--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny…" description: "\"“The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny lobster, and he lives chiefly in your trousers. Short of burning all your clothes there is no known way of g..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg" --- # The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny lobster, and he… ![“The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny lobster, and he lives chiefly in your trousers. Short of burning all your clothes there is no known way of getting rid of him. Down the seams of your trousers he lays his glittering white eggs, like tiny grains of rice, which hatch out and breed families…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg) > ““The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny lobster, and he lives chiefly in your trousers. Short of burning all your clothes there is no known way of getting rid of him. Down the seams of your trousers he lays his glittering white eggs, like tiny grains of rice, which hatch out and breed families of thier own at horrible speed. I think pacifists might find it helpful to illustrate thier pamphlets with enlarged photographs of lice. Glory of war indeed! In war all solderies are lousy, at the least when it is warm enough. The men that fought at Verdun, at Waterloo, at Flodden, at Senlac, at Thermopylae - every one of them had lice crawling over his testicles.”” [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. Lice symbolize the inevitable, chaotic hardships of war that persist despite attempts to eradicate them. **In simple terms:** War brings relentless, hidden suffering. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address small but pervasive problems. Themes war hardship humor history Mood dark ironic Type satirical commentary When to use this quote - military history - public health campaigns - education - media critique Key Concepts biological metaphor satire Questions to Reflect On - How do minor irritations affect morale? - Can humor aid coping in conflict? A Different Perspective Metaphor may oversimplify complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human Louse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-louse-750981/) [Lice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lice/) [Lice Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lice-glory-750983/) [Louse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/louse-750982/) [Louse Somewhat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/louse-somewhat-750980/) ## Related quotes > [“I have had a big experience of body vermin of various kinds, and for sheer beastliness the louse beats everything I have encountered. Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-have-had-a-big-experience-of-body-vermin-of-various-kinds-and-for/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Sir, there is no settling the point of precedency between a louse and a flea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/sir-there-is-no-settling-the-point-of-precedency-between-a-louse-and/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Mankind lives by its head Its head won't see him through Inspect your own. What lives off that? At most a louse or two.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/mankind-lives-by-its-head-its-head-won-t-see-him-through-inspect-your/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [A louse in the locks of literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/a-louse-in-the-locks-of-literature/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [“A Man lives off his head. His head won't see him through. Inspect your own— What lives on that? At most, a louse or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/a-man-lives-off-his-head-his-head-won-t-see-him-through-inspect-your/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [“I wanted to find out then and quickly whether I was a louse like everybody else or a man. Whether I can step over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/i-wanted-to-find-out-then-and-quickly-whether-i-was-a-louse-like/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Glory of war, indeed! In war, all soldiers are lousy, at least when it is warm enough. The men who fought at Verdun, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/glory-of-war-indeed-in-war-all-soldiers-are-lousy-at-least-when-it-is/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [There is a cultural taste which tries very hard to get rid of the lice in a fur coat. There is another which tolerates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/there-is-a-cultural-taste-which-tries-very-hard-to-get-rid-of-the/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Actually, scientists don't know exactly how lice jumped from gorillas to our human ancestors. They speculate that we may have eaten them or perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziya-tong/actually-scientists-don-t-know-exactly-how-lice-jumped-from-gorillas/) [Ziya Tong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziya-tong/) > [When I was a child, headlice were something to be mentioned in hushed horror. There was undoubtedly an element of snobbery in this, since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-front/when-i-was-a-child-headlice-were-something-to-be-mentioned-in-hushed/) [Rebecca Front](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-front/) > [“Lice consume grass, rust consumes iron, and lying the soul!