--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's a rotten world, Miss Millick,' said…" description: "\"“It's a rotten world, Miss Millick,' said Mr. Wran, talking at the window. 'Fit for another morbid growth of superstition. It's time the ghosts, or wha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/fritz-leiber-11218_fear_it-s-a-rotten-world-miss-millick-said-mr_1479282.jpg" --- # It's a rotten world, Miss Millick,' said Mr. Wran, talking… ![“It's a rotten world, Miss Millick,' said Mr. Wran, talking at the window. 'Fit for another morbid growth of superstition. It's time the ghosts, or whatever you call them, took over and began a rule of fear, They'd be no worse than men.' ("Smoke Ghost")” quote by Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/fritz-leiber-11218_fear_it-s-a-rotten-world-miss-millick-said-mr_1479282.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/fritz-leiber-11218_fear_it-s-a-rotten-world-miss-millick-said-mr_1479282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/fritz-leiber-11218_fear_it-s-a-rotten-world-miss-millick-said-mr_1479282.jpg) > ““It's a rotten world, Miss Millick,' said Mr. Wran, talking at the window. 'Fit for another morbid growth of superstition. It's time the ghosts, or whatever you call them, took over and began a rule of fear, They'd be no worse than men.' ("Smoke Ghost")”” [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that superstition and fear can dominate society, becoming a new oppressive force comparable to human tyranny. **In simple terms:** Superstition can become a tyrannical rule. Key Takeaway Beware fear’s power to replace oppression. Themes fear superstition power society control Mood cautious reflective Type cautionary critical When to use this quote - political discourse - religious movements - media narratives - community leadership Key Concepts psychology political theory mythology Questions to Reflect On - Can fear be used constructively? - What safeguards prevent fear from becoming tyranny? A Different Perspective It assumes superstition is always negative, ignoring its cultural functions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fear Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-worse-1252062/) [Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) [Ghosts Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts-took-5387892/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Smoke Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke-ghost-5387893/) [Wran Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wran-talking-5387894/) ## Related quotes > [“Miss Millick wondered just what had happened to Mr. Wran. He kept making the strangest remarks when she took dictation. Just this morning he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/miss-millick-wondered-just-what-had-happened-to-mr-wran-he-kept/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“And, as I watched the Lincoln come by degrees to a relationship with what it saw, I understood something: the basis of life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/and-as-i-watched-the-lincoln-come-by-degrees-to-a-relationship-with/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“I found that the fear is worse than the reality...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-herriot/i-found-that-the-fear-is-worse-than-the-reality/) [James Herriot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-herriot/) > [For some the fear of being alone is worse than to be in an unhappy relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-some-the-fear-of-being-alone-is-worse-than-to-be-in-an-unhappy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The heart never grows better with age; I fear rather worse, always harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/the-heart-never-grows-better-with-age-i-fear-rather-worse-always/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Any fear is always worse than the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-lawrence/any-fear-is-always-worse-than-the-thing-itself/) [Josephine Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-lawrence/) > [The heart never grows better by age; I fear rather worse; always harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/the-heart-never-grows-better-by-age-i-fear-rather-worse-always-harder-2/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [“Could it be fear? 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Leading up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hardy/i-still-look-forward-to-doing-things-i-ve-never-done-before-but-the/) [Jeff Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hardy/) > [“There is nothing worse than fear. Fear is worse than cancer, fear is worse than torture, fear is worse than betrayal and fear is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/there-is-nothing-worse-than-fear-fear-is-worse-than-cancer-fear-is/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) ## More by Fritz Leiber > [“The “Howard” in the entry had to be Howard Phillips Lovecraft , that twentieth-century puritanic Poe from Providence, with his regrettable but undeniable loathing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-howard-in-the-entry-had-to-be-howard-phillips-lovecraft-that/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disregard-for-coincidences/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [What do you care? You always liked loneliness better than you liked people. No offence liking yourself's the beginning of all love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/what-do-you-care-you-always-liked-loneliness-better-than-you-liked/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Traffic growled and snarled, rising at times to a machine-gun rata-tat-tat, while pedestrians were scuttling about with that desperate ratlike urgency characteristic of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/traffic-growled-and-snarled-rising-at-times-to-a-machine-gun-rata-tat/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Certainly we’ve made important innovations, chief among them the systematic use of the scientific method,” he said at one point, “but the primitive groundwork…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/certainly-we-ve-made-important-innovations-chief-among-them-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Miss Millick wondered just what had happened to Mr. Wran. He kept making the strangest remarks when she took dictation. Just this morning he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/miss-millick-wondered-just-what-had-happened-to-mr-wran-he-kept/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Of course it had been an hallucination. But when hallucinations start behaving like realities, with a score of coincidences to back them up, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-it-had-been-an-hallucination-but-when-hallucinations-start/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Devils may be nothing but beings intent on their purpose, which now happens to collide with yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/devils-may-be-nothing-but-beings-intent-on-their-purpose-which-now/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“The Mouser made a very small parry in carte so that the thrust of the bravo from the east went past his left side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-mouser-made-a-very-small-parry-in-carte-so-that-the-thrust-of-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“It had all begun on the elevated. There was a particular little sea of roots he had grown into the habit of glancing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/it-had-all-begun-on-the-elevated-there-was-a-particular-little-sea-of/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Better freedom and a chilly road than a warm hearth and servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/better-freedom-and-a-chilly-road-than-a-warm-hearth-and-servitude/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Thoughts are dangerous, he told himself, and thoughts against all science, all sanity, all civilized intelligence, are the most dangerous of all. He felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/thoughts-are-dangerous-he-told-himself-and-thoughts-against-all/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [The dark dangerous forest is still there, my friends. Beyond the space of the astronauts and the astronomers, beyond the dark, tangled regions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-dark-dangerous-forest-is-still-there-my-friends-beyond-the-space/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Not for the first time Richard reflected that this age's vaunted 'communications industry' had chiefly provided people and nations with the means of frightening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/not-for-the-first-time-richard-reflected-that-this-age-s-vaunted/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Of course, if you assume a big enough conspiracy, you can explain anything, including the cosmos itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-if-you-assume-a-big-enough-conspiracy-you-can-explain/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) [Explore all 58 Fritz Leiber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) ## More Fear quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. For eighteen months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-ashley/that-horrible-stinging-sensation-returned-the-muscles-behind-my-eyes/) [Devon Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-ashley/) > [“...Often that which most we fear births the resolve that spurs us on to altitudes we could not have achieved, had we continued walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-t-anderson/often-that-which-most-we-fear-births-the-resolve-that-spurs-us-on-to/) [M.T. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-t-anderson/) > [What an incredible drug fear is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/what-an-incredible-drug-fear-is/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) [Nagisa Tatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagisa-tatsumi/) > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [“I had nowhere to go and did not wish to be seen by anyone for fear they would recognize my sadness and so for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-had-nowhere-to-go-and-did-not-wish-to-be-seen-by-anyone-for-fear/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“Snip off the little worries and expressions of worry” like little branches atop a tall tree.28 If you are truly worried, sharing your concerns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-sanders/snip-off-the-little-worries-and-expressions-of-worry-like-little/) [Tim Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-sanders/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. 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Elion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-b-elion/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) [Browse all 35,569 Fear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's a rotten world, Miss Millick,' said Mr. Wran, talking at the window. 'Fit for another morbid growth of superstition. It's time the ghosts, or whatever you call them, took over and began a rule of fear, They'd be no worse than men.' 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