--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if…" description: "\"A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, / Our stitching and unstitching has been naught... Better go down upon y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/william-butler-yeats-350_bones_a-line-will-take-us-hours-maybe-yet-if-i_1779048.png" --- # A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if it does not seem… ![“A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, / Our stitching and unstitching has been naught... Better go down upon your marrow-bones / And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones... For to articulate sweet sounds together / Is to work harder than all these, and…” quote by William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/william-butler-yeats-350_bones_a-line-will-take-us-hours-maybe-yet-if-i_1779048.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/william-butler-yeats-350_bones_a-line-will-take-us-hours-maybe-yet-if-i_1779048.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/william-butler-yeats-350_bones_a-line-will-take-us-hours-maybe-yet-if-i_1779048.png) > “A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, / Our stitching and unstitching has been naught... Better go down upon your marrow-bones / And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones... For to articulate sweet sounds together / Is to work harder than all these, and yet / Be thought an idler by the noisy set...” [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He suggests that true artistic effort requires deep labor, often unappreciated by casual observers. **In simple terms:** Great art demands hard, unseen work. Key Takeaway Commit to diligent creation. Themes art effort recognition Mood melancholic determined Type literary reflective When to use this quote - painting - writing - musical composition Key Concepts craftsmanship labor misunderstanding Questions to Reflect On - Why do audiences undervalue the process? - How can creators find fulfillment despite criticism? A Different Perspective Hard work may be overlooked or dismissed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bones/) [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Harder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harder/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Hours Maybe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours-maybe-1845285/) [Idlers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idlers/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kitchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitchen/) [Line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/line/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Marrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marrow/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Noisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noisy/) [Pavement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pavement/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stones/) [Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet/) [Thought Idler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-idler-1845287/) [Thought Stitching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-stitching-1845288/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Unstitching Naught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unstitching-naught-1845286/) [Work harder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-harder/) ## Related quotes > [A line will take us hours maybe; Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, our stitching and unstitching has been naught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/a-line-will-take-us-hours-maybe-yet-if-it-does-not-seem-a-moment-s/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“I said: 'A line will take us hours maybe; Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, Our stitching and unstitching has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-said-a-line-will-take-us-hours-maybe-yet-if-it-does-not-seem-a/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“I run for I don't know how long. Hours, maybe, or days. Alex told me to run. So I run.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-run-for-i-don-t-know-how-long-hours-maybe-or-days-alex-told-me-to-3/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“I run for I don’t know how long. Hours, maybe, or days. Alex told me to run. And so I run. You”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-run-for-i-don-t-know-how-long-hours-maybe-or-days-alex-told-me-to-2/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [You guys are going to bed? Ok, Ill just go down to the lobby and read for a bit. Like, three hours maybe. Um,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-guys-are-going-to-bed-ok-ill-just-go-down-to-the-lobby-and-read/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I used to wish I would be a painter or a violinist, where maybe I wouldn't need to travel as much. Or maybe if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-baker/i-used-to-wish-i-would-be-a-painter-or-a-violinist-where-maybe-i/) [Kathy Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-baker/) > [For to articulate sweet sounds together Is to work harder than all these, and yet Be thought an idler by the noisy set Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/for-to-articulate-sweet-sounds-together-is-to-work-harder-than-all/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The idea of a government is to create an ordered, willing work force where there's no trouble. I think idlers are generally seen as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/the-idea-of-a-government-is-to-create-an-ordered-willing-work-force/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [The faster you go, the idler you get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferreira-gullar/the-faster-you-go-the-idler-you-get/) [Ferreira Gullar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferreira-gullar/) > [“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/when-i-pretended-to-be-precocious-people-started-the-rumor-that-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [Beauty, pleasure, freedom and plenty of sleep: these are the hallmarks of a successful idler's break. Travel should not be hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/beauty-pleasure-freedom-and-plenty-of-sleep-these-are-the-hallmarks/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [ The perfect woman, you see \[is\] a working-woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who \[uses\] her hands and her head… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-perfect-woman-you-see-is-a-working-woman-not-an-idler-not-a-fine/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Truly, the bench is a boon to idlers. Whoever first came up with the idea is a genius: free public resting places where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/truly-the-bench-is-a-boon-to-idlers-whoever-first-came-up-with-the/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [Writing a book is a brilliant thing because once you've finished it, you've done it, and there's the potential for it to go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/writing-a-book-is-a-brilliant-thing-because-once-you-ve-finished-it/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More by William Butler Yeats > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/you-know-what-the-englishman-s-idea-of-compromise-is-he-says-some/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/that-toil-of-growing-up-the-ignominy-of-boyhood-the-distress-of/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-see-a-schoolboy-when-i-think-of-him-with-face-and-nose-pressed-to-a/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Only God, my dear, Could love you for yourself alone And not your yellow hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/only-god-my-dear-could-love-you-for-yourself-alone-and-not-your/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-only-begin-to-live-when-we-conceive-life-as-tragedy/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-know-that-i-shall-meet-my-fate-somewhere-among-the-clouds-above/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses-the-dim-gray-sands-with-light-far/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [His element is so fine Being sharpened by his death, To drink from the wine-breath While our gross palates drink from the whole wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/his-element-is-so-fine-being-sharpened-by-his-death-to-drink-from-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We poets would die of loneliness but for women, and we choose our men friends that we may have somebody to talk about women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-poets-would-die-of-loneliness-but-for-women-and-we-choose-our-men/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/love-is-created-and-preserved-by-intellectual-analysis-for-we-love/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/who-dreamed-that-beauty-passes-like-a-dream-for-these-red-lips-with/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) [Explore all 652 William Butler Yeats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## More Bones quotes > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [May nothing entice me till I happily make my way to Jesus Christ! Fire, cross, struggles with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-antioch/may-nothing-entice-me-till-i-happily-make-my-way-to-jesus-christ-fire/) [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-antioch/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/we-are-preaching-hope-standing-on-the-bones-of-the-past/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [Flesh forgets. Bone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-bass/flesh-forgets-bone-remembers/) [Jefferson Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-bass/) > [One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-diament/one-of-my-favorite-poets-neruda-writes-close-to-the-bone-though-i/) [Anita Diament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-diament/) > [Death and burial were a public spectacle. Shakespeare may have seen for himself the gravediggers at St Ann's, Soho, playing skittles with skulls and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-arnold/death-and-burial-were-a-public-spectacle-shakespeare-may-have-seen/) [Catharine Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-arnold/) > [REVIEW, v.t. To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it./ Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)/ At work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/review-v-t-to-set-your-wisdom-holding-not-a-doubt-of-it-although-in/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“All right, you deadly little ghostlings,” I muttered. “Mama says go back to bed! - Cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/all-right-you-deadly-little-ghostlings-i-muttered-mama-says-go-back/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) [Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/) > [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. Every single time you lift off the bone and open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/when-i-look-at-the-human-brain-i-m-still-in-awe-of-it-every-single/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [I’m in, Cat. I’d never leave you. Especially when you’ve got death breathing down your neck.” “Very funny,” I retorted, since Bones was inches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/i-m-in-cat-i-d-never-leave-you-especially-when-you-ve-got-death/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) [Browse all 2,113 Bones quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bones/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, / Our stitching and unstitching has been naught... Better go down upon your marrow-bones / And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones... 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