Context

This line is from the poem "To a Mouse," written by Robert Burns and published in his book Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in 1786.

Robert Burns is this good-looking Scottish poet who also happens to be a farmer. This poem was inspired by his finding a little mouse family in his field one day. Even though they're pests, he feels bad for disturbing their home—especially since it took so much work to create. He uses this scenario to think about how even when we think we've got it all figured out, sometimes the Universe has a different idea of how things should go.

Where you've heard it

From Monty Python to Steinbeck, there's still a lot of significance to Burns' well-written epiphany. Burns also gets kind of an ironic shoutout by way of the mice in A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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.

Pretentious? Maybe a little. But postulating on the human experience just means you're a smarty pants, and everyone should be impressed at your knowledge of Scottish poets.