--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him?…" description: "\"Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be 'some one,' like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/gaston-leroux-7986_cellars_poor-unhappy-erik-shall-we-pity-him-shal_1341041.jpg" --- # Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him?… ![“Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be 'some one,' like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide his genius or use it to play tricks with, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! He had a heart…” quote by Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/gaston-leroux-7986_cellars_poor-unhappy-erik-shall-we-pity-him-shal_1341041.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/gaston-leroux-7986_cellars_poor-unhappy-erik-shall-we-pity-him-shal_1341041.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/gaston-leroux-7986_cellars_poor-unhappy-erik-shall-we-pity-him-shal_1341041.jpg) > “Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be 'some one,' like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide his genius or use it to play tricks with, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar. Ah, yes, we must need pity the Opera ghost...” [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A tragic figure hides his brilliance behind an ugly exterior, yearning for acceptance but confined to obscurity. **In simple terms:** A gifted but ugly person is forced into hiding and pity. Key Takeaway Recognize worth beyond appearances. Themes identity beauty genius loneliness Mood somber empathetic Type literary dramatic When to use this quote - theatre performance - personal counseling - creative expression Key Concepts tragic hero self‑acceptance social alienation Questions to Reflect On - Can talent overcome societal rejection? - What can we do for hidden geniuses? A Different Perspective Society may still judge based on looks despite talent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Curse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curse/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Opera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opera/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be 'someone,' like everybody else. But he was too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/poor-unhappy-erik-shall-we-pity-him-shall-we-curse-him-he-asked-only-2/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [Reform is born of need, not pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-harding-davis/reform-is-born-of-need-not-pity/) [Rebecca Harding Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-harding-davis/) > [I defy you to try it, Princess. Go ahead. I don’t even know how to sweep a floor. All I know how to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-defy-you-to-try-it-princess-go-ahead-i-don-t-even-know-how-to-sweep/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“We don’t need your pity. We get along just fine without it and them other things too. You don’t need electronic crap to live.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/we-don-t-need-your-pity-we-get-along-just-fine-without-it-and-them/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Let no one underestimate the need of pity. We live in a stony universe whose hard, brilliant forces rage fiercely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dreiser/let-no-one-underestimate-the-need-of-pity-we-live-in-a-stony-universe/) [Theodore Dreiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dreiser/) > [I don't need pity. I want to be looked at like a musician, because I am one. I happen to be deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-harvey/i-don-t-need-pity-i-want-to-be-looked-at-like-a-musician-because-i-am/) [Mandy Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-harvey/) > [Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise. Become a stranger to need of pity. Or if compassion be freely given out, take only enough. Stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/expect-nothing-live-frugally-on-surprise-become-a-stranger-to-need-of/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Reform is born of need, not pity. No vital movement of the people has worked down, for good or evil; fermented, instead, carried up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-harding-davis/reform-is-born-of-need-not-pity-no-vital-movement-of-the-people-has/) [Rebecca Harding Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-harding-davis/) > [He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/he-had-a-heart-that-could-have-held-the-entire-empire-of-the-world/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [But the people cannot have wells, and so they take rain-water. Neither can they conveniently have cellars or graves, the town being built upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-the-people-cannot-have-wells-and-so-they-take-rain-water-neither/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To be successful, keep looking tanned, live in an elegant building (even if you're in the cellar), be seen in smart restaurants (even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-successful-keep-looking-tanned-live-in-an-elegant-building-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Too many of the organizations I have observed resemble a farm in Kansas. They have lots of fences and silos as well as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-buckingham/too-many-of-the-organizations-i-have-observed-resemble-a-farm-in/) [Marcus Buckingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-buckingham/) > [If I was at the Comedy Cellar at midnight you yelled at the back of the room. But you, for television, play it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mulaney/if-i-was-at-the-comedy-cellar-at-midnight-you-yelled-at-the-back-of/) [John Mulaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mulaney/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## More by Gaston Leroux > [“Possibly, I too shall take the train at that station one day, and go and seek around thy lakes, O Norway, O silent Scandinavia...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/possibly-i-too-shall-take-the-train-at-that-station-one-day-and-go/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [Erik, Erik! I saved your life! Remember? You were scentenced to death! But for me you would be dead by now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/erik-erik-i-saved-your-life-remember-you-were-scentenced-to-death-but/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [Persons visited by the angel quiver with a thrill unknown to the rest of mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/persons-visited-by-the-angel-quiver-with-a-thrill-unknown-to-the-rest/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“A ghost who bleeds is less dangerous!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/a-ghost-who-bleeds-is-less-dangerous/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [She's singing to-night to bring the chandelier down!