How Far Can You Go?

If you’ve been following me on my Facebook or Instagram pages, you’ve probably seen my favorite quote by T.S. Eliot: “Only those who risk going too far – can possibly find out how far one can go.”

Since it’s T.S. Eliot’s birthday this month, I did some research about this popular poet to learn more about his life and what inspired him to write these beautiful words.

Thomas Stearns (T.S.) Eliot, was born on September 26, 1888, and is known as the most daring poet of the 20th Century. Aside from poetry, Eliot dabbled in many professions—playwright, publisher, essayist, literary critic, editor, teacher and banker. He was also quite a prankster!

Eliot relished in the healing power of laughter. He often played jokes on his family and friends, and would get the laughs going with props such as stink bombs, whoopee cushions and exploding cigars. Remember those? I read that he once set off a bucket of firecrackers during a meeting with his publishing company. Talk about a risk taker!

I was happy to read that Eliot was also an animal lover, but I had no idea that one of his children’s books would become the inspiration for one of the longest-running Broadway shows of all time. The book was “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” which enamored a young child named Andrew Lloyd Webber. And the play it inspired was—Cats!

What fascinated me even more was that Eliot wrote this favorite quote of mine almost a century ago as part of a rather lengthy preface for a book (Transit of Venus). He did it as a favor for one of his colleagues. I’m sure he had no idea at the time that his words would go on to inspire so many more people to venture outside their box and see just how far they could go.