--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We can make our minds so like still water…" description: "\"We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg" --- # We can make our minds so like still water that beings… ![“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.” quote by William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg) > “We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.” [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. Quietness invites others to see themselves, fostering deeper connection and clarity. **In simple terms:** Quietness reflects others' images. Key Takeaway Cultivate calm to inspire reflection. Themes quietness reflection clarity interpersonal connection Mood tranquil thoughtful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - Meditation - leadership - teaching - counseling Key Concepts Poetry philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does your calm affect others? - When is silence powerful? A Different Perspective Silence may be misread as disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Still waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/still-waters/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us, that they may see their own images, and so live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-around/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [I'm not a critic so much of my own writing. People must make up their own minds over that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/i-m-not-a-critic-so-much-of-my-own-writing-people-must-make-up-their/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [The true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-true-purpose-of-education-is-to-make-minds-not-careers/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [People being encouraged to make up their own minds and think for themselves is so important. This world talks endlessly about freedom of choice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/people-being-encouraged-to-make-up-their-own-minds-and-think-for/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“All of us want to believe that we make up our own minds, that sales doesn’t work on us. But it’s not true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/all-of-us-want-to-believe-that-we-make-up-our-own-minds-that-sales/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can not have it both ways: we cannot be both drug-free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-minds-we-can-not-have-it-both/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [Most of us make up our minds in the first three minutes of meeting someone whether there's a potential for a relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/most-of-us-make-up-our-minds-in-the-first-three-minutes-of-meeting/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [It's always a good idea to let the audience make up their own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-gillen/it-s-always-a-good-idea-to-let-the-audience-make-up-their-own-minds/) [Aidan Gillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-gillen/) > [I am convinced that every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young to use their own minds. For one thing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/i-am-convinced-that-every-effort-must-be-made-in-childhood-to-teach/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/we-must-make-up-our-minds-to-be-ignorant-of-much-if-we-would-know/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [Life is for action, and if we desire to know anything, we must make up our minds to be ignorant about much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/life-is-for-action-and-if-we-desire-to-know-anything-we-must-make-up/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [“Most men are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/most-men-are-about-as-happy-as-they-make-up-their-minds-to-be/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [I think the voters can make up their own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/i-think-the-voters-can-make-up-their-own-minds/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) > [Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dewar/minds-are-like-parachutes-they-only-function-when-they-are-open/) James Dewar > [I'm convinced women actually think they can read minds. Like when a woman goes, "I can tell you don't want to hang out with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-zahn/i-m-convinced-women-actually-think-they-can-read-minds-like-when-a/) [Steve Zahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-zahn/) ## 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 Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Butler Yeats" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-about-us/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-about-us/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/235/william-butler-yeats-350_life_we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-wate_2814052.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their…” — William Butler Yeats", "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": "William Butler Yeats", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We can make our minds so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-about-us/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-about-us/#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 } } ] } ```