--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...as we advance in life these things…" description: "\"“...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one , and I suspect we are left with only Homer and Virgil , perhaps with only Homer alone.”\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg" --- # ...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one… ![“...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one , and I suspect we are left with only Homer and Virgil , perhaps with only Homer alone.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg) > ““...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one , and I suspect we are left with only Homer and Virgil , perhaps with only Homer alone.”” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. As life progresses, only foundational works like Homer and Virgil remain, suggesting a return to classic literature. **In simple terms:** Later life leaves only classic works. Key Takeaway Read classic literature. Themes literature age legacy Mood reflective nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - retirement - education - personal reflection Key Concepts classical canon cultural heritage Questions to Reflect On - Which classic resonates with you? - How do classics shape your worldview? A Different Perspective Modern works also hold value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homer/) [Homer Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homer-virgil-1781276/) [Left Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-homer-1781277/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Things Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-fall/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virgil/) [Virgil Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virgil-homer-923863/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever the poets pretend, it is plain they give immortality to none but themselves; it is Homer and Virgil we reverence and admire, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/whatever-the-poets-pretend-it-is-plain-they-give-immortality-to-none/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [“No one ever gave his life to translate and preserve the writings of Virgil or Homer. But many have dedicated their lives to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-stone/no-one-ever-gave-his-life-to-translate-and-preserve-the-writings-of/) [Larry Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-stone/) > [ “...\[T\]he three greatest works are those of Homer , Dante and Shakespeare . These are closely followed by the works of Virgil and Milton .” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-devlin/t-he-three-greatest-works-are-those-of-homer-dante-and-shakespeare/) [Joseph Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-devlin/) > [ours are the only farmers who can read Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/ours-are-the-only-farmers-who-can-read-homer/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“I am Aeneas, duty-bound, and known Above high air of heaven by my fame. -AM #CymruAMbyth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeneas-middleton/i-am-aeneas-duty-bound-and-known-above-high-air-of-heaven-by-my-fame/) [Aeneas Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeneas-middleton/) > [“Certainly, if money could have been raised upon the book, Robert Herrick would long ago have sacrificed that last possession: but the demand for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/certainly-if-money-could-have-been-raised-upon-the-book-robert/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [Virgil has had a big impact on the whole defence but it starts at the front, we put pressure on the opponent. It makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-matip/virgil-has-had-a-big-impact-on-the-whole-defence-but-it-starts-at-the/) [Joel Matip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-matip/) > [“Of all public figures and benefactors of mankind, no one is loved by history more than the literary patron. Napoleon was just a general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/of-all-public-figures-and-benefactors-of-mankind-no-one-is-loved-by/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [“Truly Virgil was right: love was a form of sickness. It altered people, made them behave in strange and irrational ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-woolfolk-cross/truly-virgil-was-right-love-was-a-form-of-sickness-it-altered-people/) [Donna Woolfolk Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-woolfolk-cross/) > [“The signs of the old flame, I know them well. I pray that the earth gape deep enough to take me down or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil/the-signs-of-the-old-flame-i-know-them-well-i-pray-that-the-earth/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil/) > [“the dank night is sweeping down from the sky and the setting stars incline our heads to sleep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil/the-dank-night-is-sweeping-down-from-the-sky-and-the-setting-stars/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil/) > [“Arma Virumque Cano (I sing of arms and of man) -The Aeneid”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeneas-middleton/arma-virumque-cano-i-sing-of-arms-and-of-man-the-aeneid/) [Aeneas Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeneas-middleton/) > [Virgil is so exact in every word, that none can be changed but for a worse; nor any one removed from its place, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/virgil-is-so-exact-in-every-word-that-none-can-be-changed-but-for-a/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [“..and why the winter suns so rush to bathe themselves in the sea and what slows down the nights to a long lingering crawl...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil/and-why-the-winter-suns-so-rush-to-bathe-themselves-in-the-sea-and/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil/) > [“truth, that he wasn’t involved in the murder, but Virgil wasn’t yet ready to label him nope. After a moment, Virgil said, “I’m going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sandford/truth-that-he-wasn-t-involved-in-the-murder-but-virgil-wasn-t-yet/) [John Sandford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sandford/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Homer quotes > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [“we're looking for a planeet on the strength of a song. it's crazy I know, but its the only chance we have to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-kagan/we-re-looking-for-a-planeet-on-the-strength-of-a-song-it-s-crazy-i/) [Janet Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-kagan/) > [“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/sing-in-me-muse-and-through-me-tell-the-story-of-that-man-skilled-in/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. Some of the greatest political and military leaders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/homer-hesiod-pythagoras-plato-and-cicero-just-to-name-a-few-all-lived/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) > [I've seen few things more depressing than the end-of-season Giants-Padres series in 2001 in which Barry Bonds hit his 68th homer of the year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-rodrick/i-ve-seen-few-things-more-depressing-than-the-end-of-season-giants/) [Stephen Rodrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-rodrick/) > [The Iliad is only great because all life is a battle, The Odyssey because all life is a journey, The Book of Job because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-iliad-is-only-great-because-all-life-is-a-battle-the-odyssey/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > ['The Odyssey' is a great poem to refugee-dom... Odysseus is not entirely a refugee... he's somebody who's blown off course. The entire book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/the-odyssey-is-a-great-poem-to-refugee-dom-odysseus-is-not-entirely-a/) [Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/) > [The Iliad is the private lives of people thrown into disorder by history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-queneau/the-iliad-is-the-private-lives-of-people-thrown-into-disorder-by/) [Raymond Queneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-queneau/) > [We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power, or of the hands. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/we-see-then-how-far-the-monuments-of-wit-and-learning-are-more/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“The Odyssey was written by Homer, or another Greek of the same name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-odyssey-was-written-by-homer-or-another-greek-of-the-same-name/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Everything since Homer has improved, except poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/everything-since-homer-has-improved-except-poetry/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods all things which are disreputable and worthy of blame when done by men; and they told of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xenophanes/homer-and-hesiod-attributed-to-the-gods-all-things-which-are/) [Xenophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xenophanes/) > [“For a long time the human instinct to understand was thwarted by facile religious explanations, as in ancient Greece in the time of Homer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/for-a-long-time-the-human-instinct-to-understand-was-thwarted-by/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [There were poets before Homer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/there-were-poets-before-homer/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Nestor is the spokesman for the status quo, for the tradition-hallowed belief that institutional power equates with unquestioned authority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-alexander/nestor-is-the-spokesman-for-the-status-quo-for-the-tradition-hallowed/) [Caroline Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-alexander/) [Browse all 228 Homer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one , and I suspect we are left with only Homer and Virgil , perhaps with only Homer alone.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall-off-one-by-one-and-i-suspect/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Homer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall-off-one-by-one-and-i-suspect/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/thomas-jefferson-43_homer_as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall_1771336.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one , and I suspect we are left with only Homer and…” — Thomas Jefferson", "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": "Thomas Jefferson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“...as we advance in life these...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall-off-one-by-one-and-i-suspect/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/as-we-advance-in-life-these-things-fall-off-one-by-one-and-i-suspect/#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 } } ] } ```