---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Australian form of self-respect…"
description: "\"The Australian form of self-respect, however rough-and-ready, heart-of-gold, come-and-take-pot-luck-with-us, and matily extrovert it is, essentially, g..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg"
---

#  The Australian form of self-respect, however…

![“The Australian form of self-respect, however rough-and-ready, heart-of-gold, come-and-take-pot-luck-with-us, and matily extrovert it is, essentially, genteel, ingrowing, self-pitying, vanilla-ice-cream hearted, its central fear a fear of intellect.” quote by Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg)

> “The Australian form of self-respect, however rough-and-ready, heart-of-gold, come-and-take-pot-luck-with-us, and matily extrovert it is, essentially, genteel, ingrowing, self-pitying, vanilla-ice-cream hearted, its central fear a fear of intellect.”

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

## About This Quote

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

A rugged, generous Australian spirit masks a deep fear of intellectual vulnerability.

**In simple terms:** Rough kindness hides fear of thinking too much.

Key Takeaway

Embrace intellectual curiosity despite discomfort.

Themes

self-respect Australian identity vulnerability humor

Mood

reflective wry

Type

cultural observational

When to use this quote

- social gatherings
- personal reflection
- creative writing

Key Concepts

cultural identity psychology self-awareness

Questions to Reflect On

- How does humor protect against intellectual fear?
- Can self-respect coexist with fear of intellect?

A Different Perspective

The quote may overgeneralize Australian traits.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Australian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australian/) [Extroverts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extroverts/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heart of gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-of-gold/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Ice cream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice-cream/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-respect/) [Vanilla ice cream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanilla-ice-cream/)

## Related quotes

> [I believe, in general, that even people that are self-pitying, you can feel for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-white/i-believe-in-general-that-even-people-that-are-self-pitying-you-can/)

[Mike White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-white/)

> [There are many people who get beat up, who suffer, who are victimized, and then they sit down to write and they write crap.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/there-are-many-people-who-get-beat-up-who-suffer-who-are-victimized/)

[Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/)

> [That most risky and volatile of all things a self-pitying majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/that-most-risky-and-volatile-of-all-things-a-self-pitying-majority/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

> [“She sometimes wondered what her twenty-two-year-old self would think of today's Emma Mayhew. Would she consider her self-centered? Compromised? A bourgeois sell-out, with her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/she-sometimes-wondered-what-her-twenty-two-year-old-self-would-think/)

[David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/)

> [“The problem is that kind of thinking means you’re going to punish yourself forever. You think you don’t deserve happiness or love or acceptance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-novak/the-problem-is-that-kind-of-thinking-means-you-re-going-to-punish/)

Genevieve Novak

> [“Great, I couldn’t even have a self-pitying moment without his awesomeness ruining it and making me feel guilty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-carlisle/great-i-couldn-t-even-have-a-self-pitying-moment-without-his/)

Natalie Carlisle

> [Be happy when you are blamed and accused wrongly, for then you have the chance to see all the bitter, hostile or self-pitying responses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/be-happy-when-you-are-blamed-and-accused-wrongly-for-then-you-have/)

[Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/)

> [Mom was never self-pitying. She was ferociously focused on making sure that everyone understood that she knew how fortunate she has been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-walton-hamilton/mom-was-never-self-pitying-she-was-ferociously-focused-on-making-sure/)

[Emma Walton Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-walton-hamilton/)

> [American rock has a sort of self-pitying whine to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bailey/american-rock-has-a-sort-of-self-pitying-whine-to-it/)

[Bill Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bailey/)

> [You are being self-pitying." "I'm nearly done. You don't have much more of this to bear." "I like you better this way." "Crushed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/you-are-being-self-pitying-i-m-nearly-done-you-don-t-have-much-more/)

[Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/)

> [“Both are manifestations of pride. Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says, “I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/both-are-manifestations-of-pride-boasting-is-the-response-of-pride-to/)

[John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/)

