--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine…" description: "\"Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine pedant.\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg" --- # Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine pedant. ![“Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine pedant.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg) > “Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine pedant.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He critiques a poet’s pretentiousness, comparing it to an overbearing, pompous elephant. **In simple terms:** Poetry can become overly pompous. Key Takeaway Beware of pretentiousness in art. Themes pretentiousness literary criticism humor Mood critical wry Type analytical satirical When to use this quote - reading groups - creative writing workshops - literary reviews - academic seminars Key Concepts artistic ego overanalysis self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - Do you value humility in artistic expression? - When does critique become contempt? A Different Perspective Some may see the critique as harsh or dismissive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elephantine Pedant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephantine-pedant-3560129/) [Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joyce/) [Joyce Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joyce-poet-3560128/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poet Elephantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet-elephantine-3560130/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [The writers I care about most and never grow tired of are: Shakespeare, Swift, Fielding, Dickens, Charles Reade, Flaubert and, among modern writers, James…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-writers-i-care-about-most-and-never-grow-tired-of-are-shakespeare/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In translation studies we talk about domestication - translation styles that make something familiar - or estrangement - translation styles that make something radically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-translation-studies-we-talk-about-domestication-translation-styles/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Lord, what if I miss You? What if I miss You? What if I miss You? Oh, I'm so scared! God, what if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/lord-what-if-i-miss-you-what-if-i-miss-you-what-if-i-miss-you-oh-i-m/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Jesse Joyce is a great writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-attell/jesse-joyce-is-a-great-writer/) [Dave Attell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-attell/) > [I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-took-a-couple-of-creative-writing-classes-with-joyce-carol-oates-at/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-- but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being-a-nightmare-but-it-may-be/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [ James Joyce is a cul-de-sac. \[Ulysses is\] ... an example how literature branched out and went into, lost itself in nowhere, no man's land. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/james-joyce-is-a-cul-de-sac-ulysses-is-an-example-how-literature/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) > [“James Joyce married a woman named Nora Barnacle. She once said to him, ‘Why don’t you write books people can read?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lloyd/james-joyce-married-a-woman-named-nora-barnacle-she-once-said-to-him/) [John Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lloyd/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [If you ever want to understand multitasking in prose, James Joyce is your man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/if-you-ever-want-to-understand-multitasking-in-prose-james-joyce-is/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [Great books are readable anyway. Dickens is readable. Jane Austen is readable. John Updike's readable. Hawthorne's readable. It's a meaningless term. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/great-books-are-readable-anyway-dickens-is-readable-jane-austen-is/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [James Joyce actually is rewarding you in all of these incredible ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-andrews/james-joyce-actually-is-rewarding-you-in-all-of-these-incredible-ways/) [Jesse Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-andrews/) > [I think I succeeded as a writer because I did not come out of an English department. I used to write in the chemistry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-think-i-succeeded-as-a-writer-because-i-did-not-come-out-of-an/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I'm not one of those James Joyce intellectuals who can stand back and look at the whole edifice... It was a slow process for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-m-not-one-of-those-james-joyce-intellectuals-who-can-stand-back-and/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Joyce quotes > [I'm not one of those James Joyce intellectuals who can stand back and look at the whole edifice... It was a slow process for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-m-not-one-of-those-james-joyce-intellectuals-who-can-stand-back-and/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [I think I succeeded as a writer because I did not come out of an English department. I used to write in the chemistry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-think-i-succeeded-as-a-writer-because-i-did-not-come-out-of-an/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [James Joyce actually is rewarding you in all of these incredible ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-andrews/james-joyce-actually-is-rewarding-you-in-all-of-these-incredible-ways/) [Jesse Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-andrews/) > [Great books are readable anyway. Dickens is readable. Jane Austen is readable. John Updike's readable. Hawthorne's readable. It's a meaningless term. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/great-books-are-readable-anyway-dickens-is-readable-jane-austen-is/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [If you ever want to understand multitasking in prose, James Joyce is your man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/if-you-ever-want-to-understand-multitasking-in-prose-james-joyce-is/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“James Joyce married a woman named Nora Barnacle. She once said to him, ‘Why don’t you write books people can read?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lloyd/james-joyce-married-a-woman-named-nora-barnacle-she-once-said-to-him/) [John Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lloyd/) > [ James Joyce is a cul-de-sac. \[Ulysses is\] ... an example how literature branched out and went into, lost itself in nowhere, no man's land. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/james-joyce-is-a-cul-de-sac-ulysses-is-an-example-how-literature/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) > [James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-- but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being-a-nightmare-but-it-may-be/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-took-a-couple-of-creative-writing-classes-with-joyce-carol-oates-at/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Jesse Joyce is a great writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-attell/jesse-joyce-is-a-great-writer/) [Dave Attell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-attell/) > [Lord, what if I miss You? What if I miss You? What if I miss You? Oh, I'm so scared! God, what if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/lord-what-if-i-miss-you-what-if-i-miss-you-what-if-i-miss-you-oh-i-m/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [In translation studies we talk about domestication - translation styles that make something familiar - or estrangement - translation styles that make something radically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-translation-studies-we-talk-about-domestication-translation-styles/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [If you word-spot James Joyce, you'll miss the entire experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryanne-wolf/if-you-word-spot-james-joyce-you-ll-miss-the-entire-experience/) [Maryanne Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryanne-wolf/) > [What did Nabokov and Joyce have in common, apart from the poor teeth and the great prose? Exile, and decades of near pauperism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/what-did-nabokov-and-joyce-have-in-common-apart-from-the-poor-teeth/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) [Browse all 151 Joyce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joyce/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine pedant.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine-pedant/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Joyce" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine-pedant/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/george-orwell-57_joyce_joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine_395779.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Joyce is a poet and also an elephantine pedant.” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Joyce is a poet and also...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine-pedant/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/joyce-is-a-poet-and-also-an-elephantine-pedant/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```