--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The soul establishes itself. But how far…" description: "\"The soul establishes itself. But how far can it swim out through the eyes And still return safely to its nest?\" — John Ashbery" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/john-ashbery-3600_eye_the-soul-establishes-itself-but-how-far_2257226.png" --- # The soul establishes itself. But how far can it swim out… ![“The soul establishes itself. But how far can it swim out through the eyes And still return safely to its nest?” quote by John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/john-ashbery-3600_eye_the-soul-establishes-itself-but-how-far_2257226.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/john-ashbery-3600_eye_the-soul-establishes-itself-but-how-far_2257226.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/john-ashbery-3600_eye_the-soul-establishes-itself-but-how-far_2257226.png) > “The soul establishes itself. But how far can it swim out through the eyes And still return safely to its nest?” [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem explores the soul’s desire to experience the world while fearing loss of its core identity. **In simple terms:** Soul seeks adventure but worries about losing itself. Key Takeaway Balance exploration with self‑preservation. Themes existential identity exploration Mood contemplative poetic philosophical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - travel - creative writing - spiritual practice - personal growth - therapy Key Concepts self‑discovery metaphor philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What does “the nest” represent for you? - How do you stay grounded while exploring? A Different Perspective The abstract metaphor may be too vague for practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Establishes Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/establishes-far-5179074/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Eyes Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-return-4984522/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nests/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Soul Establishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul-establishes-5179072/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Swim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swim/) [Swim Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swim-eyes-5179073/) [Through the eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/through-the-eyes/) ## Related quotes > [“Trust your eyes for they can see more than you do" - Return to Finkleton by K.C. 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As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/art-trains-the-mind-through-the-eye-and-the-eye-through-the-mind-as/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [See yourself and others through the eyes of an angel and you will see a beautiful world that is light, bright, and hopeful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/see-yourself-and-others-through-the-eyes-of-an-angel-and-you-will-see/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [My art history papers were really politics. They were about the manifestation of culture through the eye of political events. So there was always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roselee-goldberg/my-art-history-papers-were-really-politics-they-were-about-the/) [Roselee Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roselee-goldberg/) > [A mother has a unique perspective. 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I looked at everything, even today, through what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-russell/baseball-shaded-my-entire-outlook-on-life-because-that-s-how-i-first/) [Kurt Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-russell/) > [Sometimes the easiest way to appreciate ourselves is by looking through the eyes of someone who loves us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/sometimes-the-easiest-way-to-appreciate-ourselves-is-by-looking/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [Certain realities in life are only seen through eyes that are cleansed through our tears. Let us learn how to weep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/certain-realities-in-life-are-only-seen-through-eyes-that-are/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [ That is another theme in the book \[Dreams from My Father\]. How do we exercise more empathy in our public discourse? How do we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/that-is-another-theme-in-the-book-dreams-from-my-father-how-do-we/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## More by John Ashbery > [“It was always November there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/it-was-always-november-there/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“Yes, they are alive and can have those colors, But I, in my soul, am alive too. I feel I must sing and dance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/yes-they-are-alive-and-can-have-those-colors-but-i-in-my-soul-am/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [How many people came and stayed a certain time, Uttered light or dark speech that became part of you Like light behind windblown fog…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/how-many-people-came-and-stayed-a-certain-time-uttered-light-or-dark/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Some certified nut Will try to tell you it's poetry, (It's extraordinary, it makes a great deal of sense) But watch out or he'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/some-certified-nut-will-try-to-tell-you-it-s-poetry-it-s/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [The ellipse is as aimless as that, Stretching invisibly into the future so as to reappear In our present. Its flexing is its account,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-ellipse-is-as-aimless-as-that-stretching-invisibly-into-the/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Somewhere someone is traveling furiously toward you, At incredible speed, traveling day and night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/somewhere-someone-is-traveling-furiously-toward-you-at-incredible/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [The facts of history have been too well rehearsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-facts-of-history-have-been-too-well-rehearsed/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“The genius of Cornell is that he sees and enables us to see with the eyes of childhood, before our vision got clouded by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-genius-of-cornell-is-that-he-sees-and-enables-us-to-see-with-the/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [The mind Is so hospitable, taking in everything Like boarders, and you don't see until It's all over how little there was to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-mind-is-so-hospitable-taking-in-everything-like-boarders-and-you/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [In the increasingly convincing darkness The words become palpable, like a fruit That is too beautiful to eat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/in-the-increasingly-convincing-darkness-the-words-become-palpable/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [What I like about music is its ability to be convincing, to carry an argument through successfully to the finish, though the terms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/what-i-like-about-music-is-its-ability-to-be-convincing-to-carry-an/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“The Unknown Travelers Lugged to the gray arbor, I have climbed this snow-stone on my face, My stick, but what, snapped the avalanche The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-unknown-travelers-lugged-to-the-gray-arbor-i-have-climbed-this/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [I don't look on poetry as closed works. I feel they're going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/i-don-t-look-on-poetry-as-closed-works-i-feel-they-re-going-on-all/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Somewhere someone is traveling furiously toward you, At incredible speed, traveling day and night, Through blizzards and desert heat, across torrents, through narrow passes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/somewhere-someone-is-traveling-furiously-toward-you-at-incredible-2/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [The promise of learning is a delusion… Tomorrow would alter the sense of what had already been learned, that the learning process is extended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-promise-of-learning-is-a-delusion-tomorrow-would-alter-the-sense/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) [Explore all 126 John Ashbery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) ## More Eye quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [“He blinked. His eyes fell as he processed her response. Then he lifted his chin and attempted a grin that was almost painfully dejected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/he-blinked-his-eyes-fell-as-he-processed-her-response-then-he-lifted/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/clearly-when-we-baptize-our-eyes-should-gaze-beyond-the-baptismal/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. 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They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 16,237 Eye quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The soul establishes itself. 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