--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...but you are too much for them: the…" description: "\"...but you are too much for them: the weak in courage are strong in cunning; and one by one, you have absorbed and have captured and dishonored, and ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg" --- # ...but you are too much for them: the weak in courage are… ![“...but you are too much for them: the weak in courage are strong in cunning; and one by one, you have absorbed and have captured and dishonored, and have distilled of your deliverers the most ruinous of all poisons; people hear Beethoven in concert halls, or over a bridge game, or to relax…” quote by James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg) > “...but you are too much for them: the weak in courage are strong in cunning; and one by one, you have absorbed and have captured and dishonored, and have distilled of your deliverers the most ruinous of all poisons; people hear Beethoven in concert halls, or over a bridge game, or to relax; Cézannes are hung on walls, reproduced, in natural wood frames; van Gogh is the man who cut off his ear and whose yellows became recently popular in window decoration.” [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques cultural elitism, noting how high art and sensational stories are consumed while deeper moral decay goes unnoticed. **In simple terms:** People enjoy art but ignore harmful behavior. Key Takeaway Question the values we celebrate. Themes cultural critique elitism morality Mood skeptical critical Type observational analytical When to use this quote - gallery openings - concert attendance - media criticism - personal reflection Key Concepts art consumption social hypocrisy moral blindness Questions to Reflect On - Do we prioritize style over substance? - How does this view affect our own cultural choices? A Different Perspective It may overgeneralize artistic appreciation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Concerts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerts/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woods/) ## Related quotes > [The weak in courage is strong in cunning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-weak-in-courage-is-strong-in-cunning/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“They live with the belief that anything is acceptable if you can get away with it, that self-gratification is the most important aspect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-salvatore/they-live-with-the-belief-that-anything-is-acceptable-if-you-can-get/) [R.A. Salvatore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-salvatore/) > [Nay, number itself in armies importeth not much, where the people is of weak courage; for, as Virgil saith, It never troubles the wolf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/nay-number-itself-in-armies-importeth-not-much-where-the-people-is-of/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Here I was worrying about my journey, while God was helping me all the way. I made me realize that I am very weak;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-aylward/here-i-was-worrying-about-my-journey-while-god-was-helping-me-all-the/) [Gladys Aylward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-aylward/) > [Here was I worrying about my journey, while God was helping me all the way. It made me realize that I am very weak;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-aylward/here-was-i-worrying-about-my-journey-while-god-was-helping-me-all-the/) [Gladys Aylward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-aylward/) > [It is better decoration when, in painting, some monstrosity is introduced for variety and a relaxation of the senses and to attract the attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/it-is-better-decoration-when-in-painting-some-monstrosity-is/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [Humorists of the 'mere' sort cannot survive. Humor is only a fragrance, a decoration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/humorists-of-the-mere-sort-cannot-survive-humor-is-only-a-fragrance-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Love Is the Treasure The temple of love is not love itself; True love is the treasure, Not the walls about it. Do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/love-is-the-treasure-the-temple-of-love-is-not-love-itself-true-love/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [ The combination of an individual\[i.e., a client\] with a positive idea of living and a good designer is the great force in contemporary decoration.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-day-truex/the-combination-of-an-individual-i-e-a-client-with-a-positive-idea-of/) [Van Day Truex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-day-truex/) > [Yet he saw that in all places there was originality, resulting from the human efforts at decoration and ingenious methods of survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yet-he-saw-that-in-all-places-there-was-originality-resulting-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Men's clothing is more pure in design. It's more simple and has no decoration. Women want that. When I started designing, I wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yohji-yamamoto/men-s-clothing-is-more-pure-in-design-it-s-more-simple-and-has-no/) [Yohji Yamamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yohji-yamamoto/) > [People live and work in uninspiring environments, but look inside those rooms. Look at the painted walls and the decorations. People rebel even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/people-live-and-work-in-uninspiring-environments-but-look-inside/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [She surrounded herself with books at work and at home. Her living space was a testament to her first and abiding love with shelves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/she-surrounded-herself-with-books-at-work-and-at-home-her-living/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Les trois quarts de nos exercices intellectuels ne sont plus que broderies sur le vide. Three quarters of our intellectual performances are no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-crayencour/les-trois-quarts-de-nos-exercices-intellectuels-ne-sont-plus-que/) [Stephanie