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About this quote

What does it mean?
He moves in darkness, ignoring his father's saying, yet repeats the proverb about good fences.
In plain terms
He acts contrary to tradition while still citing the same warning about fences.
What can you take from it?
People may follow sayings without understanding them.

Where it applies

  • cultural inheritance
  • personal belief

Putting it to work

  • question inherited wisdom
  • align actions with meaning

Questions to consider

  • Why repeat a proverb without belief?
  • How does tradition shape our actions?

Another view

Some proverbs hold practical value despite blind repetition.

More from Robert Frost

  1. Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn't love a wall…

    Permalink to quote #93
  2. He saw her from the bottom of the stairs Before she saw him. She was starting down, Looking back over her shoulder at some fear. She took a doubtful step and t…

    Permalink to quote #95
  3. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbours.'

    Permalink to quote #92

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