---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was as definitely outside their world…"
description: "\"“I was as definitely outside their world as a cannibal is outside the bounds of civilized society. I was filled with a perverse love of the thing in it..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg"
---

#  I was as definitely outside their world as a cannibal is…

![“I was as definitely outside their world as a cannibal is outside the bounds of civilized society. I was filled with a perverse love of the thing in itself. Not a philosophic attachment, but a passionate, desperately passionate hunger. As if in this discarded, worthless thing which everyone…” quote by Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg)

> ““I was as definitely outside their world as a cannibal is outside the bounds of civilized society. I was filled with a perverse love of the thing in itself. Not a philosophic attachment, but a passionate, desperately passionate hunger. As if in this discarded, worthless thing which everyone ignored, there was contained the secret of my own regeneration. Living in the midst of a world where there was a plethora of the new, I attached myself to the old. In every object there was a minute particle which particularly claimed my attention. I had a microscopic eye for the blemish, for the grain of ugliness, which to me constituted the sole beauty of the object. Whatever set the object apart, or made it unserviceable, or gave it a date, endeared it to me.””

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

## About This Quote

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

The narrator feels alienated from modern society, drawn to the neglected and flawed, finding beauty and personal renewal in the old and imperfect.

**In simple terms:** Finding beauty in the old and imperfect.

Key Takeaway

Embrace the overlooked to discover personal growth.

Themes

alienation beauty in decay nostalgia individualism

Mood

melancholic reflective

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- art criticism
- personal reflection
- collecting antiques
- urban exploration
- creative writing

Key Concepts

existentialism aesthetic appreciation psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What neglected aspects of the world inspire you?
- How does embracing imperfection affect your creativity?

A Different Perspective

The focus on decay may overlook the value of progress and innovation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Civilized society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized-society/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/)

## Related quotes

> [“What strikes me now as the most wonderful proof of my fitness, or unfitness, for the times is the fact that nothing people were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/what-strikes-me-now-as-the-most-wonderful-proof-of-my-fitness-or/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“She has a passionate hunger for youth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/she-has-a-passionate-hunger-for-youth/)

[Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/)

> [In every civilized society there is found a race of men who retain the instincts of the aboriginal cannibal and live upon their fellow-men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/in-every-civilized-society-there-is-found-a-race-of-men-who-retain/)

[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/)

> [“The word must become flesh; the soul thirsts. On whatever crumb my eye fastens, I will pounce and devour. If to live is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-word-must-become-flesh-the-soul-thirsts-on-whatever-crumb-my-eye/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [He saw that science had become as great a hoax as religion, that nationalism was a farce, patriotism a fraud, education a form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/he-saw-that-science-had-become-as-great-a-hoax-as-religion-that/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [It is silly to go on pretending that under the skin we are brothers. The truth is more likely that under the skin we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/it-is-silly-to-go-on-pretending-that-under-the-skin-we-are-brothers/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [It is easier for a cannibal to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the eye of a rich man's needle that it is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-easier-for-a-cannibal-to-enter-the-kingdom-of-heaven-through/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“Cannibal: epicures who abstain from alcohol and tobacco. As moral guides, they are underutilized in the police forces of modern societies.  ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/cannibal-epicures-who-abstain-from-alcohol-and-tobacco-as-moral/)

[Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/)

> [“Don’t trust the cannibal just ’cos he’s usin’ a knife and fork!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/don-t-trust-the-cannibal-just-cos-he-s-usin-a-knife-and-fork/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [Cannibals prefer those who have no spines..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/cannibals-prefer-those-who-have-no-spines/)

[Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/)

> [Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/is-it-true-that-cannibals-don-t-eat-clowns-because-they-taste-funny/)

[Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/)

> [We are on strike against martyrdom—and against the moral code that demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-on-strike-against-martyrdom-and-against-the-moral-code-that/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [I spent years working in low-budget horror films. When you've done 'Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death,' you can handle anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-barbeau/i-spent-years-working-in-low-budget-horror-films-when-you-ve-done/)

[Adrienne Barbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-barbeau/)

> [You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid, I won't get out alive I won't sleep tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-trees/you-re-just-a-cannibal-and-i-m-afraid-i-won-t-get-out-alive-i-won-t/)

[Neon Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-trees/)

> [When I go home my mother and I play a cannibal game; we eat each other over the years, tender morsel by morsel until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/when-i-go-home-my-mother-and-i-play-a-cannibal-game-we-eat-each-other/)

[Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/)

