--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He was a weedy-looking young man with…" description: "\"“He was a weedy-looking young man with straw-coloured hair and rather long legs, who had failed twice for the Foreign Office. He sometimes wore tortois..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/anthony-powell-2659_jobs_he-was-a-weedy-looking-young-man-with-st_2377868.jpg" --- # He was a weedy-looking young man with straw-coloured hair… ![“He was a weedy-looking young man with straw-coloured hair and rather long legs, who had failed twice for the Foreign Office. He sometimes wore tortoiseshell-rimmed spectacles to correct a slight squint, and through influence he had recently got a job in a museum. His father was a retired civil…” quote by Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/anthony-powell-2659_jobs_he-was-a-weedy-looking-young-man-with-st_2377868.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/anthony-powell-2659_jobs_he-was-a-weedy-looking-young-man-with-st_2377868.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/anthony-powell-2659_jobs_he-was-a-weedy-looking-young-man-with-st_2377868.jpg) > ““He was a weedy-looking young man with straw-coloured hair and rather long legs, who had failed twice for the Foreign Office. He sometimes wore tortoiseshell-rimmed spectacles to correct a slight squint, and through influence he had recently got a job in a museum. His father was a retired civil servant who lived in Essex, where he and his wife kept a chicken farm.”” [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A young man with modest appearance and failed civil service attempts secures a museum job through connections, while his family runs a chicken farm. **In simple terms:** Failed attempts, nepotism, rural family background. Key Takeaway Connections can bypass merit. Themes social mobility nepotism family business Mood observational critical Type sociological narrative When to use this quote - career advice - family expectations - job hunting Key Concepts class dynamics career paths rural life Questions to Reflect On - How does background shape opportunity? - Is nepotism ever justified? A Different Perspective Reliance on connections may limit personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Museum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museum/) ## Related quotes > [Whenever a man's friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/whenever-a-man-s-friends-begin-to-compliment-him-about-looking-young/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [It's been fascinating watching all those pictures of me with a lot more hair Jeremy, and looking very young. And we've all got things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hain/it-s-been-fascinating-watching-all-those-pictures-of-me-with-a-lot/) [Peter Hain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hain/) > [The secret is to moisturize the face. I've been doing that since I was 17 years old. (on looking young)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/the-secret-is-to-moisturize-the-face-i-ve-been-doing-that-since-i-was/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [I'm happy, and I think being happy keeps you looking young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/i-m-happy-and-i-think-being-happy-keeps-you-looking-young/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [A confident and forward-looking nation is built by confident and forward-looking young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-nath-kovind/a-confident-and-forward-looking-nation-is-built-by-confident-and/) [Ram Nath Kovind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-nath-kovind/) > [I look young. I heard this said so often that it became irritating. I once worked as a babysitter for a woman who, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-look-young-i-heard-this-said-so-often-that-it-became-irritating-i/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I am an old scholar, better-looking now than when I was young. That's what sitting on your ass does to your face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/i-am-an-old-scholar-better-looking-now-than-when-i-was-young-that-s/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [I was complimented for looking young and yet was offered roles of aunts, sister-in-law and very soon grandma too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himani-shivpuri/i-was-complimented-for-looking-young-and-yet-was-offered-roles-of/) [Himani Shivpuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/himani-shivpuri/) > [Exercise is the best way to keep you looking young and fresh. It raises your heart rate and boosts your blood circulation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sussanne-khan/exercise-is-the-best-way-to-keep-you-looking-young-and-fresh-it/) [Sussanne Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sussanne-khan/) > [“And then again, I am no longer quite such a good-looking young fellow that tapestries leap off the wall in my honour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/and-then-again-i-am-no-longer-quite-such-a-good-looking-young-fellow/) [Théophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [Events in the present can trigger quite a young part of ourselves. 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After all, a woman only has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sunshine/looking-young-and-attractive-with-makeup-is-the-next-best-thing-to/) [Linda Sunshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sunshine/) > [You want to do all of these preventative things to make sure you always look as young as possible, you don't want to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-nutting/you-want-to-do-all-of-these-preventative-things-to-make-sure-you/) [Alissa Nutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-nutting/) ## More by Anthony Powell > [I was impressed for the ten thousandth time by the fact that literature illuminates life only for those to whom books are a necessity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-was-impressed-for-the-ten-thousandth-time-by-the-fact-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Like everything that's any good, it has about twenty different meanings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/like-everything-that-s-any-good-it-has-about-twenty-different-meanings/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I have absolutely no histrionic talent, none at all, a constitutional handicap in almost all undertakings of life;but then, after all, plenty of actors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-have-absolutely-no-histrionic-talent-none-at-all-a-constitutional/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“The crematorium was a blaze of sunshine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/the-crematorium-was-a-blaze-of-sunshine/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Parents. . . are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfil the promise of their early years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/parents-are-sometimes-a-bit-of-a-disappointment-to-their-children/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Enormous simplifications were possibly necessary to carry a deeper truth than lay on the surface of a mass of unsorted detail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/enormous-simplifications-were-possibly-necessary-to-carry-a-deeper/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I hate anything superficial. But I will take the book and look at it, and tell you what I think of the writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-hate-anything-superficial-but-i-will-take-the-book-and-look-at-it/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“It is rather an occasion, darling,’ said Moreland, vexed at these objections. ‘After all, I am noted among composers for the smallness of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/it-is-rather-an-occasion-darling-said-moreland-vexed-at-these/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“There seemed no particular object in avoiding banality from the start, as the evening showed every sign of developing into a banal one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/there-seemed-no-particular-object-in-avoiding-banality-from-the-start/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Dinner at the Huntercombes possessed only two dramatic features: the wine was a farce and the food a tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/dinner-at-the-huntercombes-possessed-only-two-dramatic-features-the/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Even then I did not recognise the quest for power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/even-then-i-did-not-recognise-the-quest-for-power/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [One passes through the world knowing few, if any, of the important things about even the people with whom one has been from time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/one-passes-through-the-world-knowing-few-if-any-of-the-important/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“He stood pondering this flat, forthright declaration of anti-simianism on Miss Weedon’s part. The notion that some people might not like monkeys was evidently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/he-stood-pondering-this-flat-forthright-declaration-of-anti-simianism/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) [Explore all 156 Anthony Powell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## More Jobs quotes > [I know for my wife and I, we always loved the idea of being young parents. It is an incredibly inspiring and challenging job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hanson/i-know-for-my-wife-and-i-we-always-loved-the-idea-of-being-young/) [Taylor Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hanson/) > [My first ever job after college was as a flight attendant. 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