--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They constantly try to escape From the…" description: "\"“They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside and within By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good. But the man tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7db/t-s-eliot-2-1761_darkness_they-constantly-try-to-escape-from-the-d_823682.jpg" --- # They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside… ![“They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside and within By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good. But the man that is will shadow The man that pretends to be.” quote by T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7db/t-s-eliot-2-1761_darkness_they-constantly-try-to-escape-from-the-d_823682.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7db/t-s-eliot-2-1761_darkness_they-constantly-try-to-escape-from-the-d_823682.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7db/t-s-eliot-2-1761_darkness_they-constantly-try-to-escape-from-the-d_823682.jpg) > ““They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside and within By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good. But the man that is will shadow The man that pretends to be.”” [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. People seek flawless systems to avoid confronting inner darkness, but true character is hidden behind pretenses. **In simple terms:** People hide behind perfect systems, but real character is concealed. Key Takeaway Recognize authenticity over illusion. Themes authenticity illusion inner darkness Mood reflective somber Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership - ethical decision making Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront inner darkness? - What masks your true character? A Different Perspective Ideal systems cannot replace personal moral effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape/) [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [System](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/system/) [Utopia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopia/) ## Related quotes > [A shadowless man is a monster, a devil, a thing of evil. A man without a shadow is soulless. 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I don't know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-sloan/brother-i-don-t-know-how-i-whisper-you-don-t-know-how-to-what-i-don-t/) [Harper Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-sloan/) > [“Escape from the darkness is what we called success.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adeeb/escape-from-the-darkness-is-what-we-called-success/) Adeeb > [I’m not afraid of the darkness outside. It’s the darkness inside houses I don’t like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/i-m-not-afraid-of-the-darkness-outside-it-s-the-darkness-inside/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [Let not this darkness outside be of any effect to your inner self, wait for the morning and swallow the light and brightness. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-not-this-darkness-outside-be-of-any-effect-to-your-inner-self/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This was the last time I ever saw my mother alive. 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Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-smith/) > [Is an institution always a man's shadow shortened in the sun, the lowest common denominator of everybody in it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/is-an-institution-always-a-man-s-shadow-shortened-in-the-sun-the/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [I have gone through the most terrible affair that could possibly happen; only imagine, my shadow has gone mad; I suppose such a poor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-andersen/i-have-gone-through-the-most-terrible-affair-that-could-possibly/) [Hans Christian Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-andersen/) > [That man has no shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/that-man-has-no-shadow/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [If a man's shadow is brighter than himself, than that man becomes the shadow itself!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-a-man-s-shadow-is-brighter-than-himself-than-that-man-becomes-the/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## 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. 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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 Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? 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Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) Nicole Gentile [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside and within By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good. But the man that is will shadow The man that pretends to be.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T.S. 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