--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I decided I would put off the novel until…" description: "\"“I decided I would put off the novel until I had gone to Europe and had a lover, and that I would never learn a word of shorthand. If I never learned s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/sylvia-plath-149_books_i-decided-i-would-put-off-the-novel-unti_1317075.jpg" --- # I decided I would put off the novel until I had gone to… ![“I decided I would put off the novel until I had gone to Europe and had a lover, and that I would never learn a word of shorthand. If I never learned shorthand I would never have to use it. I thought I would spend the summer reading "Finnegan's Wake" and writing my thesis. Then I would be way ahead…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/sylvia-plath-149_books_i-decided-i-would-put-off-the-novel-unti_1317075.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/sylvia-plath-149_books_i-decided-i-would-put-off-the-novel-unti_1317075.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/sylvia-plath-149_books_i-decided-i-would-put-off-the-novel-unti_1317075.jpg) > ““I decided I would put off the novel until I had gone to Europe and had a lover, and that I would never learn a word of shorthand. If I never learned shorthand I would never have to use it. I thought I would spend the summer reading "Finnegan's Wake" and writing my thesis. Then I would be way ahead when college started at the end of September, and able to enjoy my last year instead of swotting away with no make up and stringy hair, on a diet of Benzedrine, the way most of the seniors taking honors did, until they finished their thesis. Then I thought I might put off college for a year and apprentice myself to a pottery maker. Or work my way to Germany and be a waitress, until I was bilingual. Then plan after plan started leaping through my head, like a family of scatty rabbits. I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles, threaded together by the wires. I counted one, two, three… nineteen telephone poles dangled in space, and try as I would, I couldn't see a single pole beyond the nineteenth.”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Procrastination and idealized plans can mask fear; confronting reality reveals the limits of endless postponement. **In simple terms:** Avoiding tasks hides deeper anxieties. Key Takeaway Face tasks now, not later. Themes procrastination fear future planning Mood anxious introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - academic work - career decisions - creative writing - travel plans Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What are you postponing? - How does fear shape your plans? A Different Perspective Idealizing delay can lead to missed opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [End Of September](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-september/) [Shorthand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shorthand/) [Summer reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer-reading/) [Wandering thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wandering-thoughts/) ## Related quotes > [I decided I would put off the novel until I had gone to Europe and had a lover, and that I would never learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-decided-i-would-put-off-the-novel-until-i-had-gone-to-europe-and-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Fruits each in its season, are the cheapest, most elegant and wholesome dessert you can offer your family or friends, at luncheon or tea.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-virginia-terhune/fruits-each-in-its-season-are-the-cheapest-most-elegant-and-wholesome/) [Mary Virginia Terhune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-terhune/) > [“Then I would be way ahead when college started at the end of September, and able to enjoy my last year instead of swotting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-i-would-be-way-ahead-when-college-started-at-the-end-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The young man who, at the end of September, 1924, dismounted from a taxicab in South Square, Westminster, was so unobtrusively American that his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galsworthy/the-young-man-who-at-the-end-of-september-1924-dismounted-from-a/) [John Galsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galsworthy/) > [“Towards the end of September the officers went to a man in prison, whom they found quietly playing at cards, and gave him notice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/towards-the-end-of-september-the-officers-went-to-a-man-in-prison/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Not knowing my birthday had never seemed strange. 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The French, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/during-the-next-few-years-i-wrote-a-series-of-martian-pens-es/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit; and our wandering thoughts in prayer are but the neglects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-taylor/meditation-is-the-tongue-of-the-soul-and-the-language-of-our-spirit/) [Jeremy Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-taylor/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. 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Then I would be way ahead when college started at the end of September, and able to enjoy my last year instead of swotting away with no make up and stringy hair, on a diet of Benzedrine, the way most of the seniors taking honors did, until they finished their thesis. Then I thought I might put off college for a year and apprentice myself to a pottery maker. Or work my way to Germany and be a waitress, until I was bilingual. Then plan after plan started leaping through my head, like a family of scatty rabbits. I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles, threaded together by the wires. 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