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/lice-consume-grass-rust-consumes-iron-and-lying-the-soul/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [According to a Public Policy Polling survey, most Americans find lice and colonoscopies more appealing than Capitol Hill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/according-to-a-public-policy-polling-survey-most-americans-find-lice/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [“Indeed, to spur your Baal to action, I will taunt and challenge you ... to create as much as a single frog in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/indeed-to-spur-your-baal-to-action-i-will-taunt-and-challenge-you-to/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-very-first-thing-i-tell-my-new-students-on-the-first-day-of-a/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) ## 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 Lice quotes > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) > [The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-very-first-thing-i-tell-my-new-students-on-the-first-day-of-a/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Indeed, to spur your Baal to action, I will taunt and challenge you ... to create as much as a single frog in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/indeed-to-spur-your-baal-to-action-i-will-taunt-and-challenge-you-to/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [According to a Public Policy Polling survey, most Americans find lice and colonoscopies more appealing than Capitol Hill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/according-to-a-public-policy-polling-survey-most-americans-find-lice/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [“Lice consume grass, rust consumes iron, and lying the soul!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/lice-consume-grass-rust-consumes-iron-and-lying-the-soul/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [When I was a child, headlice were something to be mentioned in hushed horror. There was undoubtedly an element of snobbery in this, since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-front/when-i-was-a-child-headlice-were-something-to-be-mentioned-in-hushed/) [Rebecca Front](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-front/) > [Actually, scientists don't know exactly how lice jumped from gorillas to our human ancestors. They speculate that we may have eaten them or perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziya-tong/actually-scientists-don-t-know-exactly-how-lice-jumped-from-gorillas/) [Ziya Tong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziya-tong/) > [There is a cultural taste which tries very hard to get rid of the lice in a fur coat. There is another which tolerates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/there-is-a-cultural-taste-which-tries-very-hard-to-get-rid-of-the/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [“Glory of war, indeed! In war, all soldiers are lousy, at least when it is warm enough. The men who fought at Verdun, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/glory-of-war-indeed-in-war-all-soldiers-are-lousy-at-least-when-it-is/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Love is a delicate plant that needs constant tending and nurturing, and this cannot be done by snorting at the adored object like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-delicate-plant-that-needs-constant-tending-and-nurturing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She crowned him with a whisky bottle and her tongue was full of lice and tomorrows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/she-crowned-him-with-a-whisky-bottle-and-her-tongue-was-full-of-lice/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Stu walked Bennie over to Chris in the chair and parted his hair to reveal some tan little creatures the size of poppy seeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/stu-walked-bennie-over-to-chris-in-the-chair-and-parted-his-hair-to/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [Do they merit vitriol, even a drop of it? Yes, because they corrupt the young, persuading them that the mature world, which produced Beethoven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/do-they-merit-vitriol-even-a-drop-of-it-yes-because-they-corrupt-the/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“Nema tih reči koje mogu nadomestiti šibanje godina u lice, ni od najbolje priče ne može se isplesti mreža za hvatanje vremena...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/or-e-bala-evi/nema-tih-re-i-koje-mogu-nadomestiti-ibanje-godina-u-lice-ni-od/) [Đorđe Balašević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/or-e-bala-evi/) > [I used to always be putting my hat on children being photographed and then getting home and discovering I was riddled with lice. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-baker/i-used-to-always-be-putting-my-hat-on-children-being-photographed-and/) [Tom Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-baker/) [Browse all 72 Lice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny lobster, and he lives chiefly in your trousers. Short of burning all your clothes there is no known way of getting rid of him. Down the seams of your trousers he lays his glittering white eggs, like tiny grains of rice, which hatch out and breed families of thier own at horrible speed. I think pacifists might find it helpful to illustrate thier pamphlets with enlarged photographs of lice. Glory of war indeed! In war all solderies are lousy, at the least when it is warm enough. The men that fought at Verdun, at Waterloo, at Flodden, at Senlac, at Thermopylae - every one of them had lice crawling over his testicles.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tiny-lobster-and-he-lives/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tiny-lobster-and-he-lives/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/george-orwell-57_lice_the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tin_2470012.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The human louse somewhat resembles a tiny lobster, and he lives chiefly in your trousers. Short of burning…” — 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": "“The human louse somewhat resembles a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tiny-lobster-and-he-lives/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-human-louse-somewhat-resembles-a-tiny-lobster-and-he-lives/#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 } } ] } ```