---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everybody who does not live in a…"
description: "\"Everybody who does not live in a prostitute's bed and on a diet of cocaine snow is called an ascetic nowadays.\" — George Bernard Shaw"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb1/george-bernard-shaw-68_ascetic_everybody-who-does-not-live-in-a-prostit_367733.png"
---

#  Everybody who does not live in a prostitute's bed and on a…

![“Everybody who does not live in a prostitute's bed and on a diet of cocaine snow is called an ascetic nowadays.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb1/george-bernard-shaw-68_ascetic_everybody-who-does-not-live-in-a-prostit_367733.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb1/george-bernard-shaw-68_ascetic_everybody-who-does-not-live-in-a-prostit_367733.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb1/george-bernard-shaw-68_ascetic_everybody-who-does-not-live-in-a-prostit_367733.png)

> “Everybody who does not live in a prostitute's bed and on a diet of cocaine snow is called an ascetic nowadays.”

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Shaw mocks modern asceticism, suggesting extreme lifestyles are now labeled as virtue.

**In simple terms:** Extreme habits are now called virtue.

Key Takeaway

Question the labels we assign to lifestyles.

Themes

satire culture morality

Mood

ironic critical

Type

satirical observational

When to use this quote

- political activism
- health trends
- spiritual movements

Key Concepts

social critique hypocrisy

Questions to Reflect On

- What habits do we label as virtuous?
- How does language shape moral perception?

A Different Perspective

Labels can obscure true intent.

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[Ascetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ascetic/) [Asceticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asceticism/) [Cocaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cocaine/) [Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow/)

## Related quotes

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> [The ascetic makes a necessity of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ascetic-makes-a-necessity-of-virtue/)

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> [“In the wake of his new division of ascetic opinion, Nietzsche not only stumbles upon the fundamental meaning of the practising life for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sloterdijk/in-the-wake-of-his-new-division-of-ascetic-opinion-nietzsche-not-only/)

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> [“Asceticism is an antidote to the poison of self-centeredness common in our culture, which teaches us that satisfying our own desires is the key…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-dreher/asceticism-is-an-antidote-to-the-poison-of-self-centeredness-common/)

Rob Dreher

> [“Darkness can inspire light, and light can inspire darkness, its just a difference of distant of these two contrasting forces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/darkness-can-inspire-light-and-light-can-inspire-darkness-its-just-a/)

[Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/)

> [The ascetic is often a sensualist who has reached the limit of his capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-ascetic-is-often-a-sensualist-who-has-reached-the-limit-of-his/)

[Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/)

> [I might become an ascetic, live in India. A little rice is about the best I can do now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-might-become-an-ascetic-live-in-india-a-little-rice-is-about-the/)

[Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/)

> [I'm not an ascetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/i-m-not-an-ascetic/)

[David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/)

> [“I have been against all that is ascetic; even that word was not known to me in those days, but I could smell something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/i-have-been-against-all-that-is-ascetic-even-that-word-was-not-known/)

[Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/)

> [No ascetic can be considered reliably sane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/no-ascetic-can-be-considered-reliably-sane/)

[A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/)

> [Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramakrishna/forgiveness-is-the-true-nature-of-the-ascetic/)

[Ramakrishna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramakrishna/)

> [“...We have attempted to separate the spiritual and the erotic, thereby reducing the spiritual to a world of flattened affect, a world of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/we-have-attempted-to-separate-the-spiritual-and-the-erotic-thereby/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [Ascetic spirituality is a symptom of the very disease which it intends to cure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anodea-judith/ascetic-spirituality-is-a-symptom-of-the-very-disease-which-it/)

[Anodea Judith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anodea-judith/)

> [“ascetic, but his eyes had the cold”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ascetic-but-his-eyes-had-the-cold/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by George Bernard Shaw

> [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/)

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[Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## More Ascetic quotes

> [“ascetic, but his eyes had the cold”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ascetic-but-his-eyes-had-the-cold/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The ascetic is often a sensualist who has reached the limit of his capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-ascetic-is-often-a-sensualist-who-has-reached-the-limit-of-his/)

[Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/)

> [I might become an ascetic, live in India. A little rice is about the best I can do now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-might-become-an-ascetic-live-in-india-a-little-rice-is-about-the/)

[Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/)

> [“Asceticism is an antidote to the poison of self-centeredness common in our culture, which teaches us that satisfying our own desires is the key…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-dreher/asceticism-is-an-antidote-to-the-poison-of-self-centeredness-common/)

Rob Dreher

> [“Darkness can inspire light, and light can inspire darkness, its just a difference of distant of these two contrasting forces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/darkness-can-inspire-light-and-light-can-inspire-darkness-its-just-a/)

[Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/)

> [Ascetic spirituality is a symptom of the very disease which it intends to cure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anodea-judith/ascetic-spirituality-is-a-symptom-of-the-very-disease-which-it/)

[Anodea Judith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anodea-judith/)

> [“...We have attempted to separate the spiritual and the erotic, thereby reducing the spiritual to a world of flattened affect, a world of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/we-have-attempted-to-separate-the-spiritual-and-the-erotic-thereby/)

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> [“In Nietzsche's usage, the word 'Christianity' does not even refer primarily to the religion; using it like a code word, he is thinking more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sloterdijk/in-nietzsche-s-usage-the-word-christianity-does-not-even-refer/)

[Peter Sloterdijk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sloterdijk/)

> [Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramakrishna/forgiveness-is-the-true-nature-of-the-ascetic/)

[Ramakrishna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramakrishna/)

> [No ascetic can be considered reliably sane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/no-ascetic-can-be-considered-reliably-sane/)

[A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/)

> [“I have been against all that is ascetic; even that word was not known to me in those days, but I could smell something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/i-have-been-against-all-that-is-ascetic-even-that-word-was-not-known/)

[Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/)

> [I'm not an ascetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/i-m-not-an-ascetic/)

[David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/)

> [“In the wake of his new division of ascetic opinion, Nietzsche not only stumbles upon the fundamental meaning of the practising life for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sloterdijk/in-the-wake-of-his-new-division-of-ascetic-opinion-nietzsche-not-only/)

[Peter Sloterdijk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sloterdijk/)

> [The ascetic makes a necessity of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ascetic-makes-a-necessity-of-virtue/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [God, we are told, looked upon the world after he had created it and pronounced it good; but ascetic pietists, in their wisdom, cast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/god-we-are-told-looked-upon-the-world-after-he-had-created-it-and/)

[Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/)

[Browse all 20 Ascetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ascetic/)

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