--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But if we look a little deeper we shall…" description: "\"“But if we look a little deeper we shall find there is a pathetic, one might almost say a tragic, side to the picture. A shy man means a lonely man—a m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg" --- # But if we look a little deeper we shall find there is a… ![“But if we look a little deeper we shall find there is a pathetic, one might almost say a tragic, side to the picture. A shy man means a lonely man—a man cut off from all companionship, all sociability. He moves about the world, but does not mix with it. Between him and his fellow-men there runs…” quote by Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg) > ““But if we look a little deeper we shall find there is a pathetic, one might almost say a tragic, side to the picture. A shy man means a lonely man—a man cut off from all companionship, all sociability. He moves about the world, but does not mix with it. Between him and his fellow-men there runs ever an impassable barrier—a strong, invisible wall that, trying in vain to scale, he but bruises himself against. He sees the pleasant faces and hears the pleasant voices on the other side, but he cannot stretch his hand across to grasp another hand. He stands watching the merry groups, and he longs to speak and to claim kindred with them. But they pass him by, chatting gayly to one another, and he cannot stay them. He tries to reach them, but his prison walls move with him and hem him in on every side. In the busy street, in the crowded room, in the grind of work, in the whirl of pleasure, amid the many or amid the few—wherever men congregate together, wherever the music of human speech is heard and human thought is flashed from human eyes, there, shunned and solitary, the shy man, like a leper, stands apart. His soul is full of love and longing, but the world knows it not. The iron mask of shyness is riveted before his face, and the man beneath is never seen. Genial words and hearty greetings are ever rising to his lips, but they die away in unheard whispers behind the steel clamps. His heart aches for the weary brother, but his sympathy is dumb. Contempt and indignation against wrong choke up his throat, and finding no safety-valve whence in passionate utterance they may burst forth, they only turn in again and harm him. All the hate and scorn and love of a deep nature such as the shy man is ever cursed by fester and corrupt within, instead of spending themselves abroad, and sour him into a misanthrope and cynic.”” [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shyness creates an invisible barrier that isolates a person despite deep longing for connection, leading to frustration and inner turmoil. **In simple terms:** Shyness isolates despite desire for connection. Key Takeaway Recognize and gently bridge social barriers. Themes loneliness shyness isolation longing misunderstanding Mood melancholy reflective empathetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - crowded events - workplace - social gatherings - online communities - family gatherings Key Concepts psychology social dynamics emotional health Questions to Reflect On - How can we create safe spaces for shy individuals? - What inner motivations sustain their isolation? A Different Perspective Shyness may be rooted in deeper anxiety, limiting the effectiveness of simple outreach. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Lonely man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely-man/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Love And Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-and-longing/) [Man Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-speech/) [Shyness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shyness/) [Shyness Riveted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shyness-riveted-5962262/) [Solitary Shy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitary-shy-5962261/) ## Related quotes > [“Short on all the things I don't want, I'm full of love and longing. Take me by the hand and tell me, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-quin/short-on-all-the-things-i-don-t-want-i-m-full-of-love-and-longing/) [Sara Quin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-quin/) > [“A slow-motion kiss that took the place of the million things she wanted to say to him and couldn’t because he didn’t want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-c-gibbs/a-slow-motion-kiss-that-took-the-place-of-the-million-things-she/) [C.C. Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-c-gibbs/) > [“In the midst of silence Lyra stood by Lanre's body and spoke his name. Her voice was a commandment. Her voice was steel and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/in-the-midst-of-silence-lyra-stood-by-lanre-s-body-and-spoke-his-name/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It would be good to live in a perpetual state of leave-taking, never to go nor to stay, but to remain suspended in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/it-would-be-good-to-live-in-a-perpetual-state-of-leave-taking-never/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“He saw the monsters that love and longing could make, and they all had human faces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roan-parrish/he-saw-the-monsters-that-love-and-longing-could-make-and-they-all-had/) [Roan Parrish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roan-parrish/) > [“...Grimacing, I plunged a hand into the fouled water to clear the clog, morbid curiosity drawing my youthful eyes to the gray globs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/grimacing-i-plunged-a-hand-into-the-fouled-water-to-clear-the-clog/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [“It is queer, but my love and longing for the world are always deepened by my absence from it; it's wondrous, don't you think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-is-queer-but-my-love-and-longing-for-the-world-are-always-deepened/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“A woman wishes to be swept up by a man’s fervent feelings for her, by love and longing and depth of feeling. She does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-dickerson/a-woman-wishes-to-be-swept-up-by-a-man-s-fervent-feelings-for-her-by/) [Melanie Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-dickerson/) > [If it wasn't for this person's privacy, I'd be able to talk pretty freely about this subject on a personal level. The record's about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-vernon/if-it-wasn-t-for-this-person-s-privacy-i-d-be-able-to-talk-pretty/) [Justin Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-vernon/) > [Give to God just one thought of sincere love and longing and He responds: 'My child, one silent call from the depths of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daya-mata/give-to-god-just-one-thought-of-sincere-love-and-longing-and-he/) [Daya Mata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daya-mata/) > [“I have accepted that this is how it’s going to be that love and longing are going to take turns to sleep with me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakshi-narula/i-have-accepted-that-this-is-how-it-s-going-to-be-that-love-and/) [Sakshi Narula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakshi-narula/) > [“People have rituals for communing with the dead, rituals that depend more on the idiosyncrasies of the individual than on the influence of culture.