--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to…" description: "\"Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to Dodge-town victorious. Not crowned with laurel, it is true, but wreathed in lists of things he has seen and suc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/d-h-lawrence-426_clams_behold-then-septimus-dodge-returning-to_2965881.png" --- # Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to Dodge-town… ![“Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to Dodge-town victorious. Not crowned with laurel, it is true, but wreathed in lists of things he has seen and sucked dry. Seen and sucked dry, you know: Venus de Milo, the Rhine or the Coliseum: swallowed like so many clams, and left the shells.” quote by D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/d-h-lawrence-426_clams_behold-then-septimus-dodge-returning-to_2965881.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/d-h-lawrence-426_clams_behold-then-septimus-dodge-returning-to_2965881.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/d-h-lawrence-426_clams_behold-then-septimus-dodge-returning-to_2965881.png) > “Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to Dodge-town victorious. Not crowned with laurel, it is true, but wreathed in lists of things he has seen and sucked dry. Seen and sucked dry, you know: Venus de Milo, the Rhine or the Coliseum: swallowed like so many clams, and left the shells.” [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Septimus Dodge returns triumphant, not with honors but with a wealth of experiences that have left him empty yet enriched. **In simple terms:** He gains knowledge through experience, even if it empties him. Key Takeaway Embrace experiences, even if they leave you feeling spent. Themes experience knowledge emptiness victory Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - travel - war - personal growth - reflection Key Concepts existentialism human condition Questions to Reflect On - What experiences have left you feeling both enriched and drained? - How do you balance gaining knowledge with preserving inner peace? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize emptiness, ignoring the need for emotional fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coliseum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coliseum/) [Laurels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laurels/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Tourism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourism/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Travel and tourism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel-and-tourism/) [Venus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venus/) [Venus de milo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venus-de-milo/) ## Related quotes > [I couldn't run a tight schedule, and if you're any good at teaching, you get sucked dry because you like your students and you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/i-couldn-t-run-a-tight-schedule-and-if-you-re-any-good-at-teaching/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [“She felt as if she were being sucked dry by little vampires. End up like one of those pruney leather guys you see scuttling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-w-jeter/she-felt-as-if-she-were-being-sucked-dry-by-little-vampires-end-up/) [K.W. Jeter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-w-jeter/) > [“A one sided friendship brings exhaustion and there's no one deserves to be sucked dry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/a-one-sided-friendship-brings-exhaustion-and-there-s-no-one-deserves/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [Somebody asked me, 'Why do people like vampires so much?' This was right after Obama had been elected and I said, 'Because we just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ball/somebody-asked-me-why-do-people-like-vampires-so-much-this-was-right/) [Alan Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ball/) > [There's only one woman I know of who could never be a symphony conductor, and that's the Venus de Milo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hillis/there-s-only-one-woman-i-know-of-who-could-never-be-a-symphony/) Margaret Hillis > [Alexandros of Antioch took a block of marble and chiseled away from it everything that was not his masterpiece, the Venus de Milo. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/alexandros-of-antioch-took-a-block-of-marble-and-chiseled-away-from/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“that if one is intent on colorizing a film like Casablanca one may as well add arms to the Venus de Milo.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-isenberg/that-if-one-is-intent-on-colorizing-a-film-like-casablanca-one-may-as/) Noah Isenberg > [Talking pictures are like putting lip rouge on the Venus de Milo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pickford/talking-pictures-are-like-putting-lip-rouge-on-the-venus-de-milo/) [Mary Pickford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pickford/) > [The preliminaries were out of the way, the creative process was about to begin. The creative process, that mystic life force, that splurge out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornell-woolrich/the-preliminaries-were-out-of-the-way-the-creative-process-was-about/) [Cornell Woolrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornell-woolrich/) > [She resembles the Venus de Milo: she is very old, has no teeth, and has white spots on her yellow skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/she-resembles-the-venus-de-milo-she-is-very-old-has-no-teeth-and-has/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [Venus de Milo. To a child she is ugly. When a mind adjusts to thinking of her as a completeness, even though, by physiologic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/venus-de-milo-to-a-child-she-is-ugly-when-a-mind-adjusts-to-thinking/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [The song Venus de Milo, the whole subject of it is Love is a drug.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/the-song-venus-de-milo-the-whole-subject-of-it-is-love-is-a-drug/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I've always found paintings of nudes depressing because they can't compete with photographs. The grainiest photograph of some girl, a blurry Polaroid - you'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-currin/i-ve-always-found-paintings-of-nudes-depressing-because-they-can-t/) [John Currin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-currin/) > [“Beauty! Wasn't that what mattered? Beauty was hardly a popular ideal at that jumpy moment in history. The masses had been desensitized to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/beauty-wasn-t-that-what-mattered-beauty-was-hardly-a-popular-ideal-at/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When archaeologists discover the missing arms of Venus de Milo, they will find she was wearing boxing gloves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrymore/when-archaeologists-discover-the-missing-arms-of-venus-de-milo-they/) [John Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrymore/) ## More by D. H. Lawrence > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [and Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin she is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-venus-among-the-fishes-skips-and-is-a-she-dolphin-she-is-the-gay/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If I had my way, I would build a lethal chamber as big as the Crystal Palace, with a military band playing