> [“It's my opinion, with some people, just knowing they are alone, living inside of their own miserable, self hating, dysfunctional mind, with their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-truscott-fry/it-s-my-opinion-with-some-people-just-knowing-they-are-alone-living/)

Colleen Truscott Fry

> [It is extremely interesting to me that black males, and other black folk, are viewed as self-pitying, by either other blacks who have failed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/it-is-extremely-interesting-to-me-that-black-males-and-other-black/)

[Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/)

> [“But there was a cost to that surcease from pain, Fool. When you dull pain and hide it from yourself…” My words trickled away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/but-there-was-a-cost-to-that-surcease-from-pain-fool-when-you-dull/)

[Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/)

> [“It’s the threadbare cape you’ve wrapped around yourself composed of self-pitying half truth. And it absolutely will not serve you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/it-s-the-threadbare-cape-you-ve-wrapped-around-yourself-composed-of/)

[Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/)

## More by Hal Porter

> [Now, I can smile at the stock quality of these friends, these uniforms. these looking-glasses, these sharers. Each is a character lifted straight from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/now-i-can-smile-at-the-stock-quality-of-these-friends-these-uniforms/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [I cannot consider fighting in competitive Manly Fun any more than I can consider pitting my running, swimming or climbing body against other bodies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/i-cannot-consider-fighting-in-competitive-manly-fun-any-more-than-i/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [The heat is searing and superb. The paddocks surrounding the town are bleached blond. The distant ring-barked gums, mile after mile, wriggle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-heat-is-searing-and-superb-the-paddocks-surrounding-the-town-are/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [This silent cry is of ecstasy for what has been done, and of despair at being forestalled, and being thus forewarned, that neither This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/this-silent-cry-is-of-ecstasy-for-what-has-been-done-and-of-despair/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [The unwritten rules of behaviour are infinite in number, finely shaded, and subtle to the last fraction of a degree. They are not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-unwritten-rules-of-behaviour-are-infinite-in-number-finely-shaded/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [While still sixteen I am put in charge of a class of forty children who are two, three or four years younger than I.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/while-still-sixteen-i-am-put-in-charge-of-a-class-of-forty-children/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [I immediately cotton on to the fact that intelligence thus lightly used, and one-upmanshipishly displayed, is a birthmark giving me a two-coloured face, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/i-immediately-cotton-on-to-the-fact-that-intelligence-thus-lightly/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [How ruthless and vile and hard and right the young are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/how-ruthless-and-vile-and-hard-and-right-the-young-are/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [Indeed, so deep is my pleasure in the work of the garden that, if there be a dimension after death in which grieving for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/indeed-so-deep-is-my-pleasure-in-the-work-of-the-garden-that-if-there/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

> [Next, suddenly, lightning suddenly, while I am still a child, a branch is lopped from my being, and a portion of my childhood ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/next-suddenly-lightning-suddenly-while-i-am-still-a-child-a-branch-is/)

[Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

[Explore all 11 Hal Porter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/)

## More Art quotes

> [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/)

[Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/)

> [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/)

[Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/)

> [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/)

[Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/)

> [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/)

Taf Teh

> [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/)

[Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/)

[Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/)

> [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/)

[G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/)

> [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/)

[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/)

> [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/)

[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/)

> [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

[Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The Australian form of self-respect, however rough-and-ready, heart-of-gold, come-and-take-pot-luck-with-us, and matily extrovert it is, essentially, genteel, ingrowing, self-pitying, vanilla-ice-cream hearted, its central fear a fear of intellect.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Hal Porter"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-australian-form-of-self-respect-however-rough-and-ready-heart-of/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-australian-form-of-self-respect-however-rough-and-ready-heart-of/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/hal-porter-38760_art_the-australian-form-of-self-respect-howe_561000.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The Australian form of self-respect, however rough-and-ready, heart-of-gold, come-and-take-pot-luck-with-us…” — Hal Porter",
                "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": "Hal Porter",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The Australian form of self-respect, however...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-australian-form-of-self-respect-however-rough-and-ready-heart-of/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-australian-form-of-self-respect-however-rough-and-ready-heart-of/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```