Our hands are hot and raw with the stones we have laid, We have built a tower of stone high into the sky, We have built a city of towers.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker celebrates the physical labor involved in building something grand and enduring.
- In plain terms
- We built a tall city with our own hands.
- What can you take from it?
- Hard work creates tangible results that stand tall.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What have you built?
- Does hard work always pay off?
Another view
It ignores the cost of labor or the potential for such structures to fail.
More from Conrad Aiken
We flow, we descend, we turn . . . and the eternal dreamer Moves among us like light, like evening air . . .
Permalink to quote #14 What did we build it for? Was it all a dream? . . . Ghostly above us in lamplight the towers gleam . . . And after a while they will fall to dust and rain; Or …
Permalink to quote #16 'I will ask them all, I will ask them all their dreams, I will hold my light above them and seek their faces. I will hear them whisper, invisible in their vein…
Permalink to quote #13
Related quotes
We never expected anything, actually. I think we still don't expect anything. We were proud of the album when we finished it, so whatever success it has we are…
John DolmayanJohn Dolmayan quote #2 Silently as a dream the fabric rose - No sound of hammer or of saw was there.
William CowperWilliam Cowper quote #85 Was that disloyal of me? To look forward to the day when I could show you my work? Who else but you would understand what I achieved? Who else but me could kno…
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #789