--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I conceive disgust at those impertinent…" description: "\"I conceive disgust at those impertinent and misbecoming familiarities, inscribed upon your ordinary tombstones. Every dead man must take upon himself t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/charles-lamb-1144_alive_i-conceive-disgust-at-those-impertinent_2095290.jpg" --- # I conceive disgust at those impertinent and misbecoming… ![“I conceive disgust at those impertinent and misbecoming familiarities, inscribed upon your ordinary tombstones. Every dead man must take upon himself to be lecturing me with his odious truism, that "such as he now is, I must shortly be." Not so shortly, friend, perhaps, as thou imaginest. In the…” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/charles-lamb-1144_alive_i-conceive-disgust-at-those-impertinent_2095290.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/charles-lamb-1144_alive_i-conceive-disgust-at-those-impertinent_2095290.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/charles-lamb-1144_alive_i-conceive-disgust-at-those-impertinent_2095290.jpg) > “I conceive disgust at those impertinent and misbecoming familiarities, inscribed upon your ordinary tombstones. Every dead man must take upon himself to be lecturing me with his odious truism, that "such as he now is, I must shortly be." Not so shortly, friend, perhaps, as thou imaginest. In the meantime I am alive. I move about. I am worth twenty of thee. Know thy betters!” [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker mocks the pretentiousness of the dead, asserting his own vitality and superiority over their hollow lessons. **In simple terms:** He scoffs at the dead’s empty advice, claiming he is alive and better. Key Takeaway Embrace life, reject stale authority. Themes mortality pride rebellion Mood defiant confident provocative Type philosophical literary critical When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - public speaking - career advancement - overcoming self‑doubt Key Concepts existentialism hubris Questions to Reflect On - What dead you feel alive and superior - How do you handle advice from the past? A Different Perspective The tone may alienate those who value tradition or humility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Dead man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-man/) [Disgust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgust/) [Disgust Impertinent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgust-impertinent-4161244/) [Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgusting/) [Familiarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiarity/) [Friend Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend-thou-341076/) [I am alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-am-alive/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Lecturing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lecturing/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Odious Truism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odious-truism-4161245/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Thee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thee/) [Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou/) [Tombstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tombstone/) [Truism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truism/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) ## Related quotes > [I conceive disgust at these impertinent and misbecoming familiarities inscribed upon your ordinary tombstone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-conceive-disgust-at-these-impertinent-and-misbecoming-familiarities/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“My friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I wear-a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/my-friend-i-am-not-what-i-seem-seeming-is-but-a-garment-i-wear-a-care/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [Choose a friend as thou dost a wife, till death separate you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/choose-a-friend-as-thou-dost-a-wife-till-death-separate-you/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [Lend money to an enemy, and thou will gain him, to a friend and thou will lose him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/lend-money-to-an-enemy-and-thou-will-gain-him-to-a-friend-and-thou/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Thou can'st not joke an enemy into a friend, but thou may'st a friend into an enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/thou-can-st-not-joke-an-enemy-into-a-friend-but-thou-may-st-a-friend/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [A God must have a God for company. And lo! thou hast the Son-God to thy friend. Thou honour'st his obedience, he thy law.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-god-must-have-a-god-for-company-and-lo-thou-hast-the-son-god-to-thy/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Judge not thy friend until thou standest in his place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillel-the-elder/judge-not-thy-friend-until-thou-standest-in-his-place/) [Hillel the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillel-the-elder/) > [Every commonplace or trite observation is not a truism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/every-commonplace-or-trite-observation-is-not-a-truism/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Parents sometimes object to the amount of humor introduced into stories that are designed to teach moral or spiritual lessons. They seem to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-berenstain/parents-sometimes-object-to-the-amount-of-humor-introduced-into/) [Mike Berenstain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-berenstain/) > [One of the things that I discovered in lecturing was that gradually one ceased to hear what one said one heard what the audience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/one-of-the-things-that-i-discovered-in-lecturing-was-that-gradually/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Lecturing is that mysterious process by means of which the contents of the note-book of the professor are transferred through the instrument of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-lloyd/lecturing-is-that-mysterious-process-by-means-of-which-the-contents/) [Harry Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-lloyd/) > [Romney, Gingrich, Santorum spent their week lecturing America about the morality of birth control. You know, you guys don't need birth control, you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/romney-gingrich-santorum-spent-their-week-lecturing-america-about-the/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Obama wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black. Somebody asked me over the weekend why does somebody earn a lot of money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/obama-wouldn-t-have-been-voted-president-if-he-weren-t-black-somebody/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I never want to tell a story where I'm lecturing to the audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lulu-wang/i-never-want-to-tell-a-story-where-i-m-lecturing-to-the-audience/) [Lulu Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lulu-wang/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) ## More by Charles Lamb > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [While childhood, and while dreams, producing childhood, shall be left, imagination shall not have spread her holy wings totally to fly the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/while-childhood-and-while-dreams-producing-childhood-shall-be-left/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Man, while he loves, is never quite depraved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/man-while-he-loves-is-never-quite-depraved/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/summer-as-my-friend-coleridge-waggishly-writes-has-set-in-with-its/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I counsel thee, shut not thy heart, nor thy library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-counsel-thee-shut-not-thy-heart-nor-thy-library/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/my-theory-is-to-enjoy-life-but-the-practice-is-against-it/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/those-evening-bells-those-evening-bells-how-many-a-tale-their-music/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/beholding-heaven-and-feeling-hell/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Explore all 283 Charles Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [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/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I conceive disgust at those impertinent and misbecoming familiarities, inscribed upon your ordinary tombstones. Every dead man must take upon himself to be lecturing me with his odious truism, that \"such as he now is, I must shortly be.\" Not so shortly, friend, perhaps, as thou imaginest. In the meantime I am alive. I move about. I am worth twenty of thee. 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