--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A chair's function is not just to provide…" description: "\"A chair's function is not just to provide a place to sit; it is to provide a medium for self-expression. Chairs are about status, for example. Or signa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/evan-davis-10785_academia_a-chair-s-function-is-not-just-to-provid_1222822.png" --- # A chair's function is not just to provide a place to sit… ![“A chair's function is not just to provide a place to sit; it is to provide a medium for self-expression. Chairs are about status, for example. Or signalling something about oneself. That's why the words chair, seat and bench have found themselves used to describe high status professions, from…” quote by Evan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/evan-davis-10785_academia_a-chair-s-function-is-not-just-to-provid_1222822.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/evan-davis-10785_academia_a-chair-s-function-is-not-just-to-provid_1222822.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/evan-davis-10785_academia_a-chair-s-function-is-not-just-to-provid_1222822.png) > “A chair's function is not just to provide a place to sit; it is to provide a medium for self-expression. Chairs are about status, for example. Or signalling something about oneself. That's why the words chair, seat and bench have found themselves used to describe high status professions, from academia to Parliament to the law.” [Evan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-davis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Chairs convey social status and personal identity beyond their practical use. **In simple terms:** Furniture reflects who we are. Key Takeaway Use objects to express yourself. Themes status identity symbolism design culture Mood reflective analytical Type observational interpretive When to use this quote - interview - political speech - personal branding Key Concepts semiotics social signaling material culture Questions to Reflect On - How do you choose items that reflect your values? - What messages do your surroundings send? A Different Perspective Objects may be misinterpreted without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academia/) [Benches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benches/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Furniture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furniture/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Parliament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parliament/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-expression/) ## Related quotes > [“Word spread quickly: The visitor wished to address the scholars. 'What can he want?' they wondered, streaming into the Royal Theater. 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Navarro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-e-navarro/) > [“Chivalry in academia is dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-reynard/chivalry-in-academia-is-dead/) [Sylvain Reynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-reynard/) > [What do you call a co-worker these days? Neither teammate nor confederate will do, and partner is too legalistic. The answer brought from academia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/what-do-you-call-a-co-worker-these-days-neither-teammate-nor/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [There is this tremendous body of knowledge in the world of academia where extraordinary numbers of incredibly thoughtful people have taken the time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/there-is-this-tremendous-body-of-knowledge-in-the-world-of-academia/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. 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Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [One of the things that's great about New York is that it is not a one-industry town. It has education, academia, the service industry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/one-of-the-things-that-s-great-about-new-york-is-that-it-is-not-a-one/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [“(If you'd like to see it, I've been keeping a log of department meetings ranked according to level of trauma, with a 1 indicating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-schumacher-dear-committee-members/if-you-d-like-to-see-it-i-ve-been-keeping-a-log-of-department/) Julie Schumacher Dear Committee Members ## More by Evan Davis > [The key thing about me is that I'm really not very interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-davis/the-key-thing-about-me-is-that-i-m-really-not-very-interesting/) [Evan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-davis/) > [It doesn't annoy me but I think of myself as a presenter who is gay, rather than a gay presenter. 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But there is lots I wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-davis/i-don-t-keep-it-secret-that-i-live-with-my-partner-gio-i-m-very-proud/) [Evan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-davis/) > [I swing both ways. I can see things from a kind of conservative point of view and from a more socially liberal or left-wing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-davis/i-swing-both-ways-i-can-see-things-from-a-kind-of-conservative-point/) [Evan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-davis/) > [What comes with a job as a staff member of the BBC is a certain self-censoring that you get utterly used to. 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It has education, academia, the service industry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/one-of-the-things-that-s-great-about-new-york-is-that-it-is-not-a-one/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [ “See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. \[That\] the fundamental treason to the mind ...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-rest-may-follow-or-not-as-god/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [The approach of intellect or noesis will forever be an effete and limited sort of thing by contrast with the vigor and color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-approach-of-intellect-or-noesis-will-forever-be-an-effete-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [One can hardly appreciate how academia has perverted its highest tasks and "ideals" without pondering long and hard the implications of Jacques Barzun's House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/one-can-hardly-appreciate-how-academia-has-perverted-its-highest/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [Practically everybody (1) overweighs the stuff that can be numbered, because it yields to the statistical techniques they’re taught in academia, and (2) doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/practically-everybody-1-overweighs-the-stuff-that-can-be-numbered/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow "expertise" and "theoretical sophistication" (a preposterous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. 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