--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She [Marilyn Monroe] was good at being…" description: "\"She [Marilyn Monroe] was good at being inarticulately abstracted for the same reason that midgets are good at being short.\" — Clive James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png" --- # She \[Marilyn Monroe\] was good at being inarticulately… ![“She [Marilyn Monroe] was good at being inarticulately abstracted for the same reason that midgets are good at being short.” quote by Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png) > “She \[Marilyn Monroe\] was good at being inarticulately abstracted for the same reason that midgets are good at being short.” [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She was able to embody abstractness, much like how physical smallness defines midgets, highlighting how certain traits become defining strengths. **In simple terms:** She used abstraction as a strength, similar to how short stature defines midgets. Key Takeaway Embrace unique traits as strengths. Themes identity art perception Mood analytical contemplative Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - acting - creative writing - personal branding - self‑acceptance Key Concepts literary criticism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you turn perceived limitations into assets? - What role does abstraction play in your work? A Different Perspective Risk of reducing complex identity to a single metaphor. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good Inarticulately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-inarticulately-2430894/) [Inarticulately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inarticulately-2430896/) [Marilyn monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marilyn-monroe/) [Midget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midget/) [Midgets Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midgets-good-2430893/) [Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monroe/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Midgets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-midgets-2430895/) ## Related quotes > [She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is good at being short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusion-in-the-same-way-that-a/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [As far as talent goes, Marilyn Monroe was so minimally gifted as to be almost unemployable, and anyone who holds to the opinion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/as-far-as-talent-goes-marilyn-monroe-was-so-minimally-gifted-as-to-be/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [There's a Drunk Midget in My House Ah, babies! They're more than just adorable little creatures on whom you can blame your farts. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-fey/there-s-a-drunk-midget-in-my-house-ah-babies-they-re-more-than-just/) [Tina Fey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-fey/) > [The word midget makes me money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hornswoggle/the-word-midget-makes-me-money/) [Hornswoggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hornswoggle/) > [I had such plans for this evening. The pursuit of blind drunkenness and wayward women was my goal. But alas, it was not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-had-such-plans-for-this-evening-the-pursuit-of-blind-drunkenness/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“Better feed him more beans or you’re going to have a midget on your hands, Wiley,” he said. “It’s bad enough to be deaf,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-wilgus/better-feed-him-more-beans-or-you-re-going-to-have-a-midget-on-your/) [Nick Wilgus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-wilgus/) > [Ninety-five per cent of my language problems are the fault of that stupid little midget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianfranco-zola/ninety-five-per-cent-of-my-language-problems-are-the-fault-of-that/) [Gianfranco Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianfranco-zola/) > [I'm as pissed as a midget with a yo yo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/i-m-as-pissed-as-a-midget-with-a-yo-yo/) [Author Name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/author-name/) > [“He who makes fun of a short and fat man’s weight is much less cruel than he who makes fun of his height.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/he-who-makes-fun-of-a-short-and-fat-man-s-weight-is-much-less-cruel/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise. Become a stranger to need of pity. Or if compassion be freely given out, take only enough. Stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/expect-nothing-live-frugally-on-surprise-become-a-stranger-to-need-of/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Life is a midget so try and live it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/life-is-a-midget-so-try-and-live-it-up/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [I feel like a midget with muddy feet had been walking over my tongue all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-feel-like-a-midget-with-muddy-feet-had-been-walking-over-my-tongue/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfeld deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/the-midget-bush-and-that-rumsfeld-deserve-only-to-be-beaten-with/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [“I frowned. This from a man who just watched a midget riding a gimp?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaye-wells/i-frowned-this-from-a-man-who-just-watched-a-midget-riding-a-gimp/) [Jaye Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaye-wells/) > [Are you a producer or a looter? If diversity were always and everywhere good we would be clamoring for more midgets in the NBA.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/are-you-a-producer-or-a-looter-if-diversity-were-always-and/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) ## More by Clive James > [Arnold Schwarzenegger looks like a brown condom full of walnuts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/arnold-schwarzenegger-looks-like-a-brown-condom-full-of-walnuts/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [My wife spoke perfect Italian and she was very beautiful and very suave Italian men were crowding around her, talking all the time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/my-wife-spoke-perfect-italian-and-she-was-very-beautiful-and-very/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [The streets, at least in this part of town, seemed impossibly clean in comparison to London. The public telephones were unvandalised. For a London…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/the-streets-at-least-in-this-part-of-town-seemed-impossibly-clean-in/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [In London there was no home cooking worthy of the name. When you were in funds you ate out. But only the people whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/in-london-there-was-no-home-cooking-worthy-of-the-name-when-you-were/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [Generally it is our failures that civilize us. Triumph confirms us in our habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/generally-it-is-our-failures-that-civilize-us-triumph-confirms-us-in/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [I try to be specific. One thought at a time. Clear. Articulate. And above all, memorable, if you can be. You'd like to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/i-try-to-be-specific-one-thought-at-a-time-clear-articulate-and-above/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [Pound had argued - and Eliot had helped him prove - that a poem could be sustained by memorable moments. Olson proved that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/pound-had-argued-and-eliot-had-helped-him-prove-that-a-poem-could-be/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [A luxury liner is really just a bad play surrounded by water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/a-luxury-liner-is-really-just-a-bad-play-surrounded-by-water/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [One way or another, all the poets of the thirties and forties reacted to Auden, either by rejecting him or trying to absorb him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/one-way-or-another-all-the-poets-of-the-thirties-and-forties-reacted/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [Little books are the things to write at my age, I've decided. Avoid the big ones, go for the little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/little-books-are-the-things-to-write-at-my-age-i-ve-decided-avoid-the/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [“Too many of my friends are dead, and others wrecked By various diseases of the intellect Or failing body. How am I still upright?