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/she-s-singing-to-night-to-bring-the-chandelier-down/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [Now I want to live like everybody else. I want to have a wife like everybody else and to take her out on Sundays.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/now-i-want-to-live-like-everybody-else-i-want-to-have-a-wife-like/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“There is a terrible mystery around us...a mystery much more to be feared than any number of ghosts or genii!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/there-is-a-terrible-mystery-around-us-a-mystery-much-more-to-be/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [He stared dully at the desolate, cold road and the pale, dead night. Nothing was colder or more dead than his heart. He had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/he-stared-dully-at-the-desolate-cold-road-and-the-pale-dead-night/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“Surely, if his heart continued to make such a noise, they would hear it inside, they would open the door and the young man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/surely-if-his-heart-continued-to-make-such-a-noise-they-would-hear-it/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [I tore off my mask so as not to lose one of her tears... and she did not run away!...and she did not die!...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/i-tore-off-my-mask-so-as-not-to-lose-one-of-her-tears-and-she-did-not/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“No, no, you have driven me mad! When I think that I had only one object in life: to give my name to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/no-no-you-have-driven-me-mad-when-i-think-that-i-had-only-one-object/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [Know that it is a corpse who loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!...Look, I am not laughing now, crying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/know-that-it-is-a-corpse-who-loves-you-and-adores-you-and-will-never/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“He fills me with horror and I do not hate him. How can I hate him, Raoul? Think of Erik at my feet, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/he-fills-me-with-horror-and-i-do-not-hate-him-how-can-i-hate-him/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! He had a heart that could have held the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/with-an-ordinary-face-he-would-have-been-one-of-the-most/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“The voice without a body went on singing, and certainly Raoul had never in his life heard anything more absolutely and heroically sweet, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/the-voice-without-a-body-went-on-singing-and-certainly-raoul-had/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) [Explore all 78 Gaston Leroux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) ## More Cellars quotes > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If I was at the Comedy Cellar at midnight you yelled at the back of the room. But you, for television, play it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mulaney/if-i-was-at-the-comedy-cellar-at-midnight-you-yelled-at-the-back-of/) [John Mulaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mulaney/) > [Too many of the organizations I have observed resemble a farm in Kansas. They have lots of fences and silos as well as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-buckingham/too-many-of-the-organizations-i-have-observed-resemble-a-farm-in/) [Marcus Buckingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-buckingham/) > [To be successful, keep looking tanned, live in an elegant building (even if you're in the cellar), be seen in smart restaurants (even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-successful-keep-looking-tanned-live-in-an-elegant-building-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But the people cannot have wells, and so they take rain-water. Neither can they conveniently have cellars or graves, the town being built upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-the-people-cannot-have-wells-and-so-they-take-rain-water-neither/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Have they known scorn like you Five cellars down?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/have-they-known-scorn-like-you-five-cellars-down/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [The Torment turned his head to him, and frowned. "Who are you?" "I'm... sorry? It's me, it's Vaurien. Vaurien Scapegrace. I... built the cellar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/the-torment-turned-his-head-to-him-and-frowned-who-are-you-i-m-sorry/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [We shall soon be obliged to meet in cellars, or in darkened rooms with closed doors, and speak in whispers lest our next door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/we-shall-soon-be-obliged-to-meet-in-cellars-or-in-darkened-rooms-with/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The devil personifies not the nature that is around us but the nature that is within us- the infinitely ferocious and cunning prehuman creature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-devil-personifies-not-the-nature-that-is-around-us-but-the-nature/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Raziel’s sixty feet tall?” “Actually, he’s only fifty-nine feet tall, but he likes to exaggerate,” said Magnus. Isabelle clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Valentine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/raziel-s-sixty-feet-tall-actually-he-s-only-fifty-nine-feet-tall-but/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [It had occurred to Sean once - on a bender about ten years before with some buddies, Sean and a bloodstream full of bourbon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/it-had-occurred-to-sean-once-on-a-bender-about-ten-years-before-with/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [Look, we're all the same; a man is a fourteen-room house - in the bedroom he's asleep with his intelligent wife, in the living-room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/look-we-re-all-the-same-a-man-is-a-fourteen-room-house-in-the-bedroom/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [Even St. Teresa said, "I can pray better when I'm comfortable," and she refused to wear her haircloth shirt or starve herself. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/even-st-teresa-said-i-can-pray-better-when-i-m-comfortable-and-she/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Wine to me is passion. It's family and friends. It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mondavi/wine-to-me-is-passion-it-s-family-and-friends-it-s-warmth-of-heart/) [Robert Mondavi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mondavi/) Browse all 134 Cellars quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be 'some one,' like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide his genius or use it to play tricks with, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! 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