--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I confess . . . that I am not myself very…" description: "\"I confess . . . that I am not myself very much concerned with the question of influence, or with those publicists who have impressed their names upon t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d43/t-s-eliot-633_affair_i-confess-that-i-am-not-myself-very-much_564903.jpg" --- # I confess . . . that I am not myself very much concerned… ![“I confess . . . that I am not myself very much concerned with the question of influence, or with those publicists who have impressed their names upon the public by catching the morning tide and rowing very vast in the direction in which the current was flowing; but rather that there should always…” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d43/t-s-eliot-633_affair_i-confess-that-i-am-not-myself-very-much_564903.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d43/t-s-eliot-633_affair_i-confess-that-i-am-not-myself-very-much_564903.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d43/t-s-eliot-633_affair_i-confess-that-i-am-not-myself-very-much_564903.jpg) > “I confess . . . that I am not myself very much concerned with the question of influence, or with those publicists who have impressed their names upon the public by catching the morning tide and rowing very vast in the direction in which the current was flowing; but rather that there should always be a few writers preoccupied in penetrating to the core of the matter, in trying to arrive at the truth and to set it forth, without too much hope, without ambition to alter the immediate course of affairs, and without being downcast or defeated when nothing appears to ensue.” [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers should seek truth and depth, not fame or influence, and remain resilient despite lack of immediate impact. **In simple terms:** Writers aim for truth, not fame. Key Takeaway Write honestly, ignore fame. Themes truth integrity resilience Mood thoughtful serious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - academic writing - personal essays - journalism - creative writing - public discourse Key Concepts Literary criticism philosophy of art Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you willing to pursue despite criticism? - How do you stay motivated without external validation? A Different Perspective Risk of isolation and limited audience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affair/) [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Publicists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publicists/) [Rowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rowing/) [Tides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tides/) ## Related quotes > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [People don’t find the personal lives of people with much, much more power than any celebrity would have — don’t find their personal lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/people-don-t-find-the-personal-lives-of-people-with-much-much-more-2/) [Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/) > [While some entertainment executives understand the power of having someone else speak for you, most Hollywood publicists don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grenell/while-some-entertainment-executives-understand-the-power-of-having/) [Richard Grenell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grenell/) > [And then Gossip Girl completely blew open the door to fashion for me. I'd go to fashion shows and call my publicist and say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-lively/and-then-gossip-girl-completely-blew-open-the-door-to-fashion-for-me/) [Blake Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-lively/) > [The Truth doesn't need your cooperation to exist. All forms of cult, all forms of hype, all forms of delusion do require your participation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-truth-doesn-t-need-your-cooperation-to-exist-all-forms-of-cult/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I never read anything in print about me. It started with not reading reviews and with the greatest respect to my publicist here, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-never-read-anything-in-print-about-me-it-started-with-not-reading/) [Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/) > [We must look at the institution of slavery as publicists, and not as casuists. It is a question of law, and not a case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-brooke-taney/we-must-look-at-the-institution-of-slavery-as-publicists-and-not-as/) Roger Brooke Taney > [My publicist told me that a magazine was going to say I was having a thing with either Sam Claflin or Bradley Cooper, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/my-publicist-told-me-that-a-magazine-was-going-to-say-i-was-having-a/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [If you do not regard feminism with an uplifting sense of the gloriousness of woman's industrial destiny, or in the way, in short, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/if-you-do-not-regard-feminism-with-an-uplifting-sense-of-the/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [If I had to spend equal time doing paintings, and equal time going to galleries and doing art business, and equal time making music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-harry/if-i-had-to-spend-equal-time-doing-paintings-and-equal-time-going-to/) [Debbie Harry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-harry/) > [The publicists are the gatekeepers, and they wield a lot of power. They're the ones giving you access to their clients.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-danza/the-publicists-are-the-gatekeepers-and-they-wield-a-lot-of-power-they/) [Tony Danza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-danza/) > [I've had high-powered publicists in my career, and I've had publicists when they've had no power. I've run the gamut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debi-mazar/i-ve-had-high-powered-publicists-in-my-career-and-i-ve-had-publicists/) [Debi Mazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debi-mazar/) > [I'm not in the business to make people aware of me, and publicists are very expensive - they're $3,500 a month! I don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debi-mazar/i-m-not-in-the-business-to-make-people-aware-of-me-and-publicists-are/) [Debi Mazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debi-mazar/) > [The one thing I've always done as an author is talk to my publicists. Because they have all the best stories - and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-coady/the-one-thing-i-ve-always-done-as-an-author-is-talk-to-my-publicists/) [Lynn Coady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-coady/) > [“The authors whose books get published - once accepted as a reclusive breed - are now vetted by publicists to make sure they're talk-show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/the-authors-whose-books-get-published-once-accepted-as-a-reclusive/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) ## More by T. S. Eliot > [The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-nobel-is-a-ticket-to-one-s-own-funeral-no-one-has-ever-done/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Dear Mother, I am getting on nicely in my work at the bank, and like it ... I want to find out something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/dear-mother-i-am-getting-on-nicely-in-my-work-at-the-bank-and-like-it/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, But the faith and the love and the hope are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/for-love-would-be-love-of-the-wrong-thing-there-is-yet-faith-but-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We must always take risks. That is our destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-must-always-take-risks-that-is-our-destiny/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/all-significant-truths-are-private-truths-as-they-become-public-they/) [T. S. 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Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [ 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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-had-the-experience-but-we-missed-the-meaning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The end is in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-end-is-in-the-beginning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You have learned enough to see that cats are much like you and me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/you-have-learned-enough-to-see-that-cats-are-much-like-you-and-me/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-strange-that-words-are-so-inadequate-yet-like-the-asthmatic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Every end is a beginning...And every beginning is an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/every-end-is-a-beginning-and-every-beginning-is-an-end/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) [Explore all 433 T. S. 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It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [My hope does not rest in the affairs of this world. It rests in Christ who is coming again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/my-hope-does-not-rest-in-the-affairs-of-this-world-it-rests-in-christ/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. 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