--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why are we never quite at ease in the…" description: "\"Why are we never quite at ease in the presence of a schoolmaster? Because we are conscious that he is not quite at his ease in ours. He is awkward, and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/charles-lamb-1144_awkward_why-are-we-never-quite-at-ease-in-the-pr_3045117.jpg" --- # Why are we never quite at ease in the presence of a… ![“Why are we never quite at ease in the presence of a schoolmaster? Because we are conscious that he is not quite at his ease in ours. He is awkward, and out of place in the society of his equals. He comes like Gulliver from among his little people, and he cannot fit the stature of his understanding…” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/charles-lamb-1144_awkward_why-are-we-never-quite-at-ease-in-the-pr_3045117.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/charles-lamb-1144_awkward_why-are-we-never-quite-at-ease-in-the-pr_3045117.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4df/charles-lamb-1144_awkward_why-are-we-never-quite-at-ease-in-the-pr_3045117.jpg) > “Why are we never quite at ease in the presence of a schoolmaster? Because we are conscious that he is not quite at his ease in ours. He is awkward, and out of place in the society of his equals. He comes like Gulliver from among his little people, and he cannot fit the stature of his understanding to yours.” [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. People feel uneasy around teachers because both parties sense mutual discomfort and social mismatch. **In simple terms:** Teachers and students feel awkward. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address mutual discomfort. Themes education social dynamics comfort Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - classroom introductions - mentor meetings - team workshops Key Concepts power relations self‑consciousness role reversal Questions to Reflect On - What steps can reduce teacher‑student tension? - How does mutual awareness improve interaction? A Different Perspective Comfort requires effort from both sides. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awkward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awkward/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Ease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ease/) [Ease Awkward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ease-awkward-5037765/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Fit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fit/) [Gulliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gulliver/) [Little people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-people/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Never quit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never-quit/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Presence Schoolmaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presence-schoolmaster-5037763/) [Schoolmaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schoolmaster-406910/) [Schoolmaster Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schoolmaster-conscious-5037761/) [Stature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stature/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [How convalescence shrinks a man back to his pristine stature! where is now the space, which he occupied so lately, in his own, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/how-convalescence-shrinks-a-man-back-to-his-pristine-stature-where-is/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You send your child to the schoolmaster, but 'tis the schoolboys who educate him. You send him to the Latin class, but much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-send-your-child-to-the-schoolmaster-but-tis-the-schoolboys-who/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The average schoolmaster is, and always must be, an ass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-average-schoolmaster-is-and-always-must-be-an-ass/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A good, very good, not to say admirable schoolmaster, but then he is only a schoolmaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/a-good-very-good-not-to-say-admirable-schoolmaster-but-then-he-is/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [No man, however strong, can serve ten years as schoolmaster, priest, or Senator, and remain fit for anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/no-man-however-strong-can-serve-ten-years-as-schoolmaster-priest-or-2/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-speaker-and-the-schoolmaster-and-the-third-grown-person-present/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I had a schoolmaster who was a supernumerary at Glyndebourne Opera, and through ,I got a job as a walk-on in Peter Hall's production…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mccabe/i-had-a-schoolmaster-who-was-a-supernumerary-at-glyndebourne-opera/) [Richard McCabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mccabe/) > [One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-good-schoolmaster-is-of-more-use-than-a-hundred-priests/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Poverty is the schoolmaster of character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antiphanes/poverty-is-the-schoolmaster-of-character/) [Antiphanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antiphanes/) > [One good schoolmaster is worth a thousand priests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/one-good-schoolmaster-is-worth-a-thousand-priests/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“The schoolmaster is termed, classically, Ludi Magister, because he deprives boys of their play.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-schoolmaster-is-termed-classically-ludi-magister-because-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Society is like a schoolmaster who estimates boys according to their conformity to a standard that is easiest for running a school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-sidgwick/society-is-like-a-schoolmaster-who-estimates-boys-according-to-their/) [Henry Sidgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-sidgwick/) > [The grand result of schooling is a mind with just vision to discern, with free force to do: the grand schoolmaster is Practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-grand-result-of-schooling-is-a-mind-with-just-vision-to-discern/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“Because, sir, teaching young gentlemen has a dismal effect upon the soul.It exemplifies the badness of established, artificial authority. The pedagogue has almost absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/because-sir-teaching-young-gentlemen-has-a-dismal-effect-upon-the/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) ## 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. 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