--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That was my way of putting it-not very…" description: "\"That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png" --- # That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A… ![“That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle With words and meanings.” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png) > “That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle With words and meanings.” [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. Complex language can obscure meaning, leaving readers struggling with interpretation. **In simple terms:** Hard words make understanding difficult. Key Takeaway Simplify language for clearer communication. Themes communication language interpretation Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary critical When to use this quote - academic writing - creative writing - public speaking Key Concepts poetic complexity semantic struggle Questions to Reflect On - When does artistic expression become a barrier? - How can you maintain depth while ensuring clarity? A Different Perspective Overly ornate phrasing can alienate audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Fashion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fashion/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Poetical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetical/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [“The sunlight and the sounds told him that somewhere in this world there is a pure, refined, poetical life. But where was it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-sunlight-and-the-sounds-told-him-that-somewhere-in-this-world/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [In my own life, I believe it was an early education in poetical metaphor that helped me to grapple with and make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/in-my-own-life-i-believe-it-was-an-early-education-in-poetical/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [Poetical appreciation is only newly bursting on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-rosenberg/poetical-appreciation-is-only-newly-bursting-on-me/) [Isaac Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-rosenberg/) > [If life is not always poetical, it is at least metrical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-meynell/if-life-is-not-always-poetical-it-is-at-least-metrical/) [Alice Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-meynell/) > [It is my belief that many who think they dislike poetry are really poetical in their natures and are indebted to it, more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-f-whitney/it-is-my-belief-that-many-who-think-they-dislike-poetry-are-really/) [Orson F. Whitney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-f-whitney/) > [Nearly all men and women are poetical, to some extent, but very few can be called poets. There are great poets, small poets, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-f-whitney/nearly-all-men-and-women-are-poetical-to-some-extent-but-very-few-can/) [Orson F. Whitney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-f-whitney/) > [The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-death-of-a-beautiful-woman-is-unquestionably-the-most-poetical/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are always poetical people ready to protest that a corrupt line is exquisite. Exquisite to whom?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholarship-there-are-always/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“The cap was gone and the man dropped to his elbows to smell the pipe but the odor of gas was only a rumor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cap-was-gone-and-the-man-dropped-to-his-elbows-to-smell-the-pipe/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Melancholy is ... the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/melancholy-is-the-most-legitimate-of-all-the-poetical-tones/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“There again," said Syme irritably, "what is there poetical about being in revolt? You might as well say that it is poetical to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/there-again-said-syme-irritably-what-is-there-poetical-about-being-in/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [If you can't give me poetry, can't you give me poetical science?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/if-you-can-t-give-me-poetry-can-t-you-give-me-poetical-science/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thomson/i-know-no-subject-more-elevating-more-amazing-more-ready-to-the/) [James Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thomson/) > [Marriage is a sort of poetical see-saw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/marriage-is-a-sort-of-poetical-see-saw/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## 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. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/when-forced-to-work-within-a-strict-framework-the-imagination-is/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/honest-criticism-and-sensitive-appreciation-are-directed-not-upon-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. 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. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. Otherwise the world would be full of millionaires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/in-school-you-are-taught-to-obey-and-not-to-think-straight-for-your/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) H.D. (Hilda Doolittle > [“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/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle With words and meanings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. S. Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-satisfactory-a-periphrastic/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-satisfactory-a-periphrastic/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/t-s-eliot-633_education_that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-s_808929.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion…” — T. S. Eliot", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "T. S. Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That was my way of putting...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-satisfactory-a-periphrastic/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-satisfactory-a-periphrastic/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```