--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Get up very early and get going at once…" description: "\"Get up very early and get going at once. In fact, work first and wash afterwards.\" — W. H. Auden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02c/w-h-auden-856_early_get-up-very-early-and-get-going-at-once_2929258.png" --- # Get up very early and get going at once. In fact, work… ![“Get up very early and get going at once. In fact, work first and wash afterwards.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02c/w-h-auden-856_early_get-up-very-early-and-get-going-at-once_2929258.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02c/w-h-auden-856_early_get-up-very-early-and-get-going-at-once_2929258.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02c/w-h-auden-856_early_get-up-very-early-and-get-going-at-once_2929258.png) > “Get up very early and get going at once. In fact, work first and wash afterwards.” [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prioritize work before personal comforts; act promptly and seize the day. **In simple terms:** Work first, then leisure. Key Takeaway Act early and focus on tasks. Themes productivity discipline timing Mood energetic pragmatic Type motivational practical When to use this quote - morning routines - early project starts - time management Key Concepts work ethic habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance work and self‑care? - What early habits boost productivity? A Different Perspective Neglecting rest can cause burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [You have two choices when someone changes your work. You can either wash your hands of it or embrace it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-niccol/you-have-two-choices-when-someone-changes-your-work-you-can-either/) [Andrew Niccol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-niccol/) > [I know I have a pretty good eye for the zone, so if I'm on time, and I see the ball early enough, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-crawford/i-know-i-have-a-pretty-good-eye-for-the-zone-so-if-i-m-on-time-and-i/) [Brandon Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-crawford/) > [The conscious decision, early on, was that I was going to live in New York. That was it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ivory/the-conscious-decision-early-on-was-that-i-was-going-to-live-in-new/) [James Ivory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ivory/) > [After 2019, one thing that really stood out to me was, early on, not going too hard at the ball and allowing myself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stokes/after-2019-one-thing-that-really-stood-out-to-me-was-early-on-not/) [Ben Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stokes/) > [I've done enough of this that I can tell early on if it's going in the wrong direction or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-muren/i-ve-done-enough-of-this-that-i-can-tell-early-on-if-it-s-going-in/) [Dennis Muren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-muren/) > [Sometimes you worry when young kids get too much too early are they going to lose that hunger and desire?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-bent/sometimes-you-worry-when-young-kids-get-too-much-too-early-are-they/) [Darren Bent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-bent/) > [It's hard to please everyone, and I learnt quite early that that's never going to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hart/it-s-hard-to-please-everyone-and-i-learnt-quite-early-that-that-s/) [Joe Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hart/) > [Campaigns that are steady in the early going have a tendency to remain that way to the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-enten/campaigns-that-are-steady-in-the-early-going-have-a-tendency-to/) [Harry Enten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-enten/) > [It was good to learn so early. They're not going to be kind to you. You have to do it and get on, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-dench/it-was-good-to-learn-so-early-they-re-not-going-to-be-kind-to-you-you/) [Judi Dench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-dench/) > [The tour life definitely puts strains on your body, not just because of the dancing but because of the fact that you are traveling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-shum-jr/the-tour-life-definitely-puts-strains-on-your-body-not-just-because/) [Harry Shum, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-shum-jr/) > [Those who hate to go to bed fear death; those who hate to get up fear life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-who-hate-to-go-to-bed-fear-death-those-who-hate-to-get-up-fear/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Believe me, you have to get up early if you want to get out of bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/believe-me-you-have-to-get-up-early-if-you-want-to-get-out-of-bed/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [In the mornings, I try to wash my face - especially if I'm going to set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-list/in-the-mornings-i-try-to-wash-my-face-especially-if-i-m-going-to-set/) [Peyton List](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-list/) > [“I wash with the can of water I set aside the night before, and eat whatever I put next to it. The washing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-marshall-smith/i-wash-with-the-can-of-water-i-set-aside-the-night-before-and-eat/) [Michael Marshall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-marshall-smith/) > [“Always wash you feet last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-wash-you-feet-last/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by W. H. Auden > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Why doesn't the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/why-doesn-t-the-united-states-take-over-the-monarchy-and-unite-with/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/harrow-the-house-of-the-dead-look-shining-at-new-styles-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/men-will-pay-large-sums-to-whores-for-telling-them-they-are-not-bores/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-to-whom-evil-is-done-do-evil-in-return/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-and-the-public-know-what-all-schoolchildren-learn-those-to-whom/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/how-happy-the-lot-of-the-mathematician-he-is-judged-solely-by-his/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/perhaps-there-is-only-one-cardinal-sin-impatience-because-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-windiest-militant-trash-important-persons-shout-is-not-so-crude/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/time-and-fevers-burn-away-individual-beauty-from-thoughtful-children/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-hunt-for-symbols-in-a-fairy-tale-is-absolutely-fatal/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) [Explore all 344 W. H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## More Early quotes > [I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-was-also-known-as-frodo-because-i-was-an-early-adopter-of-the-lord/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. 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I thought there would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-garlinghouse/i-had-been-exposed-to-bitcoin-early-i-thought-the-consumer/) [Brad Garlinghouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-garlinghouse/) > [In the beginning, if you look at those early label albums of the Chicks, we didn't write all that much. We had an A&R…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martie-maguire/in-the-beginning-if-you-look-at-those-early-label-albums-of-the/) [Martie Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martie-maguire/) > [With 'Aurangzeb,' I just knew that the film wasn't going to work, though I think it was one of my most underrated performances. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-kapoor/with-aurangzeb-i-just-knew-that-the-film-wasn-t-going-to-work-though/) [Arjun Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-kapoor/) > [I grew up in the early '60s, and there was a lot of civil rights, a lot of unrest in our country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herm-edwards/i-grew-up-in-the-early-60s-and-there-was-a-lot-of-civil-rights-a-lot/) [Herm Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herm-edwards/) > [The early days were really difficult because it was constant no's, I didn't have an agent. I always knew that I had something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madelyn-cline/the-early-days-were-really-difficult-because-it-was-constant-no-s-i/) [Madelyn Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madelyn-cline/) > [The latest I like to be to meeting is 15 minutes early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/the-latest-i-like-to-be-to-meeting-is-15-minutes-early/) [David O. 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