--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am distinctly opposed to visibly…" description: "\"I am distinctly opposed to visibly arrogant and arbitrary extremes of government--but this is simply because I wish the safety of an artistic and intel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_arbitrary_i-am-distinctly-opposed-to-visibly-arrog_1764386.jpg" --- # I am distinctly opposed to visibly arrogant and arbitrary… ![“I am distinctly opposed to visibly arrogant and arbitrary extremes of government--but this is simply because I wish the safety of an artistic and intellectual civilisation to be secure, not because I have any sympathy with the coarse-grained herd who would menace the civilisation if not placated…” quote by H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_arbitrary_i-am-distinctly-opposed-to-visibly-arrog_1764386.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_arbitrary_i-am-distinctly-opposed-to-visibly-arrog_1764386.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_arbitrary_i-am-distinctly-opposed-to-visibly-arrog_1764386.jpg) > “I am distinctly opposed to visibly arrogant and arbitrary extremes of government--but this is simply because I wish the safety of an artistic and intellectual civilisation to be secure, not because I have any sympathy with the coarse-grained herd who would menace the civilisation if not placated by sops.” [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He opposes extreme governmental control to protect artistic and intellectual freedom, fearing that appeasement will empower a destructive mass. **In simple terms:** Protect culture by resisting authoritarian extremes and avoiding placating the masses. Key Takeaway Balance security with freedom; avoid over‑reliance on appeasement. Themes freedom culture government authoritarianism intellectual safety Mood critical defensive reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - education - media regulation - public discourse - artistic funding Key Concepts political theory cultural preservation ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can societies protect culture without authoritarianism? - What alternatives to sops exist? A Different Perspective May overstate the threat of the "herd" and ignore benefits of social safety nets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arbitrary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arbitrary/) [Arrogant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogant/) [Arrogant Arbitrary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogant-arbitrary-1721802/) [Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) [Civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation/) [Civilisation Placated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation-placated-1721804/) [Civilisation Secure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation-secure-1721800/) [Coarse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coarse/) [Distinctly Opposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinctly-opposed-1721801/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Extremes Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes-government-1721803/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Herds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/herds/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Menace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/menace/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safety/) [Secure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secure/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/of-what-use-is-it-to-please-the-herd-they-are-simply-coarse-animals/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [I have always considered The Merry Wives one of the worst plays, if not altogether the worst, that Shakespeare has left us. The wit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/i-have-always-considered-the-merry-wives-one-of-the-worst-plays-if/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) > [Behind Joy and Laughter there may be a temperament, coarse, hard and callous. But behind Sorrow there is always Sorrow. 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There is no happy ending to the story of sorrow if you are born with a predilection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/it-didn-t-and-doesn-t-turn-out-well-there-is-no-happy-ending-to-the/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Music may appeal to crude and coarse feelings or to refined and noble ones; and in so far as it does the latter it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/music-may-appeal-to-crude-and-coarse-feelings-or-to-refined-and-noble/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The Americans never use the word peasant, because they have no idea of the class which that term denotes; the ignorance of more remote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-americans-never-use-the-word-peasant-because-they-have-no-idea-of/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Taking food alone tends to make one hard and coarse. Those accustomed to it must lead a Spartan life if they are not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/taking-food-alone-tends-to-make-one-hard-and-coarse-those-accustomed/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [It had never occurred to him that the body of a woman of fifty, blown up to monstrous dimensions by childbearing, then hardened, roughened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-had-never-occurred-to-him-that-the-body-of-a-woman-of-fifty-blown/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [The bosom can ache beneath diamond brooches; and many a blithe heart dances under coarse wool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/the-bosom-can-ache-beneath-diamond-brooches-and-many-a-blithe-heart/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [There is no country in which so absolute a homage is paid to wealth. In America there is a touch of shame when a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-country-in-which-so-absolute-a-homage-is-paid-to-wealth/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their function. 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"Ooooooh," the girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/before-luce-could-reply-a-skinny-dark-haired-girl-appeared-in-from-of/) [Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/) ## More by H. P. Lovecraft > [It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre "kick". Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-the-night-black-massachusetts-legendry-which-packs-the-really/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“Sounds—possibly musical—heard in the night from other worlds or realms of being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/sounds-possibly-musical-heard-in-the-night-from-other-worlds-or/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Very few minds are strictly normal, and all religious fanatics are marked with abnormalities of various sorts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/very-few-minds-are-strictly-normal-and-all-religious-fanatics-are/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-s-not-a-bad-idea-to-call-this-cthulhuism-yog-sothothery-of-mine/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-appeal-of-the-spectrally-macabre-is-generally-narrow-because-it/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/there-are-probably-seven-persons-in-all-who-really-like-my-work-and/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Nothing is really typical of my efforts... I'm simply casting about for better ways to crystallise and capture certain strong impressions (involving the elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/nothing-is-really-typical-of-my-efforts-i-m-simply-casting-about-for/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/thus-i-began-my-systematic-though-half-bewildered-tour-of-innsmouth-s/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/of-what-use-is-it-to-please-the-herd-they-are-simply-coarse-animals/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“How little does the earth self know life and its extent! How little, indeed, ought it to know for its own tranquility!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/how-little-does-the-earth-self-know-life-and-its-extent-how-little/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-trees-grew-too-thickly-and-their-trunks-were-too-big-for-any/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Plots may be simple or complex, but suspense, and climactic progress from one incident to another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/plots-may-be-simple-or-complex-but-suspense-and-climactic-progress/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/searchers-after-horror-haunt-strange-far-places/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Cosmic terror appears as an ingredient of the earliest folklore of all races and is crystallised in the most archaic ballads, chronicles, and sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/cosmic-terror-appears-as-an-ingredient-of-the-earliest-folklore-of/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Truth is of no practical value to mankind save as it affects terrestrial phenomena, hence the discoveries of science should be concealed or glossed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/truth-is-of-no-practical-value-to-mankind-save-as-it-affects/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) [Explore all 244 H. P. Lovecraft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) ## More Arbitrary quotes > [It is irresponsible to set an arbitrary cap on how much therapy a Medicare beneficiary can receive. It ignores the health needs of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ensign/it-is-irresponsible-to-set-an-arbitrary-cap-on-how-much-therapy-a/) [John Ensign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ensign/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Not to be offensive, not to be capricious, not to be arbitrary, not to be neurotic, not to be an actor outer, you're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hurt/not-to-be-offensive-not-to-be-capricious-not-to-be-arbitrary-not-to/) [William Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hurt/) > [I don't concern myself with thinking ahead to the finished product. I focus more specifically on what the character is experiencing. Once you relieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-eisenberg/i-don-t-concern-myself-with-thinking-ahead-to-the-finished-product-i/) [Jesse Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-eisenberg/) > [Habit is altogether too arbitrary a master for me to submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/habit-is-altogether-too-arbitrary-a-master-for-me-to-submit-to/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [I look back, now, and I know that the naming moment, which seemed so insignificant then, which seemed to demand no more than an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/i-look-back-now-and-i-know-that-the-naming-moment-which-seemed-so/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/police-in-china-can-do-whatever-they-want-after-81-days-in-arbitrary/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Contrary to what certain governments say, human rights are universal. Arbitrary detention, torture and discrimination hurt the human dignity of anybody, whatever his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirin-ebadi/contrary-to-what-certain-governments-say-human-rights-are-universal/) [Shirin Ebadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirin-ebadi/) > [What causes adolescents to rebel is not the assertion of authority but the arbitrary use of power, with little explanation of the rules and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/what-causes-adolescents-to-rebel-is-not-the-assertion-of-authority/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [There is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power. The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/there-is-something-on-earth-greater-than-arbitrary-or-despotic-power/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [“nothing is arbitrary in this whole world, there is a good reason behind each and everything…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-kumar/nothing-is-arbitrary-in-this-whole-world-there-is-a-good-reason/) [Nikhil Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-kumar/) > [Fundamentally, adopting rules without any estimate of the impact is the height of arbitrary decision-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-o-rielly/fundamentally-adopting-rules-without-any-estimate-of-the-impact-is/) [Michael O'Rielly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-o-rielly/) > [No arbitrary regulation, no act of the legislature, can add anything to the capital of the country; it can only force it into artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ramsay-mcculloch/no-arbitrary-regulation-no-act-of-the-legislature-can-add-anything-to/) [John Ramsay McCulloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ramsay-mcculloch/) > [But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-desire-of-obtaining-the-advantages-and-of-escaping-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) [Browse all 529 Arbitrary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arbitrary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am distinctly opposed to visibly arrogant and arbitrary extremes of government--but this is simply because I wish the safety of an artistic and intellectual civilisation to be secure, not because I have any sympathy with the coarse-grained herd who would menace the civilisation if not placated by sops.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. 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