## More by Henry Miller

> [“I reached out for something to attach myself to—and I found nothing. But in reaching out, in the effort to grasp, to attach myself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-reached-out-for-something-to-attach-myself-to-and-i-found-nothing/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“I saw the errors I had made and assumed full responsibility for everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-saw-the-errors-i-had-made-and-assumed-full-responsibility-for/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [The monstrous thing is not that men have created roses out of this dung heap, but that, for some reason or other, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-monstrous-thing-is-not-that-men-have-created-roses-out-of-this/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [They never opened the door which leads to the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/they-never-opened-the-door-which-leads-to-the-soul/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“(...)I decided to let myself drift with the tide, to make not the least resistance to fate, no matter in what form it presented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-decided-to-let-myself-drift-with-the-tide-to-make-not-the-least/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“If it be knowledge or wisdom one is seeking, then one had better go direct to the source. And the source is not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/if-it-be-knowledge-or-wisdom-one-is-seeking-then-one-had-better-go/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“In the egocentric prism the helpless victim is walled in by the very light which he refracts. The ego dies in its own glass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/in-the-egocentric-prism-the-helpless-victim-is-walled-in-by-the-very/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“When one spends what he has on himself, when one has a thoroughly good time with his own money, people are apt to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/when-one-spends-what-he-has-on-himself-when-one-has-a-thoroughly-good/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [Paint what you like and die happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/paint-what-you-like-and-die-happy/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [She may be lying in bed reading a book, she may be making love with a prize fighter, or she may be running like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/she-may-be-lying-in-bed-reading-a-book-she-may-be-making-love-with-a/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“And no one sets about saving the world unless he has first experienced the miracle of personal salvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/and-no-one-sets-about-saving-the-world-unless-he-has-first/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“He looks about the room at the few sticks of furniture, at the dirty bed sheets and the wash basin with the dirty water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/he-looks-about-the-room-at-the-few-sticks-of-furniture-at-the-dirty/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“Since then, of course, I have discovered what every madman in Paris discovers sooner of later; that there are no ready made infernos for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/since-then-of-course-i-have-discovered-what-every-madman-in-paris/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“Looking back upon my career, I see myself as a person capable of undertaking almost any task, any vocation. It was the monotony and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/looking-back-upon-my-career-i-see-myself-as-a-person-capable-of/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [“The word in your mouth is anarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-word-in-your-mouth-is-anarchy/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

[Explore all 894 Henry Miller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

## More Cannibal quotes

> [When I go home my mother and I play a cannibal game; we eat each other over the years, tender morsel by morsel until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/when-i-go-home-my-mother-and-i-play-a-cannibal-game-we-eat-each-other/)

[Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/)

> [You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid, I won't get out alive I won't sleep tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-trees/you-re-just-a-cannibal-and-i-m-afraid-i-won-t-get-out-alive-i-won-t/)

[Neon Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-trees/)

> [I spent years working in low-budget horror films. When you've done 'Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death,' you can handle anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-barbeau/i-spent-years-working-in-low-budget-horror-films-when-you-ve-done/)

[Adrienne Barbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-barbeau/)

> [We are on strike against martyrdom—and against the moral code that demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-on-strike-against-martyrdom-and-against-the-moral-code-that/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/is-it-true-that-cannibals-don-t-eat-clowns-because-they-taste-funny/)

[Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/)

> [Cannibals prefer those who have no spines..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/cannibals-prefer-those-who-have-no-spines/)

[Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/)

> [“Don’t trust the cannibal just ’cos he’s usin’ a knife and fork!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/don-t-trust-the-cannibal-just-cos-he-s-usin-a-knife-and-fork/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“Cannibal: epicures who abstain from alcohol and tobacco. As moral guides, they are underutilized in the police forces of modern societies.  ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/cannibal-epicures-who-abstain-from-alcohol-and-tobacco-as-moral/)

[Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/)

> [It is easier for a cannibal to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the eye of a rich man's needle that it is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-easier-for-a-cannibal-to-enter-the-kingdom-of-heaven-through/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/most-of-the-people-will-have-died-and-the-rest-of-us-will-be-cannibals/)

[Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/)

> [Are there any vegetarians among cannibals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/are-there-any-vegetarians-among-cannibals/)

[Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/)

> [Whenever cannibals are on the brink of starvation, Heaven, in its infinite mercy, sends them a fat missionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/whenever-cannibals-are-on-the-brink-of-starvation-heaven-in-its/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [Carrie the Cannibal:she was raised in a posh house, without any parents. she was a slave. She always had a strange tasting for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaylee/carrie-the-cannibal-she-was-raised-in-a-posh-house-without-any/)

[Kaylee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaylee/)

> [No. The moral of the story in so far as it has one is that cannibals can study logic, and that if you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-harkaway/no-the-moral-of-the-story-in-so-far-as-it-has-one-is-that-cannibals/)

[Nick Harkaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-harkaway/)

> [“Victory will be ours!roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. "We will feast on your bones!" I wanted to tell him he was taking the dodgeball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/victory-will-be-ours-roared-joe-bob-the-cannibal-we-will-feast-on/)

[Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/)

Browse all 150 Cannibal quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“I was as definitely outside their world as a cannibal is outside the bounds of civilized society. I was filled with a perverse love of the thing in itself. Not a philosophic attachment, but a passionate, desperately passionate hunger. As if in this discarded, worthless thing which everyone ignored, there was contained the secret of my own regeneration. Living in the midst of a world where there was a plethora of the new, I attached myself to the old. In every object there was a minute particle which particularly claimed my attention. I had a microscopic eye for the blemish, for the grain of ugliness, which to me constituted the sole beauty of the object. Whatever set the object apart, or made it unserviceable, or gave it a date, endeared it to me.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Henry Miller"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world-as-a-cannibal-is-outside-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cannibal"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world-as-a-cannibal-is-outside-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/henry-miller-179_cannibal_i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world_2403281.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I was as definitely outside their world as a cannibal is outside the bounds of civilized society. I was…” — Henry Miller",
                "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": "Henry Miller",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“I was as definitely outside their...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world-as-a-cannibal-is-outside-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-was-as-definitely-outside-their-world-as-a-cannibal-is-outside-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```