you-do-to-survive/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“Love is not part time and its not conditional. I learned this from my mom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/love-is-not-part-time-and-its-not-conditional-i-learned-this-from-my/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“We live in a world where we rarely speak out and when someone does, often nobody is there to listen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/we-live-in-a-world-where-we-rarely-speak-out-and-when-someone-does/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“I learned in therapy the word "No" is a complete sentence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/i-learned-in-therapy-the-word-no-is-a-complete-sentence/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“For nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the ind as a steady purpose -- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/for-nothing-contributes-so-much-to-tranquilize-the-ind-as-a-steady/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“Life's adventure is important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/life-s-adventure-is-important/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“Families are like snowflakes: they come in many shapes and sizes and no two are the same. And like a snowflake, they are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/families-are-like-snowflakes-they-come-in-many-shapes-and-sizes-and/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“Even if it is just one thing or person you have to be thankful for, that is enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/even-if-it-is-just-one-thing-or-person-you-have-to-be-thankful-for/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“Genes, I have learned, do not make a family. Families are the people that stick around through good and bad times. Sadness is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/genes-i-have-learned-do-not-make-a-family-families-are-the-people/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [“I love metaphors and she has come up with the idea of lighting candles to symbolize my past, present, and future. My past and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/i-love-metaphors-and-she-has-come-up-with-the-idea-of-lighting/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [Hearts become attached as easily as they become broken and our minds are left sifting through the pieces, which I fear take a lifetime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/hearts-become-attached-as-easily-as-they-become-broken-and-our-minds/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) [Explore all 25 Jaycee Dugard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) ## More Eliot quotes > [“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. —T. S. Eliot”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-karnazes/only-those-who-will-risk-going-too-far-can-possibly-find-out-how-far/) [Dean Karnazes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-karnazes/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Pound had argued - and Eliot had helped him prove - that a poem could be sustained by memorable moments. Olson proved that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/pound-had-argued-and-eliot-had-helped-him-prove-that-a-poem-could-be/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [“The angels come to visit us,          and we only know them   when they are gone.     —George Eliot”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/the-angels-come-to-visit-us-and-we-only-know-them-when-they-are-gone/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) > [I have but one life to give to adventure. " Alexander Eliot -" Life is a fatal adventure. It can only have one end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-bors/i-have-but-one-life-to-give-to-adventure-alexander-eliot-life-is-a/) [Matt Bors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-bors/) > [“The top eleven are, in order, T. S. Eliot’s “Prufrock,” Robert Lowell’s “Skunk Hour,” Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” William…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-top-eleven-are-in-order-t-s-eliot-s-prufrock-robert-lowell-s/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“Do we not wile away moments of inanity or fatigued waiting by repeating some trivial movement or sound, until the repetition has bred a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/do-we-not-wile-away-moments-of-inanity-or-fatigued-waiting-by/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [When I was a teenager I fell in love with TS Eliot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-fell-in-love-with-ts-eliot/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [“Eliot was scornful of idle women readers who imagined themselves the heroines of French novels, and of self-regarding folk who saw themselves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mead/eliot-was-scornful-of-idle-women-readers-who-imagined-themselves-the/) [Rebecca Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mead/) > [But you know, where did the Brontes go to college? Where did George Eliot go to college? Where did Thomas Paine or Thomas Jefferson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/but-you-know-where-did-the-brontes-go-to-college-where-did-george/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [Most people think that George Nelson, Charles Eames and Eliot Noyes invented industrial design. That is, of course, an exaggeration. George did it without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-n-lacy/most-people-think-that-george-nelson-charles-eames-and-eliot-noyes/) [Bill N. Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-n-lacy/) > [Pound was silly, bumptious, extravagantly generous, annoying, exhibitionistic; Eliot was sensible, cautious, retiring, soothing, shy. Though Pound wrote some brilliant passages, on the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-mathews/pound-was-silly-bumptious-extravagantly-generous-annoying/) [T.S. Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-mathews/) > [Writers in the nineteenth century - people like George Eliot and Flaubert - were accustomed to addressing particular communities with which they shared not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/writers-in-the-nineteenth-century-people-like-george-eliot-and/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Universities are filled with poets and novelists conducting demure and careful lives in imitation of Eliot and Forster and those others who (through what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/universities-are-filled-with-poets-and-novelists-conducting-demure/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I don't know if I call myself a poet or not. I would like to, but I'm not really qualified to make that decision,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-know-if-i-call-myself-a-poet-or-not-i-would-like-to-but-i-m/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Browse all 144 Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eliot/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“T. S. 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