Tag Archives: T.S. Eliot

Two steps forward, two steps back

The first two stages of life, that of student and householder, are for doing. The second two stages of life, that of hermit and renunciant, are for undoing. Adapted for the Western mind, per T.S. Eliot, we advance for a while and then we retreat, arriving where we started from and knowing the place for the first time.

Mr. Prufrock recites his concerns

Earth is one of more than 100 billion planets in the Milky Way, which itself is one of more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Shall I part my hair? Roll my trousers? Wear white? Eat a peach? Good grief, man! Look up.

The fugitive kind

A disciple requests leave to bury his father. Jesus’ response: “Let the dead bury their dead.” Free men do not compromise, cannot be partialized, carry no obligations. “In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to be running away.”