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Quotation from Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

“To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! As tho’ to breathe were life.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (spoken by Ulysses)

Ulysses, Lines 23-24 (Poems (1842), ed. Collins 1900)

Portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He compares idle old age to an unpolished blade and rejects mere survival as a definition of life.

Citation: "To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! As tho’ to breathe were life." — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses, Lines 23-24 (Poems (1842), ed. Collins 1900). (id tennyson-ulysses-q3)

Portrait: Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, George Frederic Watts, Public domain.

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Quote card: To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! As tho’ to breathe were life.