--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at…" description: "\"Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at twilight. It is bleak; it is cold; and the virtue has gone out of everything. Words drift through his mind: anguis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg" --- # Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at twilight. It is… ![“Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at twilight. It is bleak; it is cold; and the virtue has gone out of everything. Words drift through his mind: anguish turnips conjunctions illness defeat string parties no parties urns desuetude disaffection claws loss Trebizond napkins shame stones distance…” quote by Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg) > “Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at twilight. It is bleak; it is cold; and the virtue has gone out of everything. Words drift through his mind: anguish turnips conjunctions illness defeat string parties no parties urns desuetude disaffection claws loss Trebizond napkins shame stones distance fever Antipodes mush glaciers incoherence labels miasma amputation tides deceit mourning elsewards.” [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A bleak, surreal scene reflects existential emptiness and the loss of moral direction. **In simple terms:** Despair and loss dominate the mind. Key Takeaway Embrace meaning despite darkness. Themes existentialism despair surrealism Mood melancholic reflective Type literary artistic When to use this quote - art criticism - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts nihilism symbolism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does the loss of virtue signify? - How can one find purpose in bleakness? A Different Perspective The imagery may overwhelm, obscuring clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amputation/) [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Antipodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antipodes/) [Bleak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleak/) [Claws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claws/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Conjunctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conjunctions/) [Deceit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceit/) [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distance/) [Fever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fever/) [Glaciers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glaciers/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Incoherence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incoherence/) [Labels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labels/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mourning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mourning/) [Napkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/napkins/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stones/) [Strings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strings/) [Terrace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrace/) [Terrace Twilight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrace-twilight-4828613/) [Tides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tides/) [Turnips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turnips/) [Twilight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twilight/) [Twilight Bleak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twilight-bleak-4858541/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“She sees tall, sensible Eleanor sitting out on a terrace at twilight, with bats circling above her head. She sees the Pargiter family rising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-casey/she-sees-tall-sensible-eleanor-sitting-out-on-a-terrace-at-twilight/) [Nuala Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-casey/) > [There is an idea that you can take the spiritual teachings of a religion outside of a religion and practice them; these ideas are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seyyed-hossein-nasr/there-is-an-idea-that-you-can-take-the-spiritual-teachings-of-a/) [Seyyed Hossein Nasr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seyyed-hossein-nasr/) > [To live in any true sense of the word is to reject others; to accept them, one must be able to renounce, to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-live-in-any-true-sense-of-the-word-is-to-reject-others-to-accept/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most thoughts are only profiles of thoughts. They must be inverted and synthesized with their antipodes. Thus many philosophical writings become very interesting which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/most-thoughts-are-only-profiles-of-thoughts-they-must-be-inverted-and/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [The moral earth, too, is round! The moral earth, too, has its antipodes! The antipodes, too, have their right to exist! There is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-moral-earth-too-is-round-the-moral-earth-too-has-its-antipodes/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We should hold day with the Antipodes, If you would walk in absence of the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/we-should-hold-day-with-the-antipodes-if-you-would-walk-in-absence-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The Americans make associations to give entertainment, to found seminaries, to build inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send missionaries to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-americans-make-associations-to-give-entertainment-to-found/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Asceticism, it is evident, has a double motivation. If men and women torment their bodies, it is not only because they hope in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/asceticism-it-is-evident-has-a-double-motivation-if-men-and-women/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [As to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth where the sun rises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/as-to-the-fable-that-there-are-antipodes-that-is-to-say-men-on-the/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Can anyone be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or places where things may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/can-anyone-be-so-foolish-as-to-believe-that-there-are-men-whose-feet/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [The disc, being flat, has no real horizon. Any adventurous sailor who got funny ideas from staring at eggs and oranges for too long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-disc-being-flat-has-no-real-horizon-any-adventurous-sailor-who/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The death of a beloved is an amputation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-death-of-a-beloved-is-an-amputation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-he-defended-the-book-one-evening-in-the-early-1980s-at-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Calf love doesn't usually survive amputation, Your Majesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-whalen-turner/calf-love-doesn-t-usually-survive-amputation-your-majesty/) [Megan Whalen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-whalen-turner/) > [“Melvin Brands took bread, and the foot, wrapped in camphored cloth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-berry/melvin-brands-took-bread-and-the-foot-wrapped-in-camphored-cloth/) [Julie Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-berry/) ## More by Edward Gorey > [I have given up considering happiness as relevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-have-given-up-considering-happiness-as-relevant/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [Interviewer: What is your greatest regret? Gorey: That I don't have one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/interviewer-what-is-your-greatest-regret-gorey-that-i-don-t-have-one/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I should like a parsley sandwich. To the best of my knowledge they are not in season.