--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In Collegium it had been the fashion…" description: "\"“In Collegium it had been the fashion, while he had been resident there, to paint death as a grey-skinned, balding Beetle man in plain robes, perhaps w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg" --- # In Collegium it had been the fashion, while he had been… ![“In Collegium it had been the fashion, while he had been resident there, to paint death as a grey-skinned, balding Beetle man in plain robes, perhaps with a doctor's bag but more often an artificer's toolstrip and apron, like the man who came in, at the close of the day, to put out the lamps and…” quote by Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg) > ““In Collegium it had been the fashion, while he had been resident there, to paint death as a grey-skinned, balding Beetle man in plain robes, perhaps with a doctor's bag but more often an artificer's toolstrip and apron, like the man who came in, at the close of the day, to put out the lamps and still the workings of the machines. Among his own people, death was a swift insect, gleaming black, its wings a blur - too fast to be outrun and too agile to be avoided, the unplumbed void in which he swam was but the depth of a single facet of its darkly jewelled eyes.”” [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Death is depicted as a duality: a bureaucratic, predictable figure for outsiders and a swift, terrifying insect for those who know it intimately. **In simple terms:** Death appears both orderly and terrifying. Key Takeaway Recognize how perspective shapes fear. Themes death perception duality mythology culture Mood dark reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - role‑playing games - fantasy world‑building - character design - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism symbolism anthropomorphism Questions to Reflect On - How does cultural framing affect our fear of death? - What aspects of death are universal versus culturally constructed? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure practical understanding of mortality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beetle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beetle/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ## Related quotes > [“You're not like other Wasps." "Aren't I?" Aagen smiled, but it was a painful smile. "No doubt you've killed my kinsmen by the score."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/you-re-not-like-other-wasps-aren-t-i-aagen-smiled-but-it-was-a/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land, drawing no dividend from time's tomorrows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/soldiers-are-citizens-of-death-s-grey-land-drawing-no-dividend-from/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [Im just gonna hide. Another face in your perfect world. Quiet as a mouse.Secretive as a sin. Darkly beautifully. Beautifully strange ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade/im-just-gonna-hide-another-face-in-your-perfect-world-quiet-as-a/) [Jade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade/) > [“How she wanted to put away adult things and go back to seeing through a looking-glass, darkly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/how-she-wanted-to-put-away-adult-things-and-go-back-to-seeing-through/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [“Everything on earth -- both the good things and the bad things -- is not given to a man according to his just deserts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/everything-on-earth-both-the-good-things-and-the-bad-things-is-not/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Someone observed darkly that it is always two A.M. when one is in the 'dark night of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/someone-observed-darkly-that-it-is-always-two-a-m-when-one-is-in-the/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“O radiant Dark! O darkly fostered ray! Thou hast a joy too deep for shallow Day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/o-radiant-dark-o-darkly-fostered-ray-thou-hast-a-joy-too-deep-for/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There's a metaphor for the American public in here," Gansey murmered darkly, "but it escapes me at the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/there-s-a-metaphor-for-the-american-public-in-here-gansey-murmered/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak! Your eyes do menace me. Why look you pale? Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakespeare-william/how-darkly-and-how-deadly-dost-thou-speak-your-eyes-do-menace-me-why/) [Shakespeare, William](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakespeare-william/) > [“Darkly, deeply, beautifully blue - the sky”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/darkly-deeply-beautifully-blue-the-sky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Do you like being rich?” “Yes. Show me someone who doesn’t,” he says darkly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james/do-you-like-being-rich-yes-show-me-someone-who-doesn-t-he-says-darkly/) [E.L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james/) > [The glass of your life is darkened, and darkly through it you see distorted and ghastly fragments of duty and destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-arnold/the-glass-of-your-life-is-darkened-and-darkly-through-it-you-see/) [George Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-arnold/) > [The pretensions of final truth are always partlyan effort to obscure a darkly felt consciousness of the limits of human knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-pretensions-of-final-truth-are-always-partlyan-effort-to-obscure/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [There is a wonderful expression: seeing through a glass darkly. Everything, even life, is inevitably removed from you. You can't reach, or touch, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/there-is-a-wonderful-expression-seeing-through-a-glass-darkly/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [“Strange how paranoia can link up with reality now and then.” ― Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/strange-how-paranoia-can-link-up-with-reality-now-and-then-philip-k/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) ## More by Adrian Tchaikovsky > [“You're not like other Wasps." "Aren't I?" Aagen smiled, but it was a painful smile. "No doubt you've killed my kinsmen by the score."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/you-re-not-like-other-wasps-aren-t-i-aagen-smiled-but-it-was-a/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“The ice had been retreating. Humanity had sprung back swiftly, expanded, fought its small wars, re-industrialized, tripping constantly over reminders of what the species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/the-ice-had-been-retreating-humanity-had-sprung-back-swiftly-expanded/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [Progress is made by the improvement of people, not the improvement of machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/progress-is-made-by-the-improvement-of-people-not-the-improvement-of/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“ We couldn't trust them. They couldn't trust us. Mutual attempts at destruction are the only logical result . He thought of human dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/we-couldn-t-trust-them-they-couldn-t-trust-us-mutual-attempts-at/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“Back in Seven Trees, the remaining local males are hard at work. Some have fled, but most of the evacuees are female. Males are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/back-in-seven-trees-the-remaining-local-males-are-hard-at-work-some/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“there is a depth to life beyond the simple dimensions that she can perceive and calculate in, and so . . . who knows?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/there-is-a-depth-to-life-beyond-the-simple-dimensions-that-she-can/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“The past is no man’s clay for remodelling. It is fired the moment it is moulded, alas. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/the-past-is-no-man-s-clay-for-remodelling-it-is-fired-the-moment-it/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“We do not respect our enemies; we despair of them. Your struggle, your fierce will to prevail in spite of all, we do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/we-do-not-respect-our-enemies-we-despair-of-them-your-struggle-your/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [ “I have taken on many Understandings in my life \[...\]. I have listened to another Messenger's incomprehensible signals in the night. The thing you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/i-have-taken-on-many-understandings-in-my-life-i-have-listened-to/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“Justice is like some unnatural hybrid flower you people have bred. It will not live long unless you keep it sheltered and warm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/justice-is-like-some-unnatural-hybrid-flower-you-people-have-bred-it/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“Mankind brooks no competitors, She has explained to them – not even its own reflection. For”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/mankind-brooks-no-competitors-she-has-explained-to-them-not-even-its/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“It took a long time to work out how to do it, but in the end she was only information, after all. Everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/it-took-a-long-time-to-work-out-how-to-do-it-but-in-the-end-she-was/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“And then it dropped lower, and her eyes caught it in all its pale majesty. It was a moth, no more, no less, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/and-then-it-dropped-lower-and-her-eyes-caught-it-in-all-its-pale/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“A bandit, a man-hunter, a lawbreaker, a bow for hire. I never wanted any grand cause. If it looks like I'm fighting tyrants, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/a-bandit-a-man-hunter-a-lawbreaker-a-bow-for-hire-i-never-wanted-any/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [“She has improved the lives of her species in a dozen separate ways, for she has a mind that can see answers to problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/she-has-improved-the-lives-of-her-species-in-a-dozen-separate-ways/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) [Explore all 29 Adrian Tchaikovsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) ## More Beetle quotes > [“And the poor beetle, that we tread upon, In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great As when a giant dies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/and-the-poor-beetle-that-we-tread-upon-in-corporal-sufferance-finds-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Any foolish boy can stamp on a beetle, but all the professors in the world cannot make a beetle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/any-foolish-boy-can-stamp-on-a-beetle-but-all-the-professors-in-the/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“Hope is a black beetle. Stamp on it hard as you liked, it still scuttled on”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reginald-hill/hope-is-a-black-beetle-stamp-on-it-hard-as-you-liked-it-still/) [Reginald Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reginald-hill/) > [Beetle is the embodiment of everybody's resistance to authority, all the rules and regulations which you've got to follow. He deals with it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-walker/beetle-is-the-embodiment-of-everybody-s-resistance-to-authority-all/) [Mort Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-walker/) > [“A beetle will chase after an opening of light, while a cockroach will scatter at a crack of it. How are we different from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/a-beetle-will-chase-after-an-opening-of-light-while-a-cockroach-will/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Our faculties are more fitted to recognize the wonderful structure of a beetle than a Universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/our-faculties-are-more-fitted-to-recognize-the-wonderful-structure-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“The mountain pine beetle is a tiny creature that chews through a lodgepole’s bark, gouges out a hollow in the wood and lays its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-proulx/the-mountain-pine-beetle-is-a-tiny-creature-that-chews-through-a/) [Annie Proulx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-proulx/) > [“Me and the Blue Beetle kick ass. In a four-cylinder kind of way, but it still gets kicked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/me-and-the-blue-beetle-kick-ass-in-a-four-cylinder-kind-of-way-but-it/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [I found a little beetle, so that beetle was his name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-milne/i-found-a-little-beetle-so-that-beetle-was-his-name/) [A. A. Milne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-milne/) > [Beetle Bailey is actually me, in uniform. I've got about 20 characters, and they're all after friends of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-walker/beetle-bailey-is-actually-me-in-uniform-i-ve-got-about-20-characters/) [Mort Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-walker/) > [Everything is connected. The wing of the corn beetle affects the direction of the wind, the way the sand drifts, the way the light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hillerman/everything-is-connected-the-wing-of-the-corn-beetle-affects-the/) [Tony Hillerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hillerman/) > [It may be argued that to know one kind of beetle is to know them all. But a species is not like a molecule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/it-may-be-argued-that-to-know-one-kind-of-beetle-is-to-know-them-all/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The frustration of being ordered around by somebody to do something - everyone can relate to that. I think Beetle represents that - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-walker/the-frustration-of-being-ordered-around-by-somebody-to-do-something/) [Mort Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-walker/) > [SCARABAEUS, n. The sacred beetle of the ancient Egyptians, allied to our familiar "tumble-bug." It was supposed to symbolize immortality, the fact that God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/scarabaeus-n-the-sacred-beetle-of-the-ancient-egyptians-allied-to-our/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“beetle-spirited vaporing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/beetle-spirited-vaporing/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) [Browse all 35 Beetle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beetle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In Collegium it had been the fashion, while he had been resident there, to paint death as a grey-skinned, balding Beetle man in plain robes, perhaps with a doctor's bag but more often an artificer's toolstrip and apron, like the man who came in, at the close of the day, to put out the lamps and still the workings of the machines. Among his own people, death was a swift insect, gleaming black, its wings a blur - too fast to be outrun and too agile to be avoided, the unplumbed void in which he swam was but the depth of a single facet of its darkly jewelled eyes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adrian Tchaikovsky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-while-he-had-been-resident-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beetle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-while-he-had-been-resident-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/adrian-tchaikovsky-21498_beetle_in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-whi_2294937.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In Collegium it had been the fashion, while he had been resident there, to paint death as a grey-skinned…” — Adrian Tchaikovsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adrian Tchaikovsky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In Collegium it had been the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-while-he-had-been-resident-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/in-collegium-it-had-been-the-fashion-while-he-had-been-resident-there/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```