--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I steer my bark with hope in the head…" description: "\"I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg" --- # I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. ![“I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg) > “I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern.” [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. Hope guides actions while fear is left behind, steering one's journey with optimism. **In simple terms:** Hope leads, fear follows. Key Takeaway Let hope steer you. Themes hope optimism navigation fear mindset Mood optimistic determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal decisions - career moves - creative projects - risk taking Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does hope look like in your life? - How do you keep fear at bay? A Different Perspective Hope can be unrealistic without planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. My hopes indeed sometimes fail, but not oftener than the forebodings of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-leaving-fear-astern-my-hopes/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Thus, I steer my bark, and sail On even keel, with gentle gale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-green/thus-i-steer-my-bark-and-sail-on-even-keel-with-gentle-gale/) [Matthew Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-green/) > [I'm not leaving out of fear,I'm leaving because all of a sudden I got the courage to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robben-island/i-m-not-leaving-out-of-fear-i-m-leaving-because-all-of-a-sudden-i-got/) Robben Island > [Sometimes the only option remain, is to keep going, so be bold and move on leaving every fear. \*senora\*](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/sometimes-the-only-option-remain-is-to-keep-going-so-be-bold-and-move/) Senoraroy > [Tis reason's part To govern and to guard the heart, To lull the wayward soul to rest, When hopes and fears distract the breast;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-cotton/tis-reason-s-part-to-govern-and-to-guard-the-heart-to-lull-the/) [Nathaniel Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-cotton/) > [In the name of God, Monsieur, let us have greater confidence in Him than we do; let us allow Him to steer our little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/in-the-name-of-god-monsieur-let-us-have-greater-confidence-in-him/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/we-ought-not-to-look-back-unless-it-is-to-derive-useful-lessons-from-2/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [ \[If\] the nature of ... government \[were\] a subordination of the civil to the ecclesiastical power, I \[would\] consider it as desperate for long… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-the-nature-of-government-were-a-subordination-of-the-civil-to-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Pleasure is the rock which most young people split upon; they launch out with crowded sails in quest of it, but without a compassto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/pleasure-is-the-rock-which-most-young-people-split-upon-they-launch/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think you have to sort of accept that nobody really knows where it's going so there has to be a lot of impulsive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-ulrich/i-think-you-have-to-sort-of-accept-that-nobody-really-knows-where-it/) [Lars Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-ulrich/) > [Every flyer who ventures across oceans to distant lands is a potential explorer; in his or her breast burns the same fire that urged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-batten/every-flyer-who-ventures-across-oceans-to-distant-lands-is-a/) Jean Batten > [Mothers ... would do anything to steer their daughter the right way. 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-page/once-i-got-a-guitar-that-was-relatively-user-friendly-but-not-super/) [Jimmy Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-page/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## 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. 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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 Bark quotes > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [If the watchdog doesn't bark, how do you know there's a burglar in the basement? And the press is supposed to be a watchdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/if-the-watchdog-doesn-t-bark-how-do-you-know-there-s-a-burglar-in-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [Guests are people who come to your home to see you whine at the table, bark loudly, jump on women wearing pantyhose, and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-kehret/guests-are-people-who-come-to-your-home-to-see-you-whine-at-the-table/) [Peg Kehret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-kehret/) > [I was haunted always by my other life-my drab room in the Bronx, my square foot of the subway, my fixation upon the day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-was-haunted-always-by-my-other-life-my-drab-room-in-the-bronx-my/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [We must guard against becoming so engrossed in the specific nature of the roots and bark of the trees of knowledge as to miss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/we-must-guard-against-becoming-so-engrossed-in-the-specific-nature-of/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [A tortoise is, I suppose, a Jewish pet. It knows its place. Out on the lawn. It doesn't bark. It doesn't tear the Dralon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-lipman/a-tortoise-is-i-suppose-a-jewish-pet-it-knows-its-place-out-on-the/) [Maureen Lipman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-lipman/) > [Our legal system, including the police, is anti-Dalit and anti-poor. The death penalty laws' wrathful majesty, in blood-shot equality, deals the fatal blow on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-r-krishna-iyer/our-legal-system-including-the-police-is-anti-dalit-and-anti-poor-the/) V. R. Krishna Iyer > [It is no use painting the foot of the tree white, the strength of the bark cries out from beneath the paint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aime-cesaire/it-is-no-use-painting-the-foot-of-the-tree-white-the-strength-of-the/) [Aime Cesaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aime-cesaire/) > [Dogs, also, bark at what they do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/dogs-also-bark-at-what-they-do-not-know/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-needham/the-dogs-may-bark-but-the-caravan-moves-on/) [Joseph Needham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-needham/) > [Dogs that bark dont bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/german-proverb/dogs-that-bark-dont-bite/) German Proverb > [I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much. It's more, perhaps, like a dog in some ways. It does have its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-bark-my-voice-out-through-a-closed-throat-pretty-much-it-s-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Ah, to that far distant strand Bridge there was not to convey, Not a bark was near at hand, Yet true love soon found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/ah-to-that-far-distant-strand-bridge-there-was-not-to-convey-not-a/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Don't bother about people who judge you without knowing you... Remember, dogs bark if they don't know the person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-bother-about-people-who-judge-you-without-knowing-you-remember/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you want to talk with the dogs, you must learn to bark, and bark like an old dog because he doesnt bark without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/if-you-want-to-talk-with-the-dogs-you-must-learn-to-bark-and-bark/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) Browse all 383 Bark quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-leaving-fear-astern/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bark" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-leaving-fear-astern/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/thomas-jefferson-43_bark_i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-le_131863.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern.” — 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": "I steer my bark with hope...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-leaving-fear-astern/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-steer-my-bark-with-hope-in-the-head-leaving-fear-astern/#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 } } ] } ```