--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity…" description: "\"“pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Progress is a comfortable disease: your victim (death and life safely beyon..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/e-e-cummings-2-9053_death-and-life_pity-this-busy-monster-manunkind-pity-th_2328323.jpg" --- # pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity this busy monster… ![“pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Progress is a comfortable disease: your victim (death and life safely beyond) plays with the bigness of his littleness --- electrons deify one razorblade into a mountainrange; lenses extend unwish through curving wherewhen…” quote by E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/e-e-cummings-2-9053_death-and-life_pity-this-busy-monster-manunkind-pity-th_2328323.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/e-e-cummings-2-9053_death-and-life_pity-this-busy-monster-manunkind-pity-th_2328323.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/e-e-cummings-2-9053_death-and-life_pity-this-busy-monster-manunkind-pity-th_2328323.jpg) > ““pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Progress is a comfortable disease: your victim (death and life safely beyond) plays with the bigness of his littleness --- electrons deify one razorblade into a mountainrange; lenses extend unwish through curving wherewhen till unwish returns on its unself. A world of made is not a world of born --- pity poor flesh and trees, poor stars and stones, but never this fine specimen of hypermagical ultraomnipotence. We doctors know a hopeless case if --- listen: there's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go”” [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem critiques modern progress as a disease that inflates trivialities, urging awareness of humanity’s fragile existence. **In simple terms:** Progress can distort reality and hide our frailty. Key Takeaway Question the true cost of advancement. Themes progress fragility illusion technology Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - environmental activism - tech ethics - personal reflection Key Concepts Existentialism critique of modernity Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of modern life feel inflated or hollow? - How can we balance innovation with humility? A Different Perspective The abstract style may obscure practical meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Born Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born-pity-5590633/) [Death and life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-and-life/) [E-e-cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/e-e-cummings-52190/) [Manunkind Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manunkind-pity-5590630/) [Monster Manunkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monster-manunkind-5590632/) [Next door](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-door/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Pity Busy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity-busy-5590631/) ## Related quotes > [“a pretty girl, who naked is is worth a million statues”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/a-pretty-girl-who-naked-is-is-worth-a-million-statues/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [Death and life are the same thing-like the two sides of my hand, the palm and the back. 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Cummings > [“somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond any experience, your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/somewhere-i-have-never-travelled-gladly-beyond-any-experience-your/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/to-be-nobody-but-yourself-in-a-world-which-is-doing-its-best-day-and/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“i am a little church(no great cathedral) far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities --i do not worry if briefer days grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/i-am-a-little-church-no-great-cathedral-far-from-the-splendor-and/) [E.E. 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Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“wholly to be a fool while Spring is in the world my blood approves, and kisses are a better fate than wisdom lady i…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/wholly-to-be-a-fool-while-spring-is-in-the-world-my-blood-approves/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“may i feel, said he i'll squeal, said she just once, said he it's fun, said she may i touch, said he how much,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/may-i-feel-said-he-i-ll-squeal-said-she-just-once-said-he-it-s-fun/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“a wind has blown the rain away & the sky away & all the leaves away, & the trees stand. i think i, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/a-wind-has-blown-the-rain-away-the-sky-away-all-the-leaves-away-the/) [e.e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“When to me you leap and I’m born we ‘re sunlight of oneness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/when-to-me-you-leap-and-i-m-born-we-re-sunlight-of-oneness/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“...ropes of silver gliding from sunny thunder into freshness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/ropes-of-silver-gliding-from-sunny-thunder-into-freshness/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/here-is-the-root-of-the-root-and-the-bud-of-the-bud-and-the-sky-of/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart. I am never without it. Anywhere I go, you go, my dear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/i-carry-your-heart-with-me-i-carry-it-in-my-heart-i-am-never-without-2/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“Noone beautiful ever hurries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/noone-beautiful-ever-hurries/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [“Damn everything but the circus!. . .The average 'painter' 'sculptor' 'poet' 'composer' 'playwright' is a person who cannot leap through a hoop from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/damn-everything-but-the-circus-the-average-painter-sculptor-poet/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) [Explore all 73 E.E. Cummings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) ## More Death and life quotes > [“Do you want to know something from the beyond? Do you want to chat with divine beings face to face? 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We want to believe that something we can also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takashi-miike/we-have-this-desire-for-that-balance-between-death-and-life-or-death/) [Takashi Miike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takashi-miike/) > [To go back is nothing but death; but to go forward is fear of death and life everlasting beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/to-go-back-is-nothing-but-death-but-to-go-forward-is-fear-of-death/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [“Health is being in harmony with the world view. Health is an intuitive perception of the universe and all its inhabitants as being of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-achterberg/health-is-being-in-harmony-with-the-world-view-health-is-an-intuitive/) [Jeanne Achterberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-achterberg/) > [Good girls will do good and bad girls will do bad, but it takes a bad girl for a good girl to do bad!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syntific/good-girls-will-do-good-and-bad-girls-will-do-bad-but-it-takes-a-bad/) [Syntific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syntific/) > [“Love, that is first and last of all things made, The light that has the living world for shade, The spirit that for temporal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/love-that-is-first-and-last-of-all-things-made-the-light-that-has-the/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [“With the smoke of the dead sailor's cigar wreathing around him, Willie passed to thinking about death and life and luck and God. Philosophers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-wouk/with-the-smoke-of-the-dead-sailor-s-cigar-wreathing-around-him-willie/) [Herman Wouk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-wouk/) > [“After all, death and life are just two phases of the natural order of things. It seems silly to embrace birth and fear death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-paul/after-all-death-and-life-are-just-two-phases-of-the-natural-order-of/) [Fiona Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-paul/) > [I 'm weary of conjectures,-this must end 'em. Thus am I doubly armed: my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/i-m-weary-of-conjectures-this-must-end-em-thus-am-i-doubly-armed-my/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [My death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/my-death-and-life-my-bane-and-antidote-are-both-before-me/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Death and life have their determined appointments; riches and honours depend upon heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/death-and-life-have-their-determined-appointments-riches-and-honours/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Death and life are the same thing-like the two sides of my hand, the palm and the back. And still the palm and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/death-and-life-are-the-same-thing-like-the-two-sides-of-my-hand-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“He stood between death and life as between night and morning, and thought with a soaring rapture, 'I am not afraid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/he-stood-between-death-and-life-as-between-night-and-morning-and/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) [Browse all 89 Death and life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-and-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“pity this busy monster, manunkind' pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. 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