Famous quote by Richard Le Gallienne

"All roads indeed lead to Rome, but theirs also is a more mystical destination, some bourne of which no traveller knows the name, some city, they all seem to hint, even more eternal"

About this Quote

Le Gallienne evokes the famous proverb about Rome, the heart of the ancient world, as a symbol for all journeys leading to a common, grand destination. Yet rather than accepting Rome, with all its historical and cultural weight, as the ultimate end, he proposes that "all roads" suggest something deeper, a mysterious endpoint beyond ordinary knowledge. The idea that "some bourne of which no traveller knows the name" suggests a destination whose nature eludes human comprehension, an unnamed boundary or place that no one can fully recognize or describe, perhaps an allegory for the ultimate unknowns in life.

The use of "they all seem to hint, even more eternal" captures the sense that every path, every endeavor, or each search, no matter how concrete or worldly, points toward something infinitely more lasting than empire or civilization. Rome stands as a metaphor for all earthly triumphs and immortal ambitions, yet the passage suggests that behind such achievements lies something greater, more spiritual, or metaphysical, a city "even more eternal". There is a powerful implication that human quests are driven by an intuition of something beyond what history or legend can enclose.

The mystical destination may symbolize the soul’s longing for the infinite, a subconscious knowledge of the transcendent or the divine. Every journey, literal or figurative, historical or personal, signals not merely a travel to known capitals but a gravitation toward the unknown, a pursuit for meaning that surpasses time and physical monuments. Le Gallienne’s words hint at a yearning embedded in the human condition: the sense that all striving and wandering, whether through cities or epochs, seeks fulfillment in the enigmatic and the everlasting, a destination lying beyond the bounds of human naming and knowing, pointing to the profound mystery at the heart of existence itself.

More details

TagsDestinationRome

About the Author

England Flag This quote is written / told by Richard Le Gallienne. He/she was a famous Poet from England. The author also have 25 other quotes.
Go to author profile

Similar Quotes

Warren Christopher, Statesman