--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She was good at playing abstract…" description: "\"She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is good at being short.\" — Clive James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png" --- # She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way… ![“She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is good at being short.” quote by Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png) > “She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is 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 compares a woman's skill at creating confusing art to a dwarf's natural shortness, implying both are innate traits. **In simple terms:** She likens abstract art skill to a dwarf's height, both innate. Key Takeaway Recognize innate talents without demeaning analogies. Themes art identity comparison innate ability humor Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - creative work - education - media analysis - personal development Key Concepts aesthetic theory social critique body politics Questions to Reflect On - How do you discuss innate abilities respectfully? - What alternative metaphors could convey the point? A Different Perspective Uses a potentially offensive metaphor that can be misinterpreted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ## Related quotes > [“My penis isn’t big. It just appeared that way because the midget’s hands were so small.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/my-penis-isn-t-big-it-just-appeared-that-way-because-the-midget-s/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [ She \[Marilyn Monroe\] was good at being inarticulately abstracted for the same reason that midgets are good at being short. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-marilyn-monroe-was-good-at-being-inarticulately-abstracted-for/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [I've been successful when I have kept things simple - playing cricketing shots that I'm blessed with or I am good at playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-l-rahul/i-ve-been-successful-when-i-have-kept-things-simple-playing/) [K. L. Rahul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-l-rahul/) > [I think that age is a number. Right now I feel good and I'm playing well, so I think that 36 is good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-smith-sr/i-think-that-age-is-a-number-right-now-i-feel-good-and-i-m-playing/) Steve Smith, Sr > [Performers are going to play. If you're performing good and you're playing good consistently, you're going to play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-chung/performers-are-going-to-play-if-you-re-performing-good-and-you-re/) [Patrick Chung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-chung/) > [A very good side playing at the sort of level we are aspiring to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-moyes/a-very-good-side-playing-at-the-sort-of-level-we-are-aspiring-to/) [David Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-moyes/) > [I believe that if you feel good and if you look good when you're playing, it can give you the extra edge that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grigor-dimitrov/i-believe-that-if-you-feel-good-and-if-you-look-good-when-you-re/) [Grigor Dimitrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grigor-dimitrov/) > [I've never been good at playing live in front of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-barlow/i-ve-never-been-good-at-playing-live-in-front-of-people/) [Lou Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-barlow/) > [I think I'm good at playing dramatic and serious roles, but it's not necessarily what I want to keep doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-butterfield/i-think-i-m-good-at-playing-dramatic-and-serious-roles-but-it-s-not/) [Asa Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-butterfield/) > [You know, I'm just 6'9" and 260. And just so happen to be very good at playing the game of basketball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebron-james/you-know-i-m-just-6-9-and-260-and-just-so-happen-to-be-very-good-at/) [LeBron James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebron-james/) > [I'm pretty good at playing with foot injuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amari-cooper/i-m-pretty-good-at-playing-with-foot-injuries/) [Amari Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amari-cooper/) > [I play to win. If I have great numbers, that's great. Obviously you feel good about it, but still, I'm playing to win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-livingston/i-play-to-win-if-i-have-great-numbers-that-s-great-obviously-you-feel/) [Shaun Livingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-livingston/) > [We have played a very good side, playing at the sort of level we are aspiring to. We need to come up a couple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-moyes/we-have-played-a-very-good-side-playing-at-the-sort-of-level-we-are/) [David Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-moyes/) > [I'm good at working, but I'm very good at playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salma-hayek/i-m-good-at-working-but-i-m-very-good-at-playing/) [Salma Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salma-hayek/) > [It was so inspiring for me to watch tennis growing up. I thought I was really good playing, until my brother told me I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-taylor/it-was-so-inspiring-for-me-to-watch-tennis-growing-up-i-thought-i-was/) [Christine Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-taylor/) ## 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 Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is 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-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusion-in-the-same-way-that-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstract" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusion-in-the-same-way-that-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/clive-james-2750_abstract_she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusi_2914585.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is good at being short.” — 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 was good at playing abstract...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusion-in-the-same-way-that-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/she-was-good-at-playing-abstract-confusion-in-the-same-way-that-a/#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 } } ] } ```