softly, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-i-had-my-way-i-would-build-a-lethal-chamber-as-big-as-the-crystal/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion. The apples falling like great drops of dew to bruise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/now-it-is-autumn-and-the-falling-fruit-and-the-long-journey-towards/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [We have to hate our immediate predecessors to get free of their authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/we-have-to-hate-our-immediate-predecessors-to-get-free-of-their/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Reach me a gentian, give me a torch! Let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of a flower down the darker and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/reach-me-a-gentian-give-me-a-torch-let-me-guide-myself-with-the-blue/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The war is dreadful. It is the business of the artist to follow it home to the heart of the individual fighters - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-war-is-dreadful-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-follow-it/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The nearer a conception comes towards finality, the nearer does the dynamic relation, out of which this concept has arisen, draw to a close.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-nearer-a-conception-comes-towards-finality-the-nearer-does-the/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [It is our business to go as we are impelled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/it-is-our-business-to-go-as-we-are-impelled/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/ours-is-essentially-a-tragic-age-so-we-refuse-to-take-it-tragically/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If only we could live two lives: the first in which to make one's mistakes, and the second in which to profit by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-only-we-could-live-two-lives-the-first-in-which-to-make-one-s/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [They say geniuses mostly have great mothers. They mostly have sad fates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/they-say-geniuses-mostly-have-great-mothers-they-mostly-have-sad-fates/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [When one jumps over the edge, one is bound to land somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/when-one-jumps-over-the-edge-one-is-bound-to-land-somewhere/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The living moment is everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-living-moment-is-everything/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If a woman's got nothing but her fair fame to feed on, why, it's thin tack, and a donkey would die of it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-a-woman-s-got-nothing-but-her-fair-fame-to-feed-on-why-it-s-thin/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) [Explore all 570 D. H. Lawrence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## More Clams quotes > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Our schools too often want to shut people up so they can't talk about real solutions. People who think differently tend to clam up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/our-schools-too-often-want-to-shut-people-up-so-they-can-t-talk-about/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [This living, this living, this living Was never a project of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/this-living-this-living-this-living-was-never-a-project-of-mine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Me and Clams have always kept it organic with the way we work. It's just always the right time. It's never no pressure. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/me-and-clams-have-always-kept-it-organic-with-the-way-we-work-it-s/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [I froze, shocked. (And don't try to clam that you did anything different the first time a government bureaucrat pulled a gun on you.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/i-froze-shocked-and-don-t-try-to-clam-that-you-did-anything-different/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [I am lucky to be what I am! Thank goodness I'm not just a clam, or a ham, or a dusty jar of sour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/i-am-lucky-to-be-what-i-am-thank-goodness-i-m-not-just-a-clam-or-a/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [I make a wicked clam chowdah, and linguine with clam sauce. Oysters I like to eat raw, and mussels in either a white wine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-himes/i-make-a-wicked-clam-chowdah-and-linguine-with-clam-sauce-oysters-i/) [Jim Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-himes/) > [Clams's music to me is where there's no boundaries. It was just exciting for my mind to be as free as Clams's music is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/clams-s-music-to-me-is-where-there-s-no-boundaries-it-was-just/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [Happy as a clam, is what my mother says for happy. I am happy as a clam: hard-shelled, firmly closed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/happy-as-a-clam-is-what-my-mother-says-for-happy-i-am-happy-as-a-clam/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“You’ll be taking the last a’ those,” Dorey confided. “I had a vendor try to convince me to shrink-wrap and freeze, but they’re never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-delinsky/you-ll-be-taking-the-last-a-those-dorey-confided-i-had-a-vendor-try/) [Barbara Delinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-delinsky/) > [It is a dead heart. It is inside of me. It is a stranger yet once it was agreeable, opening and closing like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/it-is-a-dead-heart-it-is-inside-of-me-it-is-a-stranger-yet-once-it/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [My favorite thing is Spaghetti with white clam sauce anywhere on the Amalfi Coast or the Tuscan Coast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-english/my-favorite-thing-is-spaghetti-with-white-clam-sauce-anywhere-on-the/) [Todd English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-english/) > [Right before when the iMac came out is when most people associate Apple started. That's when people remember Apple - that first iMac or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-michael-stern/right-before-when-the-imac-came-out-is-when-most-people-associate/) [Joshua Michael Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-michael-stern/) > [I can joke around and do what I want and be great in my area and play around and be the best, but when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/i-can-joke-around-and-do-what-i-want-and-be-great-in-my-area-and-play/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [But when that smoking chowder came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh! sweet friends, hearken to me. It was made of small juicy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/but-when-that-smoking-chowder-came-in-the-mystery-was-delightfully/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) Browse all 55 Clams quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to Dodge-town victorious. Not crowned with laurel, it is true, but wreathed in lists of things he has seen and sucked dry. Seen and sucked dry, you know: Venus de Milo, the Rhine or the Coliseum: swallowed like so many clams, and left the shells.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "D. H. 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