Drawers Quote by T. S. Eliot
![“As a rule, with me an unfinished [idea] is a thing that might as well be rubbed out. It's better, if there's something good in it that I might make use of elsewhere, to leave it at the back of my mind than on paper in a drawer. If I leave it in a drawer it remains the same thing but if it's in the…” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6ff/t-s-eliot-633_drawers_as-a-rule-with-me-an-unfinished-idea-is_1669405.jpg)
“As a rule, with me an unfinished [idea] is a thing that might as well be rubbed out. It's better, if there's something good in it that I might make use of elsewhere, to leave it at the back of my mind than on paper in a drawer. If I leave it in a drawer it remains the same thing but if it's in the memory it becomes transformed into something else.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: "The Metaphysical Poets" (1921) by T. S. Eliot
Eliot argues that unfinished ideas should stay in the mind, where they can evolve, rather than be recorded and stagnate.
In simple terms: Keep ideas in thought, not on paper, to let them change.
Key Takeaway
Let ideas incubate in memory.
Themes
creativity
ideas
mental_process
evolution
productivity
Mood
reflective
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
advisory
When to use this quote
- writing
- research
- problem_solving
- artistic_creation
- innovation
Key Concepts
psychology
cognitive_flexibility
conceptual_transformation
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you decide when to record an idea?
- What mental habits help ideas evolve?
A Different Perspective
Ideas may become rigid if prematurely documented, limiting their potential.
![“[My novel] took up the sweetest part of my mind and the rarest part of my imagination; it was like being in love and better. All day long when I was busy [...], I had my unfinished novel personified almost as a secret companion and accomplice following me like a shadow wherever I went, whatever I…” quote by Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1f3/muriel-spark-4228_accomplices_my-novel-took-up-the-sweetest-part-of-my_1474468.jpg)
![“I sometimes try a variance of the drawer trick - [I write it] and then come back to it and see if it blows.” quote by Travis Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a47/travis-morrison-27885_blow_i-sometimes-try-a-variance-of-the-drawer_78987.jpg)
![“the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. [He] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with each other, or with the noise of the typewriter, or the smell of cooking; in the mind of the poet these experiences are always forming new wholes” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/18e/t-s-eliot-633_art_the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic_93688.jpg)
