--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never saw any people who appeared to…" description: "\"I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement as the Cincinnatians… Were it not for the churches,... Ithink there might be a ge..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/frances-trollope-22974_amusement_i-never-saw-any-people-who-appeared-to-l_909431.jpg" --- # I never saw any people who appeared to live so much… ![“I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement as the Cincinnatians… Were it not for the churches,... Ithink there might be a general bonfire of best bonnets, for I never could discover any other use for them.” quote by Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/frances-trollope-22974_amusement_i-never-saw-any-people-who-appeared-to-l_909431.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/frances-trollope-22974_amusement_i-never-saw-any-people-who-appeared-to-l_909431.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/frances-trollope-22974_amusement_i-never-saw-any-people-who-appeared-to-l_909431.jpg) > “I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement as the Cincinnatians… Were it not for the churches,... Ithink there might be a general bonfire of best bonnets, for I never could discover any other use for them.” [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator observes Cincinnatians living without amusement, suggesting a serious, perhaps austere lifestyle, and questions the purpose of their bonnets. **In simple terms:** Cincinnatians seem serious, lacking fun, and their bonnets appear purposeless. Key Takeaway Question the purpose of seemingly unnecessary customs. Themes society humor customs observation skepticism Mood critical curious Type analytical thought‑provoking When to use this quote - urban life analysis - fashion history research - social commentary Key Concepts social critique cultural observation Questions to Reflect On - Why do you think the narrator sees amusement as essential? - What alternative functions might the bonnets have? A Different Perspective The view may be biased by the narrator’s own cultural expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amusement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusement/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [You see, years ago I was just an ordinary bee minding my own business, smelling flowers all day, and occasionally picking up part-time work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/you-see-years-ago-i-was-just-an-ordinary-bee-minding-my-own-business/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [One only needs to see a smile in a white crape bonnet in order to enter the palace of dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/one-only-needs-to-see-a-smile-in-a-white-crape-bonnet-in-order-to/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I am really interested in eccentric minds. It's rather like being fascinated by how cars work. It's really boring if your car works all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-am-really-interested-in-eccentric-minds-it-s-rather-like-being/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I can't wait for the next fad though, and I predict it's going to be Pennsylvania dutch culture, very Amish. It's going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/i-can-t-wait-for-the-next-fad-though-and-i-predict-it-s-going-to-be/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [The leaping Jaguar on the bonnet, to me, makes it look more like a hunter than something that is getting away. It's a hunter.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/the-leaping-jaguar-on-the-bonnet-to-me-makes-it-look-more-like-a/) [Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/) > [I've got great people who handle my schedule, and everything does revolve around the children. If there's a parents' night or an Easter bonnet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-beckham/i-ve-got-great-people-who-handle-my-schedule-and-everything-does/) [Victoria Beckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-beckham/) > [… it wasn’t pretend, I wasn’t in a fairytale or a fable. I shut my eyes and absorbed the silent whoomp that always accompanies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/it-wasn-t-pretend-i-wasn-t-in-a-fairytale-or-a-fable-i-shut-my-eyes/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [Had I represented twenty thousand voters in Michigan, that political editor would not have known nor cared whether I was the oldest or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/had-i-represented-twenty-thousand-voters-in-michigan-that-political/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [Maybe I'm misjudging people, but I feel like a lot of people still have an image of me in a bonnet at nine years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-paquin/maybe-i-m-misjudging-people-but-i-feel-like-a-lot-of-people-still/) [Anna Paquin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-paquin/) > [On a cold, fretful afternoon in early October, 1872, a hansom cab drew up outside the offices of Lockhart and Selby, Shipping Agents, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/on-a-cold-fretful-afternoon-in-early-october-1872-a-hansom-cab-drew/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Love That’s it: The cashless commerce. The blanket always too short. The loose connexion. To search behind the horizon. To brush fallen leaves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/love-that-s-it-the-cashless-commerce-the-blanket-always-too-short-the/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [George: 'Ringo would always say grammmatically incorrect phrases and we'd all laugh. I remember when we were driving back to Liverpool from Luton up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/george-ringo-would-always-say-grammmatically-incorrect-phrases-and-we/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [A girl who bonnets a policeman with an ashcan full of bottles is obviously good wife-and-mother timber.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-girl-who-bonnets-a-policeman-with-an-ashcan-full-of-bottles-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Miss Jenkyns wore a cravat, and a little bonnet like a jockey-cap, and altogether had the appearance of a strong-minded woman; although she would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/miss-jenkyns-wore-a-cravat-and-a-little-bonnet-like-a-jockey-cap-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The trouble is with socialism, which resembles a form of mental illness more than it does a philosophy. Socialists get bees in their bonnets.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/the-trouble-is-with-socialism-which-resembles-a-form-of-mental/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) ## More by Frances Trollope > [The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both move with faltering step, and slow; but this lingering pace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-american-spring-is-by-no-means-so-agreeable-as-the-american/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [To an American writer, I should think it must be a flattering distinction to escape the admiration of the newspapers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/to-an-american-writer-i-should-think-it-must-be-a-flattering/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [The total and universal want of manners, both in males and females, is ... remarkable ... that polish which removes the coarser and rougher…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-total-and-universal-want-of-manners-both-in-males-and-females-is/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [ It is rarely \[Americans\] dine in society, except in taverns and boarding-houses. Then they eat with the greatest possible rapidity, and in total silence. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/it-is-rarely-americans-dine-in-society-except-in-taverns-and-boarding/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [it is impossible for any mind of common honesty not to be revolted by the contradictions in their principles and practice. They inveigh against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/it-is-impossible-for-any-mind-of-common-honesty-not-to-be-revolted-by/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [there is less alms-giving in America than in any other Christian country on the face of the globe. It is not in the temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/there-is-less-alms-giving-in-america-than-in-any-other-christian/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [It seems hardly fair to quarrel with a place because its staple commodity is not pretty, but I am sure I should have liked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/it-seems-hardly-fair-to-quarrel-with-a-place-because-its-staple/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [... it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to take the arm of a gentleman, who was neither her husband, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/it-was-not-very-unusual-at-washington-for-a-lady-to-take-the-arm-of-a/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [I certainly do not lament the decadence of knight errantry, nor wish to exchange the protection of the laws for that of the doughtiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/i-certainly-do-not-lament-the-decadence-of-knight-errantry-nor-wish/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [Is it to be imagined ... that women were made for no other purpose than to fabricate sweetmeats and gingerbread, construct shirts, darn stockings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/is-it-to-be-imagined-that-women-were-made-for-no-other-purpose-than/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [“Situated on an island which I think it will one day cover, it rises like Venice from the sea, and like that fairest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/situated-on-an-island-which-i-think-it-will-one-day-cover-it-rises/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [I draw from life - but I always pulp my acquaintance before serving them up. You would never recognize a pig in a sausage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/i-draw-from-life-but-i-always-pulp-my-acquaintance-before-serving/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [I heard an Englishman, who had been long resident in America, declare that in following, in meeting, or in overtaking, in the street, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/i-heard-an-englishman-who-had-been-long-resident-in-america-declare/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [The Yankee: In acuteness and perseverance, he resembles the Scotch. In frugal neatness, he resembles the Dutch. But in truth, a Yankee is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-yankee-in-acuteness-and-perseverance-he-resembles-the-scotch-in/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [I have listened to much dull and heavy conversation in America, but rarely to any that I could strictly call silly (if I except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/i-have-listened-to-much-dull-and-heavy-conversation-in-america-but/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) [Explore all 26 Frances Trollope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) ## More Amusement quotes > [Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions… Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/cultivate-the-habit-of-thinking-ahead-and-of-anticipating-the/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Every producer in Hollywood had set me down as a type. I was both amused and disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-lugosi/every-producer-in-hollywood-had-set-me-down-as-a-type-i-was-both/) [Bela Lugosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-lugosi/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I just started writing for my own amusement and occasionally singing in little clubs around Los Angeles. Then I wrote 'The Rose,' and through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-mcbroom/i-just-started-writing-for-my-own-amusement-and-occasionally-singing/) [Amanda McBroom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-mcbroom/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-mass-of-men-lead-lives-of-quiet-desperation-what-is-called/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Ordinary people simply don't know what books mean to us, shut up here. Reading, learning, and the radio are our amusements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/ordinary-people-simply-don-t-know-what-books-mean-to-us-shut-up-here/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [My first job was at an amusement park in Virginia. It was the worst. I loved the park but once I'd worked there all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-mcbride/my-first-job-was-at-an-amusement-park-in-virginia-it-was-the-worst-i/) [Danny McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-mcbride/) > [The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true. Others say, "Go out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-stoics-say-retire-within-yourselves-it-is-there-you-will-find/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [I realized, "Gee, you're making the same film over and over here." I just kept making them for my own amusement, but also with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/i-realized-gee-you-re-making-the-same-film-over-and-over-here-i-just/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [I like these boots," I told Vayl. "Do you think they'd sell them to me cheap? I keep ruining mine." "Since when do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rardin/i-like-these-boots-i-told-vayl-do-you-think-they-d-sell-them-to-me/) [Jennifer Rardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rardin/) > [It has to be now,” he insisted, a flick of amusement in his voice. He nudged his burgeoning loins against her. “After all, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/it-has-to-be-now-he-insisted-a-flick-of-amusement-in-his-voice-he/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [Act as if the universe is a prodigious miracle created for your amusement and illumination. Assume that secret helpers are working behind the scenes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/act-as-if-the-universe-is-a-prodigious-miracle-created-for-your/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Amusement that is excessive and followed only for its own sake, allures and deceives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/amusement-that-is-excessive-and-followed-only-for-its-own-sake/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Browse all 567 Amusement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement as the Cincinnatians… Were it not for the churches,... 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