--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We fight for lost causes because we know…" description: "\"We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface to our successors' victory, though that victory itself will be t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/t-s-eliot-633_alive_we-fight-for-lost-causes-because-we-know_2332940.jpg" --- # We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat… ![“We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface to our successors' victory, though that victory itself will be temporary; we fight rather to keep something alive than in the expectation that anything will triumph.” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/t-s-eliot-633_alive_we-fight-for-lost-causes-because-we-know_2332940.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/t-s-eliot-633_alive_we-fight-for-lost-causes-because-we-know_2332940.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/t-s-eliot-633_alive_we-fight-for-lost-causes-because-we-know_2332940.jpg) > “We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface to our successors' victory, though that victory itself will be temporary; we fight rather to keep something alive than in the expectation that anything will triumph.” [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. We battle futile or to preserve meaning, knowing defeat may seed future success, yet victory is fleeting; the act of fighting sustains purpose more than expectation of triumph. **In simple terms:** Fighting sustains purpose despite temporary victories. Key Takeaway Preserve meaning through struggle. Themes purpose resilience impermanence legacy Mood determined reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - activism - artistic creation - personal sacrifice - political protest Key Concepts Existentialism martyrdom hope Questions to Reflect On - What values truly sustain you in struggle? - How do you balance hope with realism? A Different Perspective Even noble causes can become empty rituals without clear goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Defeat Dismay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat-dismay-5618776/) [Dismay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dismay/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Fight Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight-lost-629828/) [Fighting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fighting/) [Know Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-defeat-1559465/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Lost cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-cause/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Successors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successors/) [Temporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporary/) [Temporary Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporary-fight-5618777/) [Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumph/) [Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory/) ## Related quotes > [Revolution is an art that I pursue rather than a goal I expect to achieve. Nor is this a source of dismay; a lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/revolution-is-an-art-that-i-pursue-rather-than-a-goal-i-expect-to/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“NOTHING MAKES SENSE. Do not look for any sense in things. It is not there. It is you who ascribe it to what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camilo-gomes-jr/nothing-makes-sense-do-not-look-for-any-sense-in-things-it-is-not/) [Camilo Gomes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camilo-gomes-jr/) > [Victory is sweetest when you've know defeat. Ability will never catch up with the demand for it. You pay for everything, even including speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/victory-is-sweetest-when-you-ve-know-defeat-ability-will-never-catch/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [Right there in your hand I know that we can, defeat all the tragidy all the tragidy. That may stand between us oooh it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-latimore/right-there-in-your-hand-i-know-that-we-can-defeat-all-the-tragidy/) [Jacob Latimore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-latimore/) > [I know not how to defeat others, I only know how to win over myself. The real and most dangerous opponents we face in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bradford/i-know-not-how-to-defeat-others-i-only-know-how-to-win-over-myself/) [Chris Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bradford/) > [I don't know how you defeat an insurgency unless you have some handle on the number of people that you are facing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/i-don-t-know-how-you-defeat-an-insurgency-unless-you-have-some-handle/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [There is no such thing as a lost cause, because there is no such thing as a gained cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-lost-cause-because-there-is-no-such-thing/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [People who fight may lose. People who do not fight have already lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/people-who-fight-may-lose-people-who-do-not-fight-have-already-lost/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Every fight since I lost in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, every step for me is very important. Every fight becomes harder for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-arlovski/every-fight-since-i-lost-in-the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix/) [Andrei Arlovski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-arlovski/) > [There's no one to beat Cejudo. He's too tough, man. That fight he lost to Benavidez, I don't think he lost that fight. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricio-freire/there-s-no-one-to-beat-cejudo-he-s-too-tough-man-that-fight-he-lost/) [Patricio Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricio-freire/) > [When you take that step to watch a fight you lost, it's takes some courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gustafsson/when-you-take-that-step-to-watch-a-fight-you-lost-it-s-takes-some/) [Alexander Gustafsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gustafsson/) > [He who fights, can lose. He who doesn't fight, has already lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/he-who-fights-can-lose-he-who-doesn-t-fight-has-already-lost/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [“It’s never over. Not until every fight has been lost. And for you, I’d fight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-reed/it-s-never-over-not-until-every-fight-has-been-lost-and-for-you-i-d/) [J.C. Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-reed/) > [I thought you were supposed to be the champion of your people,' I said. I live because I need to do that. For anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/i-thought-you-were-supposed-to-be-the-champion-of-your-people-i-said/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [For me honestly I think that fight was lost six weeks before the fight even began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-franklin/for-me-honestly-i-think-that-fight-was-lost-six-weeks-before-the/) [Rich Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-franklin/) ## 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 Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. 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"That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface to our successors' victory, though that victory itself will be temporary; we fight rather to keep something alive than in the expectation that anything will triumph.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. S. 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