--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For no one, in our long decline, So…" description: "\"For no one, in our long decline, So dusty, spiteful and divided, Had quite such pleasant friends as mine, Or loved them half as much as I did.\" — Hilai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/hilaire-belloc-2294_decline_for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty_335930.png" --- # For no one, in our long decline, So dusty, spiteful and… ![“For no one, in our long decline, So dusty, spiteful and divided, Had quite such pleasant friends as mine, Or loved them half as much as I did.” quote by Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/hilaire-belloc-2294_decline_for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty_335930.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/hilaire-belloc-2294_decline_for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty_335930.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/hilaire-belloc-2294_decline_for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty_335930.png) > “For no one, in our long decline, So dusty, spiteful and divided, Had quite such pleasant friends as mine, Or loved them half as much as I did.” [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He reflects on the rarity of true friendship amid societal decay. **In simple terms:** True friends are rare in troubled times. Key Takeaway Cherish and nurture genuine friendships. Themes friendship societal decline nostalgia Mood melancholic thoughtful Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - times of crisis - personal relationships - community building Key Concepts human connection loyalty social fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - What qualities define a true friend? - How can you foster deeper bonds? A Different Perspective Friendship may be idealized, not realistic for all. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Spiteful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiteful/) ## Related quotes > [May this New Year bring to you surprises which are pleasant, friends who are decent and life which is complacent. 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I just want to be loved by half the world (100% of the female population).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-don-t-care-about-being-cool-i-just-want-to-be-loved-by-half-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [It is better not to be loved than to be ill-loved or half-loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-colet/it-is-better-not-to-be-loved-than-to-be-ill-loved-or-half-loved/) [Louise Colet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-colet/) > [For no one, in our long decline,So dusty, spiteful and divided,Had quite such pleasant friends as mine,Or loved them half as much as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty-spiteful-and-divided-had/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [When female minds are embittered by age or solitude, their malignity is generally exerted in a rigorous and spiteful superintendence of domestic trifles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/when-female-minds-are-embittered-by-age-or-solitude-their-malignity/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [U JUST ANOTHER SPITEFUL WOMEN…U MUST OF HAD SOME BITTER DICK!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/u-just-another-spiteful-women-u-must-of-had-some-bitter-dick/) Author Name > [Every persisting marriage is based on fear', said Peregrine. 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Full of baby's venom”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/124-was-spiteful-full-of-baby-s-venom/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“People like me who lack something are liable to become spiteful critics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/people-like-me-who-lack-something-are-liable-to-become-spiteful/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [The unhappy are egoistic, spiteful, unjust, cruel, and less capable of understanding each other than fools. Unhappiness does not bring people together but draws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-unhappy-are-egoistic-spiteful-unjust-cruel-and-less-capable-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## More by Hilaire Belloc > [All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/all-men-have-an-instinct-for-conflict-at-least-all-healthy-men/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Kings live in Palaces, and Pigs in sties, And youth in Expectation. Youth is wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/kings-live-in-palaces-and-pigs-in-sties-and-youth-in-expectation/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Communism worked honestly by officials devoid of human frailties and devoted to nothing but the good of its slaves, would have certain manifest material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/communism-worked-honestly-by-officials-devoid-of-human-frailties-and/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [I put my pencil upon the paper, doubtfully, and drew little lines, considering my theme. But I would not long hesitate in this manner,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/i-put-my-pencil-upon-the-paper-doubtfully-and-drew-little-lines/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Had there been any existent vital and energetic institution left in Society after the Reformation for the use of small property in coordinated form-that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/had-there-been-any-existent-vital-and-energetic-institution-left-in/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Before the curse of statistics fell upon mankind we lived a happy, innocent life, full of merriment and go and informed by fairly good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/before-the-curse-of-statistics-fell-upon-mankind-we-lived-a-happy/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Of old when folk lay sick and sorely tried The doctors gave them physic, and they died. But here's a happier age: for now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/of-old-when-folk-lay-sick-and-sorely-tried-the-doctors-gave-them/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [It is Mind which determines the change of Society, and it was because the mind at work was a Catholic mind that the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/it-is-mind-which-determines-the-change-of-society-and-it-was-because/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [For no one, in our long decline,So dusty, spiteful and divided,Had quite such pleasant friends as mine,Or loved them half as much as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty-spiteful-and-divided-had/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [The smaller man approaching our modern banking system, which controls all issue of credit and therefore pretty well all our industrial and commercial activities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-smaller-man-approaching-our-modern-banking-system-which-controls/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Under the old philosophy which had governed the high Middle Ages things had been everywhere towards a condition of Society in which property was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/under-the-old-philosophy-which-had-governed-the-high-middle-ages/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Torture will give a dozen pence or more To keep a drab from bawling at his door. The public taste is quite a different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/torture-will-give-a-dozen-pence-or-more-to-keep-a-drab-from-bawling/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Of courtesy, it is much less Than courage of heart or holiness, Yet in my walks it seems to me That the Grace of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/of-courtesy-it-is-much-less-than-courage-of-heart-or-holiness-yet-in/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [The very large units of production and exchange have access to credit on a large scale, sometimes without any cover at all, merely upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-very-large-units-of-production-and-exchange-have-access-to-credit/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [The terror in which English capitalists now stand of organized proletarian resistance gives to the naturally protected craft organizations the power to receive the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-terror-in-which-english-capitalists-now-stand-of-organized/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) [Explore all 171 Hilaire Belloc quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) ## More Decline quotes > [Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/among-the-many-factors-that-make-a-return-to-halcyon-days-of-the/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [When a man imagines, even after years of striving, that he has attained perfection, his decline begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-martin/when-a-man-imagines-even-after-years-of-striving-that-he-has-attained/) Theodore Martin > [Low levels of vitamin D in the population as a whole suggest that most people need to take a vitamin D supplement. 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Markets shrink, new capital investment and employment also taper off, so wages decline. That is what's happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/deflation-means-a-slowdown-of-income-growth-markets-shrink-new/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [Prominent exploration experts have recently predicted that total world production of liquid oil will peak by about the end of this decade-or a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amory-lovins/prominent-exploration-experts-have-recently-predicted-that-total/) [Amory Lovins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amory-lovins/) > [In the 1970s, British food was beginning to get good, whereas in France it was just starting its long, sad decline. My most memorable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/in-the-1970s-british-food-was-beginning-to-get-good-whereas-in-france/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) > [In all our academies we attempt far too much. ... 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