How we cite our quotes: (line)
Quote #4
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow (lines 84-89)
The Hollow Men suffer from moral paralysis – the inability to act or follow through on any of their natural feelings and capabilities. Have you ever experienced this problem in some area of your life?
Quote #5
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper. (lines 97-98)
Because the Hollow Men can never act, except on behalf of their own narrow interests, their lives just fizzle out into a meaningless moan of unhappiness. You could think of the whole poem as their "whimper" of complaint.