Context

You're looking at the final lines of what has to be one of the most famous poems of all time: Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."

The speaker has described his situation to us: he's in the woods at a fork in the road, he sizes up the two possible paths he could take, and then he chooses one of them—"the one less traveled by," to be precise.

He then begins imagining a future self who's telling the story of his decision.

Sounds like something you'd reply to with "cool story, bro."

Where you've heard it

These lines might be the most cited passage of American poetry. Whatever it means in its original context, this quote has become all about nonconformity, about sticking it to the status quo and doing your own thing.

But, uh, back to that original context thing. If you look closely, these lines may not embody the American spirit of individualism as much as some people would like them to. The speaker admits that the paths were worn "really about the same, / And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black." Hmmm, doesn't sound like there was much difference between the two. So why does he claim that he took the one less traveled by?

Remember, it's a statement that he's projecting on his future self. So...is the line about how human memory is malleable? About how narratives are repurposed? About the inherent discrepancies in foliage assessment?

And more importantly, what kind of "difference" did it make? The current speaker has no idea if the difference will be good, bad, or just…different. In fact, there's really no way to know if it will make a difference at all.

Ah, the wonders of close reading.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

As long as you're not shaming people who misinterpret the line, you're good to go.