--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Misfortune, and recited misfortune…" description: "\"Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity and arouses only irritation.\" — Dorothy Parker" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg" --- # Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be… ![“Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity and arouses only irritation.” quote by Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg) > “Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity and arouses only irritation.” [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Repeatedly hearing about misfortune can wear thin the audience’s sympathy, turning it into irritation. **In simple terms:** Overexposure dulls empathy Key Takeaway Constant misfortune becomes irritating, not pitiable Themes empathy humor social dynamics irritation repetition Mood wry cynical Type satirical observational When to use this quote - stand‑up comedy - social media commentary - psychology lectures Key Concepts pity fatigue social annoyance Practical Applications - satirical writing - cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - When does pity become irritation? - How does media saturation affect compassion? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Irritation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irritation/) [Misfortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortune/) [Misfortune Especially](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortune-especially-1172803/) [Misfortune Recited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortune-recited-1172801/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Pity Arouses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity-arouses-1172802/) [Recited Misfortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recited-misfortune-1172804/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, may be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity and arouses only irritation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especially-may-be-prolonged-to-the/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [The nectar of compassion is so wonderful. If you are committed to keeping it alive, then you are protected. What the other person says…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/the-nectar-of-compassion-is-so-wonderful-if-you-are-committed-to/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“You can do the right thing that seems wrong to others, or the wrong thing that seems right, and its actually puerile to await…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/you-can-do-the-right-thing-that-seems-wrong-to-others-or-the-wrong/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The most extraordinary thing about the oyster is this. Irritations set into his shell. He does not like them. But when he cannot get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-emerson-fosdick/the-most-extraordinary-thing-about-the-oyster-is-this-irritations-set/) [Harry Emerson Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-emerson-fosdick/) > [To give and receive advice - the former with freedom, and yet without bitterness, the latter with patience and without irritation - is peculiarly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/to-give-and-receive-advice-the-former-with-freedom-and-yet-without/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximus-the-confessor/whatever-a-man-loves-he-inevitably-clings-to-and-in-order-not-to-lose/) [Maximus the Confessor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximus-the-confessor/) > [“He is disappointed because he has solved the problem, and has gone back to the baseline state of boredom and low-level irritation that always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/he-is-disappointed-because-he-has-solved-the-problem-and-has-gone/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [By all means give vent to your anger, let it out in nondestructive ways--if you are still deciding to have it. But begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/by-all-means-give-vent-to-your-anger-let-it-out-in-nondestructive/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Satisfied is a word I use only in reference to my country, and I'll never be satisfied for my country. For this reasons I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/satisfied-is-a-word-i-use-only-in-reference-to-my-country-and-i-ll/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [When it was suggested to Pasteur that many of his great achievements depended on luck, he replied - I'm sure with more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-wolpert/when-it-was-suggested-to-pasteur-that-many-of-his-great-achievements/) [Lewis Wolpert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-wolpert/) > [“Microplastics will cause us so many problems, that wars will just seem like a small irritation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-t-hincks/microplastics-will-cause-us-so-many-problems-that-wars-will-just-seem/) [Anthony T. Hincks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-t-hincks/) > [Maybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer's irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/maybe-television-causes-cancer-garp-thinks-but-his-real-irritation-is/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [In one family, every little plan or question is discussed amid bickering and irritation. In another, without the least effort, every discussion goes on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-buxton/in-one-family-every-little-plan-or-question-is-discussed-amid/) [Charles Buxton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-buxton/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“Nonsense. One day, the right man will come along, and you’ll change your mind.” Harriet wasn’t so sure. In all her twenty-four years, she’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/nonsense-one-day-the-right-man-will-come-along-and-you-ll-change-your/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) ## More by Dorothy Parker > [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/) > [Writing is the art of applying the ass to the seat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/writing-is-the-art-of-applying-the-ass-to-the-seat/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Hollywood is the one place on earth where you could die of encouragement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/hollywood-is-the-one-place-on-earth-where-you-could-die-of/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [“The two most beautiful words in the English language are 'check enclosed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/the-two-most-beautiful-words-in-the-english-language-are-check/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Sometimes I think Ill give up trying, and just go completely Russian and sit on a stove and moan all day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/sometimes-i-think-ill-give-up-trying-and-just-go-completely-russian/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [I was always sweet, at first. Oh, it's so easy to be sweet to people before you love them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/i-was-always-sweet-at-first-oh-it-s-so-easy-to-be-sweet-to-people/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Now to me, Edith looks like something that would eat her young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/now-to-me-edith-looks-like-something-that-would-eat-her-young/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [The sun's gone dim, and the moon's gone black. For I loved him, and he didn't love back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/the-sun-s-gone-dim-and-the-moon-s-gone-black-for-i-loved-him-and-he/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [There's a hell of a distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-a-hell-of-a-distance-between-wisecracking-and-wit-wit-has/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, A medley of extemporanea; And love is a thing that can never go wrong; And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/oh-life-is-a-glorious-cycle-of-song-a-medley-of-extemporanea-and-love/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Enjoyed it! One more drink and I'd have been under the host.