--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of…" description: "\"Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up, bewildered and so defeated-thrown aside-a man hesitates to write down his innermost convicti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png" --- # Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up… ![“Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up, bewildered and so defeated-thrown aside-a man hesitates to write down his innermost convictions.” quote by William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png) > “Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up, bewildered and so defeated-thrown aside-a man hesitates to write down his innermost convictions.” [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing can feel dangerous when language entangles and overwhelms, causing hesitation to express deep beliefs. **In simple terms:** Fear of words can stop honest expression. Key Takeaway Embrace clarity, write despite fear. Themes expression fear creativity Mood anxious reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - personal journals - public speeches - creative writing - confessional essays Key Concepts self‑censorship authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding sharing? - How can you protect yourself while being honest? A Different Perspective Even with clarity, vulnerability can invite criticism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bewildered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bewildered/) [Bewildered Defeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bewildered-defeated-5954409/) [Caught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caught/) [Caught up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caught-up/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Defeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeated/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Hesitates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hesitates/) [Hesitates Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hesitates-write-5954408/) [Man Hesitates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-hesitates-1342250/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Thrown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrown/) [Words Tripped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-tripped-4226168/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Trust the man who hesitates in his speech and is quick and steady in action, but beware of long arguments and long beards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/trust-the-man-who-hesitates-in-his-speech-and-is-quick-and-steady-in/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“And your man?' He hesitates. 'Long dead too?' It is the most delicate way that can be contrived, to ask a man if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/and-your-man-he-hesitates-long-dead-too-it-is-the-most-delicate-way/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“We could do what we want, Noah. This doesn’t have to change anything. No one has to know.” The words tripped from her without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-helen-stone/we-could-do-what-we-want-noah-this-doesn-t-have-to-change-anything-no/) [Victoria Helen Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-helen-stone/) > [Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between-talent-and-genius-or-as-one/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [O Marvelous! What new configuration will come next? I am bewildered with multiplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/o-marvelous-what-new-configuration-will-come-next-i-am-bewildered/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [He who hesitates is probably right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-hesitates-is-probably-right/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Can we go somewhere?" I ask. "Let's go somewhere off in the woods and I'll show you." He hesitates, of course. What if I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/can-we-go-somewhere-i-ask-let-s-go-somewhere-off-in-the-woods-and-i/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [A science which hesitates to forget its founders is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/a-science-which-hesitates-to-forget-its-founders-is-lost/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [In the digital world, he who hesitates is abandoned. So you have to generate 3-D excitement with as many devices as you can find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-stringer/in-the-digital-world-he-who-hesitates-is-abandoned-so-you-have-to/) [Howard Stringer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-stringer/) > [“...when life still hesitates to touch us, when neither duty nor guilt dares lay a hand upon us”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/when-life-still-hesitates-to-touch-us-when-neither-duty-nor-guilt/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“A science that hesitates to forget its founders is lost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/a-science-that-hesitates-to-forget-its-founders-is-lost/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [He who hesitates is lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-hesitates-is-lost/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Man is slow because he hesitates”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-conrad/man-is-slow-because-he-hesitates/) [Lance Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-conrad/) > [“I've said it before, love, an Im sorry I have to say it again, but you do not understand the choices I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/i-ve-said-it-before-love-an-im-sorry-i-have-to-say-it-again-but-you/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [If you wait to approach her, you might be going home alone. It's what they mean by, He who hesitates, masturbates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-wait-to-approach-her-you-might-be-going-home-alone-it-s-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by William Carlos Williams > [“unsignificantly off the coast there was a splash quite unnoticed this was Icarus drowning”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/unsignificantly-off-the-coast-there-was-a-splash-quite-unnoticed-this/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Death will be late to bring us aid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/death-will-be-late-to-bring-us-aid/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [What power has love but forgiveness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/what-power-has-love-but-forgiveness/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/i-think-all-writing-is-a-disease-you-can-t-stop-it/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/the-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“You're a romanticist. What do you think a man is, a papaya? To digest your dinner? In pill form?