--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood…" description: "\"“It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood there above the steps, that all the people pressing forward were staring, not at the Dome of Rock, but at her a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg" --- # It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood there above the… ![“It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood there above the steps, that all the people pressing forward were staring, not at the Dome of Rock, but at her alone, and were nudging on another, whispering, smiling; for she knew, from her own experience of mocking others, that there is nothing more likely…” quote by Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg) > ““It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood there above the steps, that all the people pressing forward were staring, not at the Dome of Rock, but at her alone, and were nudging on another, whispering, smiling; for she knew, from her own experience of mocking others, that there is nothing more likely to unite a crowd of strangers in a wave of laughter than the sight of someone who, with dignity shattered, becomes suddenly grotesque.”” [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. A woman feels isolated as everyone’s attention focuses on her, highlighting how vulnerability can attract collective mockery. **In simple terms:** People stare at the vulnerable, not the surroundings. Key Takeaway Recognize how dignity can be shattered publicly. Themes isolation vulnerability social scrutiny mockery crowd dynamics Mood anxious reflective critical Type literary observational psychological When to use this quote - public speaking - social media exposure - leadership challenges - personal crises - performance anxiety Key Concepts psychology status humiliation group behavior Questions to Reflect On - How does personal vulnerability affect group dynamics? - When does mockery become harmful? A Different Perspective The quote may overstate the universality of mockery; not all audiences react similarly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Pressing forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pressing-forward/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) ## Related quotes > [Success comes from repeated efforts day in and day out. You learn from your mistakes, make adjustments and continue pressing forward until you achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/success-comes-from-repeated-efforts-day-in-and-day-out-you-learn-from/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [Lord give me the patience necessary to keep pressing forward; I'm not going to give up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lord-give-me-the-patience-necessary-to-keep-pressing-forward-i-m-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Courage is not the absence of fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stengel/courage-is-not-the-absence-of-fear/) [Richard Stengel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stengel/) > [“A good relationship has a pattern like a dance and is built on some of the same rules. The partners do not need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/a-good-relationship-has-a-pattern-like-a-dance-and-is-built-on-some-2/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [We must fight to win and we must never look back. Keep pressing forward. No regrets. Hope, love and faith in God is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-must-fight-to-win-and-we-must-never-look-back-keep-pressing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“One cannot dance well unless one is completely in time with the music, not leaning back to the last step or pressing forward to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/one-cannot-dance-well-unless-one-is-completely-in-time-with-the-music/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [I try to show up and do my job and get my work in every day, keep pressing forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerrit-cole/i-try-to-show-up-and-do-my-job-and-get-my-work-in-every-day-keep/) [Gerrit Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerrit-cole/) > [I know what's in my future is greater than what's in my past so I am pressing forward in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/i-know-what-s-in-my-future-is-greater-than-what-s-in-my-past-so-i-am/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“Historically, American liberals have been idealists, pressing forward toward the goals of greater freedom, social equality, and more meaningful democracy. The articulate exposition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/historically-american-liberals-have-been-idealists-pressing-forward/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [“…I'd skimmed along life like a surfer, mistaking speed for direction. I'd feigned to be pressing forward when I was really running away”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-johnson/i-d-skimmed-along-life-like-a-surfer-mistaking-speed-for-direction-i/) John Johnson > [A man who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/a-man-who-is-pressing-forward-to-accomplish-worthy-goals-can-soon-put/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [“If you're feeling like life is hard and you keep climbing the rough side of the mountain, remember this: the rough side is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjo-jendayi/if-you-re-feeling-like-life-is-hard-and-you-keep-climbing-the-rough/) [Sanjo Jendayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjo-jendayi/) > [Just because you’ve come to a dead end, it’s not time to give up. Find a different route and keep pressing forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/just-because-you-ve-come-to-a-dead-end-it-s-not-time-to-give-up-find/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“He who fears being watched from the abyss will be unable to look into it himself. The truth can only be obtained by pressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadamu-yamashita/he-who-fears-being-watched-from-the-abyss-will-be-unable-to-look-into/) Sadamu Yamashita > [“No, I’m not settling here. I’m going to keep pressing forward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/no-i-m-not-settling-here-i-m-going-to-keep-pressing-forward/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) ## 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 Laughter quotes > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Our world will not die as a result of the bomb, as the papers say, it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/our-world-will-not-die-as-a-result-of-the-bomb-as-the-papers-say-it/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“Laugh and grow strong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/laugh-and-grow-strong/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I do love to laugh!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-giudice/i-do-love-to-laugh/) [Teresa Giudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-giudice/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [“Laughter sometimes hurts us, and sometimes it makes us feel better. No matter how down you feel... laughter brings a new ray of hope.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiko-tobe/laughter-sometimes-hurts-us-and-sometimes-it-makes-us-feel-better-no/) [Keiko Tobe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keiko-tobe/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [Nothing's funnier to me than laughing at myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-mcgraw/nothing-s-funnier-to-me-than-laughing-at-myself/) [Phil McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-mcgraw/) > [“A long, loud, and canorous peal of laughter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-de-quincey/a-long-loud-and-canorous-peal-of-laughter/) [Thomas de Quincey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-de-quincey/) > [There isn't a sound better than your own child's laugh...There isn't a sight better than your own child's smile...and Nothing is better than being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/there-isn-t-a-sound-better-than-your-own-child-s-laugh-there-isn-t-a/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [What I like to think I've done is try to teach all women and my three female daughters, to teach them to rise above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joely-fisher/what-i-like-to-think-i-ve-done-is-try-to-teach-all-women-and-my-three/) [Joely Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joely-fisher/) > [You didn't want to laugh, did you? 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Introduce fun back into your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-moorjani/spirituality-does-not-have-to-be-serious-you-are-spirituality-fun/) [Anita Moorjani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-moorjani/) [Browse all 5,682 Laughter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood there above the steps, that all the people pressing forward were staring, not at the Dome of Rock, but at her alone, and were nudging on another, whispering, smiling; for she knew, from her own experience of mocking others, that there is nothing more likely to unite a crowd of strangers in a wave of laughter than the sight of someone who, with dignity shattered, becomes suddenly grotesque.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Daphne du Maurier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-there-above-the-steps-that-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Laughter" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-there-above-the-steps-that-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/daphne-du-maurier-1185_laughter_it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-th_1004002.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It seemed to Lady Althea, as she stood there above the steps, that all the people pressing forward were…” — Daphne du Maurier", "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": "Daphne du Maurier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It seemed to Lady Althea, as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-there-above-the-steps-that-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-seemed-to-lady-althea-as-she-stood-there-above-the-steps-that-all/#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 } } ] } ```