--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A mere index hunter, who held the eel of…" description: "\"A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.\" — Tobias Smollett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg" --- # A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the… ![“A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.” quote by Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg) > “A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.” [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A scholar obsessively pursues knowledge without understanding its deeper implications. **In simple terms:** Chasing facts without insight. Key Takeaway Seek depth, not just data. Themes knowledge obsession science Mood cautious reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - scientific discovery - policy making - education - innovation Key Concepts epistemology hubris Questions to Reflect On - What deeper questions are you ignoring? - How does curiosity differ from obsession? A Different Perspective Focusing solely on data can lead to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eel Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eel-science-2690625/) [Eels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eels/) [Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fish/) [Held Eel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/held-eel-5250591/) [Hunters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunters/) [Index Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/index-hunter-5250592/) [Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Tail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-tail-2690622/) [Tail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tail/) [Tails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tails/) ## Related quotes > [A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail. Index-hunter is a term used mockingly, meaning one who acquires superficial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of-science-by-the-tail-index/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [How index-learning turns no student pale, Yet holds the eel of science by the tail!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-index-learning-turns-no-student-pale-yet-holds-the-eel-of-science/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Index-learning turns no student pale, Yet holds the eel of Science by the tail. Index-learning is a term used to mock pretenders who acquire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/index-learning-turns-no-student-pale-yet-holds-the-eel-of-science-by/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [It is very strange that men should deny a Creator and yet attribute to themselves the power of creating eels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/it-is-very-strange-that-men-should-deny-a-creator-and-yet-attribute/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/to-stand-at-the-edge-of-the-sea-to-sense-the-ebb-and-flow-of-the/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [“He leans over and puts the radio on. It’s Jason Donovan’s ‘Sealed With A Kiss’. ‘I love the music they play up here in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-burgess/he-leans-over-and-puts-the-radio-on-it-s-jason-donovan-s-sealed-with/) [Gemma Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-burgess/) > [If God did not exist, he would have to be invented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-god-did-not-exist-he-would-have-to-be-invented/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is a slippery eel that bites like hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/love-is-a-slippery-eel-that-bites-like-hell/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one. What is most repellent in the System of Nature - after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/doubt-is-not-a-pleasant-condition-but-certainty-is-an-absurd-one-what/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [Take every gain without showing remorse about missed profits, because an eel may escape sooner than you think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-every-gain-without-showing-remorse-about-missed-profits-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have caught some big eels in New Zealand, where the climate is very similar to Scotland. But they grow to around five feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-wade/i-have-caught-some-big-eels-in-new-zealand-where-the-climate-is-very/) [Jeremy Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-wade/) > [Life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-isn-t-all-fricasseed-frogs-and-eel-pie/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-am-not-eccentric-it-s-just-that-i-am-more-alive-than-most-people-i/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The apartments are made for eels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-fukunaga/the-apartments-are-made-for-eels/) [Cary Fukunaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-fukunaga/) > [ “You \[demagogues\] are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/you-demagogues-are-like-the-fishers-for-eels-in-still-waters-they/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) ## More by Tobias Smollett > [The bread I eat in London, is a deleterious paste, mixed up with chalk, alum, and bone ashes: insipid to the taste, and destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/the-bread-i-eat-in-london-is-a-deleterious-paste-mixed-up-with-chalk/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [One wit, like a knuckle of ham in soup, gives a zest and flavour to the dish, but more than one serves only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/one-wit-like-a-knuckle-of-ham-in-soup-gives-a-zest-and-flavour-to-the/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Some folks are wise and some are otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/some-folks-are-wise-and-some-are-otherwise/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [To the valiant actions speak alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/to-the-valiant-actions-speak-alone/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Opposition is the very spur of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/opposition-is-the-very-spur-of-love/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Ridiculous modes, invented by ignorance, and adopted by folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/ridiculous-modes-invented-by-ignorance-and-adopted-by-folly/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Thy spirit, Independence, let me share! 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It is an adulterous mixture, brewed up of nauseous ingredients, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/what-passes-for-wine-among-us-is-not-the-juice-of-the-grape-it-is-an/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [The Highlanders regale themselves with whisky. They find it an excellent preservation against the winter cold. It is given with great success to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/the-highlanders-regale-themselves-with-whisky-they-find-it-an/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [False as the fowler's artful snare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/false-as-the-fowler-s-artful-snare/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [“Woe be to that nation, where the multitude is at liberty to follow their own inclinations!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/woe-be-to-that-nation-where-the-multitude-is-at-liberty-to-follow/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Writing is all a lottery -- I have been a loser by the works of the greatest men of the age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/writing-is-all-a-lottery-i-have-been-a-loser-by-the-works-of-the/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) [Explore all 32 Tobias Smollett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) ## More Eels quotes > [ “You \[demagogues\] are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/you-demagogues-are-like-the-fishers-for-eels-in-still-waters-they/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [The apartments are made for eels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-fukunaga/the-apartments-are-made-for-eels/) [Cary Fukunaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-fukunaga/) > [I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-am-not-eccentric-it-s-just-that-i-am-more-alive-than-most-people-i/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [Life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-isn-t-all-fricasseed-frogs-and-eel-pie/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have caught some big eels in New Zealand, where the climate is very similar to Scotland. But they grow to around five feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-wade/i-have-caught-some-big-eels-in-new-zealand-where-the-climate-is-very/) [Jeremy Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-wade/) > [Take every gain without showing remorse about missed profits, because an eel may escape sooner than you think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-every-gain-without-showing-remorse-about-missed-profits-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one. What is most repellent in the System of Nature - after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/doubt-is-not-a-pleasant-condition-but-certainty-is-an-absurd-one-what/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [Love is a slippery eel that bites like hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/love-is-a-slippery-eel-that-bites-like-hell/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [If God did not exist, he would have to be invented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-god-did-not-exist-he-would-have-to-be-invented/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He leans over and puts the radio on. It’s Jason Donovan’s ‘Sealed With A Kiss’. ‘I love the music they play up here in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-burgess/he-leans-over-and-puts-the-radio-on-it-s-jason-donovan-s-sealed-with/) [Gemma Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-burgess/) > [How index-learning turns no student pale, Yet holds the eel of science by the tail!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-index-learning-turns-no-student-pale-yet-holds-the-eel-of-science/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/to-stand-at-the-edge-of-the-sea-to-sense-the-ebb-and-flow-of-the/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [It is very strange that men should deny a Creator and yet attribute to themselves the power of creating eels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/it-is-very-strange-that-men-should-deny-a-creator-and-yet-attribute/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [I gotta go home and feed my eels. They're not electric, but I have a plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-spencer/i-gotta-go-home-and-feed-my-eels-they-re-not-electric-but-i-have-a/) [Octavia Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-spencer/) > [Be an electric eel in a goldfish pond!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sark/be-an-electric-eel-in-a-goldfish-pond/) [Sark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sark/) [Browse all 48 Eels quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eels/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tobias Smollett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of-science-by-the-tail/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eels" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of-science-by-the-tail/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/tobias-smollett-18143_eels_a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of_1456429.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.” — Tobias Smollett", "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": "Tobias Smollett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A mere index hunter, who held...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of-science-by-the-tail/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of-science-by-the-tail/#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 } } ] } ```