--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So here I am, in the middle way, having…" description: "\"“So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years- Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres- Trying to use words, and eve..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/t-s-eliot-2-1761_failure_so-here-i-am-in-the-middle-way-having-ha_1555204.jpg" --- # So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years… ![“So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years- Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres- Trying to use words, and every attempt Is a wholy new start, and a different kind of failure Because one has only learnt to get the better of words For the thing one no longer…” quote by T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/t-s-eliot-2-1761_failure_so-here-i-am-in-the-middle-way-having-ha_1555204.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/t-s-eliot-2-1761_failure_so-here-i-am-in-the-middle-way-having-ha_1555204.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/t-s-eliot-2-1761_failure_so-here-i-am-in-the-middle-way-having-ha_1555204.jpg) > ““So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years- Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres- Trying to use words, and every attempt Is a wholy new start, and a different kind of failure Because one has only learnt to get the better of words For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate, With shabby equipment always deteriorating In the general mess of imprecision of feeling, Undisciplined squads of emotion. And what there is to conquer By strength and submission, has already been discovered Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope To emulate - but there is no competition - There is only the fight to recover what has been lost And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss. For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.”” [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on repeated attempts at expression, confronting failure, and the endless cycle of loss and recovery. **In simple terms:** Repeated effort leads to new failures and rediscovery. Key Takeaway Embrace the process of continual learning despite setbacks. Themes creativity failure resilience Mood reflective melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - therapy sessions - research projects - personal journaling Key Concepts existential struggle artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to keep trying after repeated failures? - How can you find meaning in the process itself? A Different Perspective Constant striving may lead to burnout without reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failure Learnt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-learnt-1441451/) [Guerres Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guerres-trying-4531370/) [Loss Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss-trying-2217670/) [Middle way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-way/) [New beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-beginning/) [Words Attempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-attempt-1441450/) ## Related quotes > [“So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years— Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres Trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/so-here-i-am-in-the-middle-way-having-had-twenty-years-twenty-years-2/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [Trying to use words, and every attempt Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure Because one has only learnt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/trying-to-use-words-and-every-attempt-is-a-wholly-new-start-and-a/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“There is only the fight to recover what has been lost And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions That seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/there-is-only-the-fight-to-recover-what-has-been-lost-and-found-and/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [If you want to be rich, never give up. People tend to give up. If you have persistence, you will come out ahead of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-belfort/if-you-want-to-be-rich-never-give-up-people-tend-to-give-up-if-you/) [Jordan Belfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-belfort/) > [I've been broke more than I've been rich. I like being in the middle way better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reagan-gomez-preston/i-ve-been-broke-more-than-i-ve-been-rich-i-like-being-in-the-middle/) [Reagan Gomez-Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reagan-gomez-preston/) > [There is no middle way. We cannot compromise on cruelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-stratford-tony-banks/there-is-no-middle-way-we-cannot-compromise-on-cruelty/) [Baron Stratford Tony Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-stratford-tony-banks/) > [The key to finding a happy balance in modern lives is simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/the-key-to-finding-a-happy-balance-in-modern-lives-is-simplicity/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [“Belief - Yang Doubt - Yin? Or the Middle Way of pure direct experience of Now prior to belief or doubt…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-lewis/belief-yang-doubt-yin-or-the-middle-way-of-pure-direct-experience-of/) [Leland Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-lewis/) > [There's many lanes on the highway of enlightenment, they don't have to be on the razor's edge like the yellow line dotted in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/surya-das/there-s-many-lanes-on-the-highway-of-enlightenment-they-don-t-have-to/) [Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/surya-das/) > [“Whatever is dependently co-arisen That is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation Is itself the Middle Way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-g-rjuna/whatever-is-dependently-co-arisen-that-is-explained-to-be-emptiness/) [Nāgārjuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-g-rjuna/) > [Life is one, said the Buddha, and the Middle Way to the end of suffering in all its forms is that which leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christmas-humphreys/life-is-one-said-the-buddha-and-the-middle-way-to-the-end-of/) [Christmas Humphreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christmas-humphreys/) > [In a novella, a whole lot of crap can happen, and you can build momentum and suspense and leave room for a surprise or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/in-a-novella-a-whole-lot-of-crap-can-happen-and-you-can-build/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [The middle way cannot be achieved by dividing two extremes in half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-maisel/the-middle-way-cannot-be-achieved-by-dividing-two-extremes-in-half/) [Eric Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-maisel/) > [Some people will follow their minds without listening to their hearts, and others will follow their hearts without listening to their minds. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/some-people-will-follow-their-minds-without-listening-to-their-hearts/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Damn'd neuters, in their middle way of steering, Are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/damn-d-neuters-in-their-middle-way-of-steering-are-neither-fish-nor/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) ## More by T.S. Eliot > [“I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/i-have-measured-out-my-life-in-coffee-spoons/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Shakespeare acquired more essential history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole British Museum. What is to be insisted upon is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/shakespeare-acquired-more-essential-history-from-plutarch-than-most/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones — In fact, he's remarkably fat. He doesn't haunt pubs — he has eight or nine clubs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/bustopher-jones-is-not-skin-and-bones-in-fact-he-s-remarkably-fat-he/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Politic, cautious, and meticulous; full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/politic-cautious-and-meticulous-full-of-high-sentence-but-a-bit-obtuse/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Our beginnings never know our ends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/our-beginnings-never-know-our-ends/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Oxford is very pretty, but I don't like to be dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/oxford-is-very-pretty-but-i-don-t-like-to-be-dead/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“We have therefore to inquire what there is about Machiavelli to impress the mind of Europe so prodigiously and so curiously, and why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-have-therefore-to-inquire-what-there-is-about-machiavelli-to/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And a hundred visions and revisions”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/and-time-yet-for-a-hundred-indecisions-and-a-hundred-visions-and/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“The world turns and the world changes, But one thing does not change. In all of my years, one thing does not change, However…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/the-world-turns-and-the-world-changes-but-one-thing-does-not-change/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“It is essential that a work of art should be self-consistent, that an artist should consciously or unconsciously draw a circle beyond which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/it-is-essential-that-a-work-of-art-should-be-self-consistent-that-an/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“By destroying traditional social habits of the people, by dissolving their natural collective consciousness into individual constituents, by licensing the opinions of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/by-destroying-traditional-social-habits-of-the-people-by-dissolving/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“We returned to our palaces, these Kingdoms, but no longer at ease here in the old dispensation, with an alien people clutching their gods.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-returned-to-our-palaces-these-kingdoms-but-no-longer-at-ease-here/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“…Lady of silences Calm and distressed Torn and most whole Rose of memory Rose of forgetfulness Exhausted and life-giving Worried reposeful The single Rose…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/lady-of-silences-calm-and-distressed-torn-and-most-whole-rose-of/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Destiny waits in the hand of god, shaping the still unshapen..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/destiny-waits-in-the-hand-of-god-shaping-the-still-unshapen/) [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/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/) [Explore all 206 T.S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years- Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres- Trying to use words, and every attempt Is a wholy new start, and a different kind of failure Because one has only learnt to get the better of words For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate, With shabby equipment always deteriorating In the general mess of imprecision of feeling, Undisciplined squads of emotion. And what there is to conquer By strength and submission, has already been discovered Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope To emulate - but there is no competition - There is only the fight to recover what has been lost And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss. For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T.S. 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