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/you-re-a-romanticist-what-do-you-think-a-man-is-a-papaya-to-digest/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Imagination though it cannot wipe out the sting of remorse can instruct the mind in its proper uses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/imagination-though-it-cannot-wipe-out-the-sting-of-remorse-can/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“Fools have big wombs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/fools-have-big-wombs/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“It's just a moment, we die every night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/it-s-just-a-moment-we-die-every-night/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A new music is a new mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-new-music-is-a-new-mind/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A new world is only a new mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-new-world-is-only-a-new-mind/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A poem is this:/A nuance of sound/delicately operating/upon a cataract of sense/...the particulars/of a song waking/upon a bed of sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/a-poem-is-this-a-nuance-of-sound-delicately-operating-upon-a-cataract/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Prose may carry a load of ill-defined matters like a ship. But poetry is the machine which drives it, pruned to a perfect economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/prose-may-carry-a-load-of-ill-defined-matters-like-a-ship-but-poetry/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [It is not what you say that matters but the manner in which you say it; there lies the secret of the ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/it-is-not-what-you-say-that-matters-but-the-manner-in-which-you-say/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“And a church spire sketched on the sky, of sheet metal and open beams, to resemble a church spire”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/and-a-church-spire-sketched-on-the-sky-of-sheet-metal-and-open-beams/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) [Explore all 204 William Carlos Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) ## More Bewildered quotes > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Language gradually varies, and with it fade away the writings of authors who have flourished their allotted time; otherwise, the creative powers of genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/language-gradually-varies-and-with-it-fade-away-the-writings-of/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [I've never been lost, but I've been a mite bewildered for a few days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-boone/i-ve-never-been-lost-but-i-ve-been-a-mite-bewildered-for-a-few-days/) [Daniel Boone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-boone/) > [I admitted that I did not understand life. What I meant was that I am bewildered by human hearts and motivations, including my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-admitted-that-i-did-not-understand-life-what-i-meant-was-that-i-am/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/she-was-the-murderous-mother-who-cut-us-to-the-bone-but-left-us-alive/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“I didn't particularly feel like explaining myself to eighteen bewildered people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson/i-didn-t-particularly-feel-like-explaining-myself-to-eighteen/) [Shannon A. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-a-thompson/) > [Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/thus-i-began-my-systematic-though-half-bewildered-tour-of-innsmouth-s/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenz-hart/bewitched-bothered-and-bewildered-am-i/) [Lorenz Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenz-hart/) > [Guy Savelli's role in the War on Terror began when half-a-dozen strangers, within days of one another, contacted him via e-mail and telephone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/guy-savelli-s-role-in-the-war-on-terror-began-when-half-a-dozen/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [Some people are attracted to sickness, to the kind of madness where sparks fly off the head, to the incoherence of despair, masked by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-davies/some-people-are-attracted-to-sickness-to-the-kind-of-madness-where/) [Luke Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-davies/) > [Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/why-are-we-reading-if-not-in-hope-that-the-writer-will-magnify-and/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Sometimes tears roll down from our eyes not because we wanted to but because when our words can't explain the pain we feel then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usman-ismaheel/sometimes-tears-roll-down-from-our-eyes-not-because-we-wanted-to-but/) [Usman Ismaheel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usman-ismaheel/) > [“What this have we done?” asked Stanislaw in very bad English, honestly bewildered. “Curfew?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-brazytis/what-this-have-we-done-asked-stanislaw-in-very-bad-english-honestly/) [Sarah Brazytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-brazytis/) > [I am bewildered at the length to which people will go to portray me so negatively,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/i-am-bewildered-at-the-length-to-which-people-will-go-to-portray-me/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [I was sad to leave Europe in 1890, after my student days in Germany... But then, once back in New York, I experienced an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-stieglitz/i-was-sad-to-leave-europe-in-1890-after-my-student-days-in-germany/) [Alfred Stieglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-stieglitz/) [Browse all 141 Bewildered quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bewildered/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up, bewildered and so defeated-thrown aside-a man hesitates to write down his innermost convictions.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Carlos Williams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of-words-tripped-up-bewildered/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bewildered" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of-words-tripped-up-bewildered/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/william-carlos-williams-1841_bewildered_afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of_2390711.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up, bewildered and so defeated-thrown aside-a man…” — William Carlos Williams", "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 Carlos Williams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Afraid lest he be caught up...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of-words-tripped-up-bewildered/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of-words-tripped-up-bewildered/#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 } } ] } ```