--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A gentleman with a pug nose is a…" description: "\"A gentleman with a pug nose is a contradiction in terms.\" — Edgar Allan Poe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg" --- # A gentleman with a pug nose is a contradiction in terms. ![“A gentleman with a pug nose is a contradiction in terms.” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg) > “A gentleman with a pug nose is a contradiction in terms.” [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The phrase humorously points out that a refined gentleman and a pug’s distinctive nose are mutually exclusive qualities. **In simple terms:** Contrasting refined and coarse traits. Key Takeaway Recognize and accept mismatched traits. Themes humor contradiction identity Mood playful ironic Type witty observational When to use this quote - character description - literary humor - social commentary Key Concepts social perception stereotypes incongruity Questions to Reflect On - How does this contrast affect self‑image? - Can contradictions be embraced? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Gentleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentleman/) [Pugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pugs/) ## Related quotes > [“Girl going past clinging to a young man's arm. Putting up her face like a duck to the moon. Drinking joy. Green in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-cary/girl-going-past-clinging-to-a-young-man-s-arm-putting-up-her-face/) [Joyce Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-cary/) > [“Viele Wege führen zum Mops, keiner an ihm vorbei!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-lavender/viele-wege-f-hren-zum-mops-keiner-an-ihm-vorbei/) Holly Lavender > [You… Yes you. I don't like u](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-yes-you-i-don-t-like-u/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The house came with a set of Pugs, which are sort of a cross between Peter Lorre and a bratwurst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-masterman/the-house-came-with-a-set-of-pugs-which-are-sort-of-a-cross-between/) Becky Masterman > [“Pugs Not Drugs”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-correll/pugs-not-drugs/) Gemma Correll > [I was lucky I wasn't a better boxer, or that's what I'd be now - a punchy ex-pug.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hope/i-was-lucky-i-wasn-t-a-better-boxer-or-that-s-what-i-d-be-now-a/) [Bob Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hope/) > [Pugs are really great dogs to have as they are such loyal, funny companions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dantdm/pugs-are-really-great-dogs-to-have-as-they-are-such-loyal-funny/) DanTDM > [My father was the president of the Hearst Corporation, and my parents were close friends of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-berlin/my-father-was-the-president-of-the-hearst-corporation-and-my-parents/) [Brigid Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-berlin/) > [The Pekes and the Pollicles, everyone knows, Are proud and implacable, passionate foes; It is always the same, wherever one goes. And the Pugs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pekes-and-the-pollicles-everyone-knows-are-proud-and-implacable/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Lindsay calls them the Pugs: pretty from far away, ugly up close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/lindsay-calls-them-the-pugs-pretty-from-far-away-ugly-up-close/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [I consider myself the queen of pugs of New York City. I'm really into my dogs. Massive pugs, massive needlepoint, massive color!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-berlin/i-consider-myself-the-queen-of-pugs-of-new-york-city-i-m-really-into/) [Brigid Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-berlin/) > [“She wasn’t,” Heather said, crying now. “Pugs are bred to be useless. We have to take her to the vet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/she-wasn-t-heather-said-crying-now-pugs-are-bred-to-be-useless-we/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [“For most of their history in China, Pugs were treasured dogs. By law, they could only be owned by nobility or by Buddhist monks.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-palika/for-most-of-their-history-in-china-pugs-were-treasured-dogs-by-law/) Liz Palika > [Music induces nightingales to sing, pug dogs to yelp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-schumann/music-induces-nightingales-to-sing-pug-dogs-to-yelp/) [Robert Schumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-schumann/) > [The pug is living proof that God has a sense of humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-kaufman/the-pug-is-living-proof-that-god-has-a-sense-of-humor/) [Margo Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-kaufman/) ## More by Edgar Allan Poe > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/during-the-whole-of-a-dull-dark-and-soundless-day-in-the-autumn-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/those-who-dream-by-day-are-cognizant-of-many-things-that-escape-those/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-have-said-that-the-sole-effect-of-my-somewhat-childish-experiment/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Other friends have flown before — On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/other-friends-have-flown-before-on-the-morrow-he-will-leave-me-as-my/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“To the right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay outstretched, like ramparts of the world, lines of horridly black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-the-right-and-left-as-far-as-the-eye-could-reach-there-lay/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors ... on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-die-nightly-in-their-beds-wringing-the-hands-of-ghostly/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-the-raven-never-flitting-still-is-sitting-still-is-sitting-on-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but i feel the bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-the-moon-never-beams-without-bringing-me-dreams-of-the-beautiful/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) [Explore all 615 Edgar Allan Poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More Contradiction quotes > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/) [Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/) > [“In these creations, life and symbolic value are not in contradiction: they intensify each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-these-creations-life-and-symbolic-value-are-not-in-contradiction/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I have never agreed with my other self wholly. The truth of the matter seems to lie between us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/i-have-never-agreed-with-my-other-self-wholly-the-truth-of-the-matter/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“A truth is not necessary, because we negatively are not able to conceive the actual existence of the opposite thereof;but a truth is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-dabney/a-truth-is-not-necessary-because-we-negatively-are-not-able-to/) R.L. Dabney > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) [Browse all 1,263 Contradiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A gentleman with a pug nose is a contradiction in terms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edgar Allan Poe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contradiction-in-terms/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contradiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contradiction-in-terms/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/edgar-allan-poe-315_contradiction_a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contrad_406150.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A gentleman with a pug nose is a contradiction in terms.” — Edgar Allan Poe", "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": "Edgar Allan Poe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A gentleman with a pug nose...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contradiction-in-terms/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-gentleman-with-a-pug-nose-is-a-contradiction-in-terms/#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 } } ] } ```