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/people-have-rituals-for-communing-with-the-dead-rituals-that-depend/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [“And he walked off down the path with his jaunty, independent stride. And I stood there where he left me, tremulous with love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/and-he-walked-off-down-the-path-with-his-jaunty-independent-stride/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“scrub oak trees. Kieran was leaning against him, pinning him to the tree, and they were kissing. Cristina hesitated a moment, blood rising into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/scrub-oak-trees-kieran-was-leaning-against-him-pinning-him-to-the/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“He can remember that all beauty in animals and plants is a silent, enduring form of love and longing, and he can see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/he-can-remember-that-all-beauty-in-animals-and-plants-is-a-silent/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More by Jerome K. Jerome > [“George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/george-goes-to-sleep-at-a-bank-from-ten-to-four-each-day-except/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“He would use a bit of string this time, and at the critical moment, when the old fool was leaning over the chair at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/he-would-use-a-bit-of-string-this-time-and-at-the-critical-moment/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Some people are under the impression that all that is required to make a good fisherman is the ability to tell lies easily and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/some-people-are-under-the-impression-that-all-that-is-required-to/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-poverty-is-no-crime-no-if-it-were-men/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Love is woman's business,and in "business" we all lay aside our natural weaknesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/love-is-woman-s-business-and-in-business-we-all-lay-aside-our-natural/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after morality and righteousness, my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach, and diet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/we-are-but-the-veriest-sorriest-slaves-of-our-stomach-reach-not-after/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“There was no ground-floor — its ground-floor belonged to a house in the next court, and the front door opened direct upon a flight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/there-was-no-ground-floor-its-ground-floor-belonged-to-a-house-in-the/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“I can understand the ignorant masses loving to soak themselves in drink—oh, yes, it's very shocking that they should, of course—very shocking to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/i-can-understand-the-ignorant-masses-loving-to-soak-themselves-in/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [ They \[dogs\] never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/they-dogs-never-talk-about-themselves-but-listen-to-you-while-you/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“And we sit there, by its margin, while the moon, who loves it too, stoops down to kiss it with a sister’s kiss, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/and-we-sit-there-by-its-margin-while-the-moon-who-loves-it-too-stoops/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“The only feeling that a closer intimacy has created in him for his wife is that of indulgent contempt. As there is no equality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/the-only-feeling-that-a-closer-intimacy-has-created-in-him-for-his/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Evil thought is a dangerous pet. It is safer to play with it from behind the iron bars of circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/evil-thought-is-a-dangerous-pet-it-is-safer-to-play-with-it-from/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [If you are foolish enough to be contented, don't show it, but grumble with the rest; and if you can do with a little,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/if-you-are-foolish-enough-to-be-contented-don-t-show-it-but-grumble/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Life will always remain a gamble, with prizes sometimes for the imprudent, and blanks so often to the wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/life-will-always-remain-a-gamble-with-prizes-sometimes-for-the/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris- no wild yearning for the unattainable. Harris never "weeps, he knows not why."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/you-can-never-rouse-harris-there-is-no-poetry-about-harris-no-wild/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) [Explore all 267 Jerome K. Jerome quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We should have a conversation when we hang up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/we-should-have-a-conversation-when-we-hang-up/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. I've been in a public bathroom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-reddy/i-ve-been-in-a-serious-conversation-with-one-of-my-children-and-a-fan/) [Helen Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-reddy/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [Disability, in general, hasn't been included in the conversation about inclusivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-winston-george/disability-in-general-hasn-t-been-included-in-the-conversation-about/) [Jason Winston George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-winston-george/) > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) [Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But if we look a little deeper we shall find there is a pathetic, one might almost say a tragic, side to the picture. A shy man means a lonely man—a man cut off from all companionship, all sociability. He moves about the world, but does not mix with it. Between him and his fellow-men there runs ever an impassable barrier—a strong, invisible wall that, trying in vain to scale, he but bruises himself against. He sees the pleasant faces and hears the pleasant voices on the other side, but he cannot stretch his hand across to grasp another hand. He stands watching the merry groups, and he longs to speak and to claim kindred with them. But they pass him by, chatting gayly to one another, and he cannot stay them. He tries to reach them, but his prison walls move with him and hem him in on every side. In the busy street, in the crowded room, in the grind of work, in the whirl of pleasure, amid the many or amid the few—wherever men congregate together, wherever the music of human speech is heard and human thought is flashed from human eyes, there, shunned and solitary, the shy man, like a leper, stands apart. His soul is full of love and longing, but the world knows it not. The iron mask of shyness is riveted before his face, and the man beneath is never seen. Genial words and hearty greetings are ever rising to his lips, but they die away in unheard whispers behind the steel clamps. His heart aches for the weary brother, but his sympathy is dumb. Contempt and indignation against wrong choke up his throat, and finding no safety-valve whence in passionate utterance they may burst forth, they only turn in again and harm him. All the hate and scorn and love of a deep nature such as the shy man is ever cursed by fester and corrupt within, instead of spending themselves abroad, and sour him into a misanthrope and cynic.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jerome K. Jerome" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall-find-there-is-a-pathetic-one/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Communication" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall-find-there-is-a-pathetic-one/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/jerome-k-jerome-1155_communication_but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall_2392138.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But if we look a little deeper we shall find there is a pathetic, one might almost say a tragic, side to the…” — Jerome K. Jerome", "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": "Jerome K. Jerome", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But if we look a little...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall-find-there-is-a-pathetic-one/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/but-if-we-look-a-little-deeper-we-shall-find-there-is-a-pathetic-one/#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 } } ] } ```