--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd been brought up on the Upper East…" description: "\"I'd been brought up on the Upper East Side in a WASP society, which was death on crutches.\" — Harry Mathews" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg" --- # I'd been brought up on the Upper East Side in a WASP… ![“I'd been brought up on the Upper East Side in a WASP society, which was death on crutches.” quote by Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg) > “I'd been brought up on the Upper East Side in a WASP society, which was death on crutches.” [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes growing up in an affluent, conformist WASP community that felt restrictive and lifeless. **In simple terms:** Upper East Side life felt stifling. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge limiting social norms. Themes social class conformity identity elitism Mood reflective critical Type personal essay social commentary When to use this quote - career decisions - family expectations - personal growth - community involvement Key Concepts cultural critique social identity Questions to Reflect On - How does your background shape your values? - What freedoms do you seek beyond tradition? A Different Perspective The perspective may overlook positive aspects of community support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Easter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easter/) [Upper east side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upper-east-side/) ## Related quotes > [Every happy ending is just a new beginning. Because on the Upper East Side, the good times never lasts forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gossip-girl/every-happy-ending-is-just-a-new-beginning-because-on-the-upper-east/) [Gossip Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gossip-girl/) > [I grew up in Manhattan on the Upper East Side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-linney/i-grew-up-in-manhattan-on-the-upper-east-side/) [Laura Linney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-linney/) > [If it wasn't for O'Flanagan's Pub on Manhattan's Upper East Side, I don't know where I would have spent my Friday nights as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bloomberg/if-it-wasn-t-for-o-flanagan-s-pub-on-manhattan-s-upper-east-side-i/) [Michael Bloomberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bloomberg/) > [I consider myself an Upper East Sider, but I may have to reconsider. While I was away, everyone seemed to flee!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinsley-mortimer/i-consider-myself-an-upper-east-sider-but-i-may-have-to-reconsider/) [Tinsley Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinsley-mortimer/) > [Investing one cent more in oil, coal and gas is investing in the death of society, and the in the death of our children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kumi-naidoo/investing-one-cent-more-in-oil-coal-and-gas-is-investing-in-the-death/) [Kumi Naidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kumi-naidoo/) > [Spotted -- Lonely Boy's rude awakening. Upper East Side Queens aren't born at the top. They climb their way up in heels, no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gossip-girl/spotted-lonely-boy-s-rude-awakening-upper-east-side-queens-aren-t/) [Gossip Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gossip-girl/) > [On the Upper East Side, women are prisoners to the ideology of intensive motherhood, which is that you should be enriching your child's well-being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wednesday-martin/on-the-upper-east-side-women-are-prisoners-to-the-ideology-of/) [Wednesday Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wednesday-martin/) > [“What I did with his automobile was fairly dramatic and somewhat risky, but still a lot easier than finding a parking place on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/what-i-did-with-his-automobile-was-fairly-dramatic-and-somewhat-risky/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [The biggest audience for Off Broadway is mostly coming in on a train - either Upper East Siders or Metro-North. I go to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rapp/the-biggest-audience-for-off-broadway-is-mostly-coming-in-on-a-train/) [Adam Rapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rapp/) > [“We played this game from the west village to the upper east side til around midnight when the Chrysler building was far behind us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darnell-lamont-walker/we-played-this-game-from-the-west-village-to-the-upper-east-side-til/) [Darnell Lamont Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darnell-lamont-walker/) > [I pictured my mom, alone in our little apartment on the Upper East Side. I tried to remember the smell of her blue waffles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-pictured-my-mom-alone-in-our-little-apartment-on-the-upper-east/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [As a child growing up in the precincts of wealth, and later as a college student, newspaper reporter and resident of New York's Upper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/as-a-child-growing-up-in-the-precincts-of-wealth-and-later-as-a/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Not since the Black Panthers sailed into their Upper East Side tea party has there been so daffy an exercise in radical chic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/not-since-the-black-panthers-sailed-into-their-upper-east-side-tea/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Maybe it's the Calvinist guilt about capitalism or mercantilism. But, I like the idea of doing things that only exist for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/momus/maybe-it-s-the-calvinist-guilt-about-capitalism-or-mercantilism-but-i/) [Momus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/momus/) > [U.S. academics and Upper East Side New Yorkers like to think of the United Nations as a place where foreign ambassadors have intellectual discussions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grenell/u-s-academics-and-upper-east-side-new-yorkers-like-to-think-of-the/) [Richard Grenell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grenell/) ## More by Harry Mathews > [My Life in CIA is the first time that I've ever written a story in my own name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/my-life-in-cia-is-the-first-time-that-i-ve-ever-written-a-story-in-my/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [My dream, I remember, when I went to boarding school, was to have a study all my own, a little nook someplace where nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/my-dream-i-remember-when-i-went-to-boarding-school-was-to-have-a/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [And then, when I left Princeton in the middle of my sophomore year, I went into the navy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/and-then-when-i-left-princeton-in-the-middle-of-my-sophomore-year-i/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [There are many things I’ve written that I didn’t really understand until a long time later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/there-are-many-things-i-ve-written-that-i-didn-t-really-understand/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [My mother could never understand why I didn't write a thriller, which I've finally done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/my-mother-could-never-understand-why-i-didn-t-write-a-thriller-which/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [My idea was to go to Vienna to study conducting and perhaps play in an orchestra first, so I thought before I got to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/my-idea-was-to-go-to-vienna-to-study-conducting-and-perhaps-play-in/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [Well, the great thing for me about poetry is that in good poems the dislocation of words, that is to say, the distance