--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When they coughed, they coughed like…" description: "\"“When they coughed, they coughed like people accustomed to be forgotten on doorsteps and in draughty passages, waiting for answers to letters in faded ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg" --- # When they coughed, they coughed like people accustomed to… ![“When they coughed, they coughed like people accustomed to be forgotten on doorsteps and in draughty passages, waiting for answers to letters in faded ink . . .” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg) > ““When they coughed, they coughed like people accustomed to be forgotten on doorsteps and in draughty passages, waiting for answers to letters in faded ink . . .”” [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage portrays the desolation of the marginalized, whose pleas are ignored and their existence fades into obscurity. **In simple terms:** Neglected voices linger in forgotten spaces. Key Takeaway Society often overlooks the suffering of the invisible. Themes alienation social neglect urban decay human dignity silence Mood melancholy somber reflective Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - a homeless person seeking help - a refugee waiting for asylum - a patient ignored by bureaucracy - a writer addressing the unheard Key Concepts class disparity urban anonymity empathy historical context Practical Applications - advocacy writing - social policy reform Questions to Reflect On - How does society become complicit in ignoring the marginalized? - What can individuals do to give voice to the forgotten? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accustomed Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accustomed-forgotten-372678/) [Coughed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coughed-301004/) [Coughed Coughed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coughed-coughed-372679/) [Coughed Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coughed-like-372677/) [People Accustomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-accustomed-372680/) ## Related quotes > [“Some time in the night I woke, and the barn was full of cows: they stood in a circle and looked us over, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/some-time-in-the-night-i-woke-and-the-barn-was-full-of-cows-they/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [People are accustomed to look at the heavens and to wonder what happens there. It would be better if they would look within themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-mendel-of-kotzk/people-are-accustomed-to-look-at-the-heavens-and-to-wonder-what/) [Menachem Mendel of Kotzk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-mendel-of-kotzk/) > [So many people are accustomed to written information that you really have to have a few more bells and whistles in this day and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bell/so-many-people-are-accustomed-to-written-information-that-you-really/) [Chris Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bell/) > [“Moreover, people have become accustomed to reading to escape as opposed to reading to think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-m-lane/moreover-people-have-become-accustomed-to-reading-to-escape-as/) [Leigh M. 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Every time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/every-now-and-then-he-would-tilt-his-head-back-so-that-his-sunglasses/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“I looked at him on the bed. He coughed once and a trail of brownish dead blood came out of his mouth and ran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/i-looked-at-him-on-the-bed-he-coughed-once-and-a-trail-of-brownish/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) > [“Fred coughed, which caused Sam and Ellie to look over at her. “Hey, Ellie. Watch this.” Mentally apologizing to her oldest friend, Fred seized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryjanice-davidson/fred-coughed-which-caused-sam-and-ellie-to-look-over-at-her-hey-ellie/) [MaryJanice Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryjanice-davidson/) > [“Tess felt for a moment that she might cry, coughed instead, a watery cough worse than a sob”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathe-koja/tess-felt-for-a-moment-that-she-might-cry-coughed-instead-a-watery/) [Kathe Koja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathe-koja/) > [This morning I got up to begin this book I coughed. Something was coming out of my throat: it was strangling me. I broke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/this-morning-i-got-up-to-begin-this-book-i-coughed-something-was/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## More by Charles Dickens > [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More Coughed quotes > [This morning I got up to begin this book I coughed. Something was coming out of my throat: it was strangling me. I broke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/this-morning-i-got-up-to-begin-this-book-i-coughed-something-was/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“Tess felt for a moment that she might cry, coughed instead, a watery cough worse than a sob”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathe-koja/tess-felt-for-a-moment-that-she-might-cry-coughed-instead-a-watery/) [Kathe Koja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathe-koja/) > [“Fred coughed, which caused Sam and Ellie to look over at her. “Hey, Ellie. Watch this.” Mentally apologizing to her oldest friend, Fred seized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryjanice-davidson/fred-coughed-which-caused-sam-and-ellie-to-look-over-at-her-hey-ellie/) [MaryJanice Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryjanice-davidson/) > [“I looked at him on the bed. He coughed once and a trail of brownish dead blood came out of his mouth and ran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/i-looked-at-him-on-the-bed-he-coughed-once-and-a-trail-of-brownish/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) > [“...every now and then he would tilt his head back so that his sunglasses reflected sky, and would say, "I love her." Every time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/every-now-and-then-he-would-tilt-his-head-back-so-that-his-sunglasses/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“That’s when he’d run and run until he was nothing more than two feet and a pair of lungs, until he coughed blood and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-amato/that-s-when-he-d-run-and-run-until-he-was-nothing-more-than-two-feet/) [Carmen Amato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-amato/) > [“You with us, Calla?' Lydia asked. 'Trip's over. This is where you get off.' Connor coughed. 'I could help you with that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-cremer/you-with-us-calla-lydia-asked-trip-s-over-this-is-where-you-get-off/) [Andrea Cremer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-cremer/) > [“Filled with a coward rage that dares to burn but does not dare to blaze, Lord Emsworth coughed a cough that was undisguisedly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/filled-with-a-coward-rage-that-dares-to-burn-but-does-not-dare-to/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [I shot a vein in my neck and coughed up a quaalude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-shot-a-vein-in-my-neck-and-coughed-up-a-quaalude/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [“She coughed and inhaled a huge gulp of air and coughed again, a redness sweeping over her face. “It knocked my breath out… There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-forrester/she-coughed-and-inhaled-a-huge-gulp-of-air-and-coughed-again-a/) [John Forrester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-forrester/) > [“I remembered him ranting once about how if someone coughed, they were given time off from work, but if someone was mentally fatigued, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/i-remembered-him-ranting-once-about-how-if-someone-coughed-they-were/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) > [“He yelled over it. "I'm going to try to get us out of here." "No-the firs. Like at the farm." Another cough. "In those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/he-yelled-over-it-i-m-going-to-try-to-get-us-out-of-here-no-the-firs/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Then the boy made a small cough, and then coughed deeper, and again, and then vomited some salt water. Oh God, thank you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cass-tell/then-the-boy-made-a-small-cough-and-then-coughed-deeper-and-again-and/) [Cass Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cass-tell/) > [“The teachers skirted our questions as best they could, though I was sure it was more from their own ignorance about what was going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-repetto/the-teachers-skirted-our-questions-as-best-they-could-though-i-was/) [V.C. Repetto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-repetto/) > [And one day, this thing happened to me: I coughed, and the blood just came gushing out of my mouth. ... I still can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/and-one-day-this-thing-happened-to-me-i-coughed-and-the-blood-just/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) [Browse all 30 Coughed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coughed-301004/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When they coughed, they coughed like people accustomed to be forgotten on doorsteps and in draughty passages, waiting for answers to letters in faded ink . . .”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Dickens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-people-accustomed-to-be-forgotten/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Coughed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-people-accustomed-to-be-forgotten/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/587/charles-dickens-34_coughed_when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-peop_12863.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When they coughed, they coughed like people accustomed to be forgotten on doorsteps and in draughty…” — Charles Dickens", "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": "Charles Dickens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When they coughed, they coughed like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-people-accustomed-to-be-forgotten/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/when-they-coughed-they-coughed-like-people-accustomed-to-be-forgotten/#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 } } ] } ```