Crayencour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-crayencour/) > [The aim of art is to create space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stella/the-aim-of-art-is-to-create-space/) [Frank Stella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-stella/) ## More by James Agee > [By some chance, here they are, all on this earth; and who shall ever tell the sorrow of being on this earth, lying, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/by-some-chance-here-they-are-all-on-this-earth-and-who-shall-ever/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [The camera seems to me, next to unassisted and weaponless consciousness, the central instrument of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/the-camera-seems-to-me-next-to-unassisted-and-weaponless/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [“Yes, for every child, rich or poor, there's a time of running through a dark place; and there's no word for a child's fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/yes-for-every-child-rich-or-poor-there-s-a-time-of-running-through-a/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [“Kate, the mother of thirteen, is forty-nine; delicately made; her skin creamlike where the weather has not got at it. She is smaller than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/kate-the-mother-of-thirteen-is-forty-nine-delicately-made-her-skin/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [ “The passion for vengeance is a terrifyingly strong one, very easily and probably inevitably wrought up by such evidence \[of atrocities\], even at our… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/the-passion-for-vengeance-is-a-terrifyingly-strong-one-very-easily/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [It's kind of a test, Mary, and it's the only kind that amounts to anything. When something rotten like this happens, then you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/it-s-kind-of-a-test-mary-and-it-s-the-only-kind-that-amounts-to/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [The mere attempt to examine my own confusion would consume volumes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/the-mere-attempt-to-examine-my-own-confusion-would-consume-volumes/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [It is a peculiar part of the good photographer's adventure to know where luck is most likely to lie in the stream, to hook…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/it-is-a-peculiar-part-of-the-good-photographer-s-adventure-to-know/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [“God is not here, Hannah said to herself; and made a small cross upon her breastbone, against her blasphemy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/god-is-not-here-hannah-said-to-herself-and-made-a-small-cross-upon/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [Well, now, some people learn a little quicker than others. It's nice to learn fast but it's nice to take your time too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/well-now-some-people-learn-a-little-quicker-than-others-it-s-nice-to/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [The artist's task is not to alter the world as the eye sees it into a world of aesthetic reality, but to perceive the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/the-artist-s-task-is-not-to-alter-the-world-as-the-eye-sees-it-into-a/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [Understanding, and action proceeding from understanding and guided by it, is one weapon against the world's bombardment, the one medicine, the one instrument by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/understanding-and-action-proceeding-from-understanding-and-guided-by/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [This continent, an open palm spread frank before the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/this-continent-an-open-palm-spread-frank-before-the-sky/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [You've got to bear it in mind that nobody that ever lived is specially privileged; the axe can fall at any moment, on any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/you-ve-got-to-bear-it-in-mind-that-nobody-that-ever-lived-is/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [He used this great, sad, motionless face to suggest various related things: a one-track mind near the track's end of pure insanity; mulish imperturbability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/he-used-this-great-sad-motionless-face-to-suggest-various-related/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) [Explore all 75 James Agee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) [Browse all 1,521 Bridges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...but you are too much for them: the weak in courage are strong in cunning; and one by one, you have absorbed and have captured and dishonored, and have distilled of your deliverers the most ruinous of all poisons; people hear Beethoven in concert halls, or over a bridge game, or to relax; Cézannes are hung on walls, reproduced, in natural wood frames; van Gogh is the man who cut off his ear and whose yellows became recently popular in window decoration.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Agee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-in-courage-are-strong-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bridges" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-in-courage-are-strong-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/james-agee-9167_bridges_but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-i_2731391.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...but you are too much for them: the weak in courage are strong in cunning; and one by one, you have…” — James Agee", "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": "James Agee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...but you are too much for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-in-courage-are-strong-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/but-you-are-too-much-for-them-the-weak-in-courage-are-strong-in/#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 } } ] } ```