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/enjoyed-it-one-more-drink-and-i-d-have-been-under-the-host/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [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/) > [Flowers are heaven's masterpiece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/flowers-are-heaven-s-masterpiece/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [It costs me never a stab nor squirm / To tread by chance upon a worm. / Aha, my little dear, / I say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/it-costs-me-never-a-stab-nor-squirm-to-tread-by-chance-upon-a-worm/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [I misremember who first was cruel enough to nurture the cocktail party into life. But perhaps it would be not too much to say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/i-misremember-who-first-was-cruel-enough-to-nurture-the-cocktail/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) [Explore all 398 Dorothy Parker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) ## More Irritation quotes > [“Nonsense. One day, the right man will come along, and you’ll change your mind.” Harriet wasn’t so sure. In all her twenty-four years, she’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/nonsense-one-day-the-right-man-will-come-along-and-you-ll-change-your/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [In one family, every little plan or question is discussed amid bickering and irritation. In another, without the least effort, every discussion goes on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-buxton/in-one-family-every-little-plan-or-question-is-discussed-amid/) [Charles Buxton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-buxton/) > [Maybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer's irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/maybe-television-causes-cancer-garp-thinks-but-his-real-irritation-is/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Microplastics will cause us so many problems, that wars will just seem like a small irritation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-t-hincks/microplastics-will-cause-us-so-many-problems-that-wars-will-just-seem/) [Anthony T. Hincks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-t-hincks/) > [When it was suggested to Pasteur that many of his great achievements depended on luck, he replied - I'm sure with more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-wolpert/when-it-was-suggested-to-pasteur-that-many-of-his-great-achievements/) [Lewis Wolpert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-wolpert/) > [Satisfied is a word I use only in reference to my country, and I'll never be satisfied for my country. For this reasons I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/satisfied-is-a-word-i-use-only-in-reference-to-my-country-and-i-ll/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [By all means give vent to your anger, let it out in nondestructive ways--if you are still deciding to have it. But begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/by-all-means-give-vent-to-your-anger-let-it-out-in-nondestructive/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“He is disappointed because he has solved the problem, and has gone back to the baseline state of boredom and low-level irritation that always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/he-is-disappointed-because-he-has-solved-the-problem-and-has-gone/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximus-the-confessor/whatever-a-man-loves-he-inevitably-clings-to-and-in-order-not-to-lose/) [Maximus the Confessor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximus-the-confessor/) > [To give and receive advice - the former with freedom, and yet without bitterness, the latter with patience and without irritation - is peculiarly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/to-give-and-receive-advice-the-former-with-freedom-and-yet-without/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The most extraordinary thing about the oyster is this. Irritations set into his shell. He does not like them. But when he cannot get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-emerson-fosdick/the-most-extraordinary-thing-about-the-oyster-is-this-irritations-set/) [Harry Emerson Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-emerson-fosdick/) > [“You can do the right thing that seems wrong to others, or the wrong thing that seems right, and its actually puerile to await…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/you-can-do-the-right-thing-that-seems-wrong-to-others-or-the-wrong/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The nectar of compassion is so wonderful. If you are committed to keeping it alive, then you are protected. What the other person says…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/the-nectar-of-compassion-is-so-wonderful-if-you-are-committed-to/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“By the second day, the song lyrics had faded, but in their place came darker irritations. Gradually, I started to become aware of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-burkeman/by-the-second-day-the-song-lyrics-had-faded-but-in-their-place-came/) [Oliver Burkeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-burkeman/) [Browse all 219 Irritation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irritation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity and arouses only irritation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dorothy Parker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especially-can-be-prolonged-to-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Irritation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especially-can-be-prolonged-to-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/dorothy-parker-700_irritation_misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especi_95381.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity…” — Dorothy Parker", "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": "Dorothy Parker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especially-can-be-prolonged-to-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/misfortune-and-recited-misfortune-especially-can-be-prolonged-to-the/#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 } } ] } ```