between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/well-the-great-thing-for-me-about-poetry-is-that-in-good-poems-the/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [Well, I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven, writing poetry. I was passionately addicted to it; it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/well-i-had-this-little-notion-i-started-writing-when-i-was-eleven/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [“She was disgusted with herself...and the disgust permanently cured her of suicide. Her piddling life did not deserve dramatic remedies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/she-was-disgusted-with-herself-and-the-disgust-permanently-cured-her/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [I also had this mistaken dream, fantasy really - perhaps because I'm good at languages - of being able in both Italy and France…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-also-had-this-mistaken-dream-fantasy-really-perhaps-because-i-m/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [I graduated in 1952 and went to Europe, with Niki and our first child Laura, who was then a year old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-graduated-in-1952-and-went-to-europe-with-niki-and-our-first-child/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [What I said about John was that he liberated me from my anxieties about writing in a correct, acceptable way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/what-i-said-about-john-was-that-he-liberated-me-from-my-anxieties/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [“Lewis, anything but dull, suffered from an excess of misguided cleverness: he could disparage himself brilliantly in a matter of seconds. He knew literature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/lewis-anything-but-dull-suffered-from-an-excess-of-misguided/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [I thought Cheever was magnificent and that if I could write like him that would be the best I could do. And then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-thought-cheever-was-magnificent-and-that-if-i-could-write-like-him/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [It has always been something I could do, and it may seem odd that in my case I seem to create an interesting narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/it-has-always-been-something-i-could-do-and-it-may-seem-odd-that-in/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) [Explore all 33 Harry Mathews quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) ## More Crutches quotes > [When have handouts ever worked? In the United States, we learned that welfare for our own citizens not only turned into a debilitating crutch,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-chavez/when-have-handouts-ever-worked-in-the-united-states-we-learned-that/) [Linda Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-chavez/) > [Every breath I take becomes deeper, and I become more confident of myself without my crutches. The lies I've filled my body and soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-breath-i-take-becomes-deeper-and-i-become-more-confident-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I will not pray clarity for you. Clarity is the crutch of the Christian. But I will pray trust for you, that your trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/i-will-not-pray-clarity-for-you-clarity-is-the-crutch-of-the/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [It is the individual's task to differentiate himself from all the others and stand on his own feet. All collective identities . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/it-is-the-individual-s-task-to-differentiate-himself-from-all-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [When you're together with someone for some time, you will automatically depend on them as if they were a crutch. And then it ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-wilde/when-you-re-together-with-someone-for-some-time-you-will/) [Kim Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-wilde/) > [Racial humor was about 35% of my act when I first started. But I realized that it was a crutch. What brought it home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/racial-humor-was-about-35-of-my-act-when-i-first-started-but-i/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [Judge not man by his outward manifestation of faith; for some there are who tremblingly reach out shaking hands to the guidance of faith;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/judge-not-man-by-his-outward-manifestation-of-faith-for-some-there/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I didn't want to use anything as a crutch and ever have excuses heading into a match.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karch-kiraly/i-didn-t-want-to-use-anything-as-a-crutch-and-ever-have-excuses/) [Karch Kiraly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karch-kiraly/) > [History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/history-does-not-record-anywhere-at-any-time-a-religion-that-has-any/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Were it not for the bone in the legge, all the world would turne Carpenters (to make them crutches).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/were-it-not-for-the-bone-in-the-legge-all-the-world-would-turne/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [I trip a lot. I'm kind of klutzy even though I'm a dancer. I ripped my Achilles heel, had crutches for a year. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-momsen/i-trip-a-lot-i-m-kind-of-klutzy-even-though-i-m-a-dancer-i-ripped-my/) [Taylor Momsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-momsen/) > [But the lack of faith could just as well be a crutch for non-believers, allowing them to live their lives without any concept of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-coren/but-the-lack-of-faith-could-just-as-well-be-a-crutch-for-non/) [Michael Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-coren/) > [Being on one crutch to no crutches is a huge difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-vonn/being-on-one-crutch-to-no-crutches-is-a-huge-difference/) [Lindsey Vonn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-vonn/) > [A lot of the problems teenagers go through, it's better for them to go through them on their own. If you always have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-savage/a-lot-of-the-problems-teenagers-go-through-it-s-better-for-them-to-go/) [Ben Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-savage/) > [I believe when you're writing film or television, you can't rely on a crutch or rule that exists outside of the narrative of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-believe-when-you-re-writing-film-or-television-you-can-t-rely-on-a/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) Browse all 170 Crutches quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'd been brought up on the Upper East Side in a WASP society, which was death on crutches.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harry Mathews" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-side-in-a-wasp-society-which/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crutches" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-side-in-a-wasp-society-which/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/harry-mathews-19208_crutches_i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-si_641005.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'd been brought up on the Upper East Side in a WASP society, which was death on crutches.” — Harry Mathews", "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": "Harry Mathews", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'd been brought up on the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-side-in-a-wasp-society-which/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/i-d-been-brought-up-on-the-upper-east-side-in-a-wasp-society-which/#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 } } ] } ```