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/too-many-of-my-friends-are-dead-and-others-wrecked-by-various/) [clive james](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [A sceptic finds Dallas absurd. A cynic thinks the public doesn't](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/a-sceptic-finds-dallas-absurd-a-cynic-thinks-the-public-doesn-t/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [The Canadian version of Julius Caesar's memoirs? I came, I saw, I coped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/the-canadian-version-of-julius-caesar-s-memoirs-i-came-i-saw-i-coped/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [“Rilke used to say that no poet would mind going to gaol, since he would at least have time to explore the treasure house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/rilke-used-to-say-that-no-poet-would-mind-going-to-gaol-since-he/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [The thing about making a documentary in Las Vegas is there isn't much to film apart from other people making documentaries about Las Vegas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/the-thing-about-making-a-documentary-in-las-vegas-is-there-isn-t-much/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) [Explore all 151 Clive James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) ## More Marilyn monroe quotes > [As for Aliki - if you were to stand in the middle of Rome and say the name Sophia Loren, or Paris and say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/as-for-aliki-if-you-were-to-stand-in-the-middle-of-rome-and-say-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [Marilyn Monroe appeared to be perfect, but she wasn't perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/marilyn-monroe-appeared-to-be-perfect-but-she-wasn-t-perfect/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [“I've lived long enough to know that life doesn't always stick to the rules...The perfectly impossible and absolutely ridiculous keep happening all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-winder/i-ve-lived-long-enough-to-know-that-life-doesn-t-always-stick-to-the/) [Elizabeth Winder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-winder/) > [The difference between Marilyn Monroe and the early Pamela Anderson is not that great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hefner/the-difference-between-marilyn-monroe-and-the-early-pamela-anderson/) [Hugh Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hefner/) > [“How will you feel when you're being swallowed up?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-schneider/how-will-you-feel-when-you-re-being-swallowed-up/) [michel schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-schneider/) > [I used to sit near Marilyn Monroe in the Actor's Studio. She'd get dressed up because that was her identity. Sad. Those cameras wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-roberts/i-used-to-sit-near-marilyn-monroe-in-the-actor-s-studio-she-d-get/) [Doris Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-roberts/) > [If you were married to Marilyn Monroe, you'd cheat with some ugly girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/if-you-were-married-to-marilyn-monroe-you-d-cheat-with-some-ugly-girl/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [Part of me has always wanted to be like Marilyn Monroe or any Fifties Hollywood starlet. On screen, they seemed so sexy and simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-ryan/part-of-me-has-always-wanted-to-be-like-marilyn-monroe-or-any-fifties/) [Katherine Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-ryan/) > [“The world is entirely magical, the only illusion is that it isn't...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-andal/the-world-is-entirely-magical-the-only-illusion-is-that-it-isn-t/) [Lydia Andal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-andal/) > [Now that Marilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-levant/now-that-marilyn-monroe-is-kosher-arthur-miller-can-eat-her/) [Oscar Levant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-levant/) > [I used to say to myself, 'What the devil have you got to be proud about, Marilyn Monroe?' And I'd answer, 'Everything, everything.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn/i-used-to-say-to-myself-what-the-devil-have-you-got-to-be-proud-about/) [Marilyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn/) > [Like me, Marilyn Monroe had suffered at the hands of some not very nice men. She was used, unappreciated and struggled to find herself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-madison/like-me-marilyn-monroe-had-suffered-at-the-hands-of-some-not-very/) [Holly Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-madison/) > [I just feel a connection with Marilyn Monroe. I just love her. I just completely feel what she went through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-nicole-smith/i-just-feel-a-connection-with-marilyn-monroe-i-just-love-her-i-just/) [Anna Nicole Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-nicole-smith/) > [Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius. And its better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring, And when it comes to it, I let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn/imperfection-is-beauty-madness-is-genius-and-its-better-to-be/) [Marilyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn/) > [I was in Florida with Burt Stern, the photographer who shot Marilyn Monroe on the beach with a sweater, and we smoked a joint.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosanna-arquette/i-was-in-florida-with-burt-stern-the-photographer-who-shot-marilyn/) [Rosanna Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosanna-arquette/) [Browse all 179 Marilyn monroe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marilyn-monroe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She [Marilyn Monroe] was good at being inarticulately abstracted for the same reason that midgets are good at being short.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clive James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-inarticulately-abstracted-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Marilyn monroe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-inarticulately-abstracted-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a90/clive-james-2750_marilyn-monroe_she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-ina_2661465.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She [Marilyn Monroe] was good at being inarticulately abstracted for the same reason that midgets are good…” — Clive James", "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": "Clive James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "She [Marilyn Monroe] was good at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-inarticulately-abstracted-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-inarticulately-abstracted-for/#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 } } ] } ```