"I don’t pretend to understand the Universe – it’s a great deal bigger than I am." ― Thomas Carlyle Topic(s): Poetry Tags: pretend, understand More From Thomas Carlyle "Old age is not a matter for sorrow. It is matter for thanks if we have left our work done behind us." "Clever men are good, but they are not the best." "Man is, properly speaking, based upon hope, he has no other possession but hope; this world of his is emphatically the place of hope." More In Poetry "For a poet to depict a poet in poetry is a hazardous experiment; in regarding one’s own trade a sense of humour and a little wholesome cynicism are not amiss."― Edward Dowden "Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."― Herbert Spencer "I always believe it’s better to have 30 imaginations working on a project, rather than one imagination telling the other 29 what to do."― Trevor Nunn