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-should-like-a-parsley-sandwich-to-the-best-of-my-knowledge-they-are/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I really think I write about everyday life. I don't think I'm quite as odd as others say I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-really-think-i-write-about-everyday-life-i-don-t-think-i-m-quite-as/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [There was a young lady named Mae Who smoked without stopping all day; As pack followed pack, Her lungs first turned black, And eventually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/there-was-a-young-lady-named-mae-who-smoked-without-stopping-all-day/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [“Apropos of nothing at all except that it has been on my mind and I think I had better say it because it accounts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/apropos-of-nothing-at-all-except-that-it-has-been-on-my-mind-and-i/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [Vice is nice, but a little virtue won't hurt you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/vice-is-nice-but-a-little-virtue-won-t-hurt-you/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [“How elegant! how choice! how gay! To think one doesn’t have to pay. There is sound of falling tears; It comes from nowhere to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/how-elegant-how-choice-how-gay-to-think-one-doesn-t-have-to-pay-there/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I just kind of conjured them up out of my subconscious and put them in order of ascending peculiarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-just-kind-of-conjured-them-up-out-of-my-subconscious-and-put-them/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I've never had any intentions about anything. That's why I am where I am today, which is neither here nor there, in a literal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-ve-never-had-any-intentions-about-anything-that-s-why-i-am-where-i/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [The Suicide, as she is falling, Illuminated by the moon, Regrets her act, and finds appalling The thought she will be dead so soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/the-suicide-as-she-is-falling-illuminated-by-the-moon-regrets-her-act/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [“He presented it with a length of string and passed on to the statue of Corrupted Endeavor to await the arrival of Autumn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/he-presented-it-with-a-length-of-string-and-passed-on-to-the-statue/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I don't know what it is I'm doing. But it's not that. Despite all evidence to the contrary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-don-t-know-what-it-is-i-m-doing-but-it-s-not-that-despite-all/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I realize that homosexuality is a serious problem for anyone who is - but then, of course, heterosexuality is a serious problem for anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-realize-that-homosexuality-is-a-serious-problem-for-anyone-who-is/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I really think I write about everyday life. I don't think I'm quite as odd as others say I am. Life is intrinsically, well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-really-think-i-write-about-everyday-life-i-don-t-think-i-m-quite-as-2/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) [Explore all 73 Edward Gorey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) ## More Amputation quotes > [“Melvin Brands took bread, and the foot, wrapped in camphored cloth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-berry/melvin-brands-took-bread-and-the-foot-wrapped-in-camphored-cloth/) [Julie Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-berry/) > [Calf love doesn't usually survive amputation, Your Majesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-whalen-turner/calf-love-doesn-t-usually-survive-amputation-your-majesty/) [Megan Whalen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-whalen-turner/) > [“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-he-defended-the-book-one-evening-in-the-early-1980s-at-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The death of a beloved is an amputation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-death-of-a-beloved-is-an-amputation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It’s like putting a band-aid on an amputation!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-anders/it-s-like-putting-a-band-aid-on-an-amputation/) [Natasha Anders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-anders/) > [At 70, my late father, Peter, underwent a foot amputation after surgical complications. There were suggestions that at his age being in a wheelchair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanni-grey-thompson/at-70-my-late-father-peter-underwent-a-foot-amputation-after-surgical/) [Tanni Grey-Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanni-grey-thompson/) > [“in an interview Butler has stated that the meaning of the amputation is clear enough: “I couldn’t really let her come all the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/in-an-interview-butler-has-stated-that-the-meaning-of-the-amputation/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [To my mind, healing means returning a malfunctioning human body to full unrestricted function, not to remove parts of it by operation or amputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-breuss/to-my-mind-healing-means-returning-a-malfunctioning-human-body-to/) [Rudolf Breuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-breuss/) > [“Jo claimed that the reason people survived breakups was that within days of the amputation, Mother Nature started reminding you of what you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/jo-claimed-that-the-reason-people-survived-breakups-was-that-within/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [“Everybody's amputated in some way or another, Shiloh. We lose loved ones, cut off memories forever, end relationships. Go down paths we can't return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rogers-spinola/everybody-s-amputated-in-some-way-or-another-shiloh-we-lose-loved/) [Jennifer Rogers Spinola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rogers-spinola/) > [Faint hearts are encouraged when they read about others who, despite amputation, spinal cord injury, or psychiatric disorders have a vibrant trust and confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-eareckson-tada/faint-hearts-are-encouraged-when-they-read-about-others-who-despite/) [Joni Eareckson Tada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-eareckson-tada/) > [The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking monsters, -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-state-of-society-is-one-in-which-the-members-have-suffered/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Pop's leg was across the room when I came downstairs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-miller-haines/pop-s-leg-was-across-the-room-when-i-came-downstairs/) [Kathryn Miller Haines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-miller-haines/) > [I had nerve damage. It was going to lead to amputation. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-adams/i-had-nerve-damage-it-was-going-to-lead-to-amputation-i-had-high/) [Eric Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-adams/) > [I think any break-up from a long relationship has this accompanying feeling of who am I without this person. You feel like a half-person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-gerwig/i-think-any-break-up-from-a-long-relationship-has-this-accompanying/) [Greta Gerwig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-gerwig/) [Browse all 41 Amputation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amputation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at twilight. It is bleak; it is cold; and the virtue has gone out of everything. Words drift through his mind: anguish turnips conjunctions illness defeat string parties no parties urns desuetude disaffection claws loss Trebizond napkins shame stones distance fever Antipodes mush glaciers incoherence labels miasma amputation tides deceit mourning elsewards.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Gorey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twilight-it-is-bleak-it-is-cold/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amputation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twilight-it-is-bleak-it-is-cold/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcd/edward-gorey-9339_amputation_mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twi_2204839.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace at twilight. It is bleak; it is cold; and the virtue has gone out of…” — Edward Gorey", "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": "Edward Gorey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mr Earbrass stands on the terrace...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twilight-it-is-bleak-it-is-cold/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/mr-earbrass-stands-on-the-terrace-at-twilight-it-is-bleak-it-is-cold/#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 } } ] } ```