--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am probably a dull man. Emotionally I…" description: "\"“I am probably a dull man. Emotionally I have had no complications. I was engaged to a pretty girl, a neighbor, when I was twenty-five, but she married..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/daphne-du-maurier-1185_life_i-am-probably-a-dull-man-emotionally-i-h_2575125.jpg" --- # I am probably a dull man. Emotionally I have had no… ![“I am probably a dull man. Emotionally I have had no complications. I was engaged to a pretty girl, a neighbor, when I was twenty-five, but she married somebody else. It hurt at the time, but the wound healed in less than a year. One fault, if fault it is, I have always had, which perhaps accounts…” quote by Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/daphne-du-maurier-1185_life_i-am-probably-a-dull-man-emotionally-i-h_2575125.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/daphne-du-maurier-1185_life_i-am-probably-a-dull-man-emotionally-i-h_2575125.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/daphne-du-maurier-1185_life_i-am-probably-a-dull-man-emotionally-i-h_2575125.jpg) > ““I am probably a dull man. Emotionally I have had no complications. I was engaged to a pretty girl, a neighbor, when I was twenty-five, but she married somebody else. It hurt at the time, but the wound healed in less than a year. One fault, if fault it is, I have always had, which perhaps accounts for my hitherto monotonous life. This is an aversion to becoming involved with people. Friends I possess, but at a distance. Once involved, trouble occurs, and too often disaster follows.”” [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes a self-imposed emotional distance to avoid complications, leading to a monotonous life. **In simple terms:** He avoids deep relationships to stay safe. Key Takeaway Consider opening up cautiously. Themes emotional avoidance loneliness relationships Mood reflective somber Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - dating - friendship building - therapy sessions Key Concepts attachment theory self-protection Questions to Reflect On - What fears keep you distant? - How might vulnerability enrich life? A Different Perspective Risk of missing meaningful connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complications Engaged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complications-engaged-1727673/) [Dull Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull-man-538383/) [Emotionally Complications](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotionally-complications-1727674/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Man Emotionally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-emotionally-1154908/) [Monotonous life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monotonous-life/) [Pretty girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretty-girl/) [Probably Dull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probably-dull-1727676/) ## Related quotes > [I can usually tell if a man is emotionally unavailable by my instant attraction to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-usually-tell-if-a-man-is-emotionally-unavailable-by-my-instant/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A successful man is emotionally restrained, keeping things close to the vest, defending your position, being in control, etcetera. If your identity is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hamblin/a-successful-man-is-emotionally-restrained-keeping-things-close-to/) [James Hamblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hamblin/) > [My dad was a good man but an emotionally absent father, and so I had to look for that male attention somewhere else, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hamilton/my-dad-was-a-good-man-but-an-emotionally-absent-father-and-so-i-had/) [Jim Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hamilton/) > ['To All The Boys' is one film amongst a couple other romantic comedies through the decades that promotes... I don't know what they're calling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-centineo/to-all-the-boys-is-one-film-amongst-a-couple-other-romantic-comedies/) [Noah Centineo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-centineo/) > [The 'Demon King' takes out a lot out of Finn Balor the man emotionally and mentally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finn-balor/the-demon-king-takes-out-a-lot-out-of-finn-balor-the-man-emotionally/) [Finn Balor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finn-balor/) > [“Anger will make a dull man witty, but very little money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i-tudor/anger-will-make-a-dull-man-witty-but-very-little-money/) [Elizabeth I Tudor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i-tudor/) > [It is widely held that too much wine will dull a man's desire. Indeed it will...in a dull man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-widely-held-that-too-much-wine-will-dull-a-man-s-desire-indeed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Labour is good for a man, bracing up his energies to conquest, And without it life is dull, the man perceiving himself useless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/labour-is-good-for-a-man-bracing-up-his-energies-to-conquest-and/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [You have been second always. Tragical? No. You preferred it to the usual thing: One dull man, dulling and uxorious, One average mind- with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/you-have-been-second-always-tragical-no-you-preferred-it-to-the-usual/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-dull-man-who-is-always-sure-and-the-sure-man-who-is-always/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No man's brain is so dull, and no man's eye so blind, that they cannot catch food for dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-g-mitchell/no-man-s-brain-is-so-dull-and-no-man-s-eye-so-blind-that-they-cannot/) [Donald G. Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-g-mitchell/) > [I'm actually a rather dull man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-allen/i-m-actually-a-rather-dull-man/) [Keith Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-allen/) > [Somehow love gives even to a dull man the knowledge of his lover's heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hope/somehow-love-gives-even-to-a-dull-man-the-knowledge-of-his-lover-s/) [Anthony Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hope/) > [Only a very dull man spells a word the same way twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/only-a-very-dull-man-spells-a-word-the-same-way-twice/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [The great man is not so great as folks think, and the dull man is not quite so stupid as he seems. The difference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-great-man-is-not-so-great-as-folks-think-and-the-dull-man-is-not/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) ## More by Daphne du Maurier > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“You understand now... how simple life becomes when things like mirrors are forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-understand-now-how-simple-life-becomes-when-things-like-mirrors/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [I could fight with the living but I could not fight the dead. If there was some woman in London that Maxim loved, someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/i-could-fight-with-the-living-but-i-could-not-fight-the-dead-if-there/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [It wouldn't make for sanity would it, living with the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-wouldn-t-make-for-sanity-would-it-living-with-the-devil/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“The only time I got into trouble was when I forged M's signature on the weekly report we had to take home every Friday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/the-only-time-i-got-into-trouble-was-when-i-forged-m-s-signature-on/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Women want love to be a novel, men a short story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/women-want-love-to-be-a-novel-men-a-short-story/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“We all of us have our particular devil who ruses us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-all-of-us-have-our-particular-devil-who-ruses-us-and-torments-us/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Happy in his silence yet eager for his words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/happy-in-his-silence-yet-eager-for-his-words/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“There have been men in arid deserts where the sun has so disfigured them that they have become things of horror – parched and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/there-have-been-men-in-arid-deserts-where-the-sun-has-so-disfigured/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Packing up. The nagging worry of departure. When shutting drawers and flinging wide an hotel wardrobe, or the impersonal shelves of a furnished villa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/packing-up-the-nagging-worry-of-departure-when-shutting-drawers-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/and-perhaps-one-day-in-after-years-someone-would-wander-there-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perhaps-i-am-it-doesn-t-make-for/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“many impressions to seize and hold, familiar loved façades, balconies, windows, water lapping the cellar steps of decaying palaces, the little red house where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/many-impressions-to-seize-and-hold-familiar-loved-fa-ades-balconies/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [People who travel are always fugitives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/people-who-travel-are-always-fugitives/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) [Explore all 269 Daphne du Maurier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I am probably a dull man. 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