--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can understand the ignorant masses…" description: "\"“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 wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/019/jerome-k-jerome-1155_cozy-home_i-can-understand-the-ignorant-masses-lov_72210.jpg" --- # I can understand the ignorant masses loving to soak… ![“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 who live in cozy homes, with all the graces and pleasures of life around us, that the dwellers in damp cellars and windy attics should creep from…” quote by Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/019/jerome-k-jerome-1155_cozy-home_i-can-understand-the-ignorant-masses-lov_72210.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/019/jerome-k-jerome-1155_cozy-home_i-can-understand-the-ignorant-masses-lov_72210.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/019/jerome-k-jerome-1155_cozy-home_i-can-understand-the-ignorant-masses-lov_72210.jpg) > ““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 who live in cozy homes, with all the graces and pleasures of life around us, that the dwellers in damp cellars and windy attics should creep from their dens of misery into the warmth and glare of the public-house bar, and seek to float for a brief space away from their dull world upon a Lethe stream of gin. But think, before you hold up your hands in horror at their ill-living, what "life" for these wretched creatures really means. Picture the squalid misery of their brutish existence, dragged on from year to year in the narrow, noisome room where, huddled like vermin in sewers, they welter, and sicken, and sleep; where dirt-grimed children scream and fight and sluttish, shrill-voiced women cuff, and curse, and nag; where the street outside teems with roaring filth and the house around is a bedlam of riot and stench. Think what a sapless stick this fair flower of life must be to them, devoid of mind and soul. The horse in his stall scents the sweet hay and munches the ripe corn contentedly. The watch-dog in his kennel blinks at the grateful sun, dreams of a glorious chase over the dewy fields, and wakes with a yelp of gladness to greet a caressing hand. But the clod-like life of these human logs never knows one ray of light. From the hour when they crawl from their comfortless bed to the hour when they lounge back into it again they never live one moment of real life. Recreation, amusement, companionship, they know not the meaning of. Joy, sorrow, laughter, tears, love, friendship, longing, despair, are idle words to them. From the day when their baby eyes first look out upon their sordid world to the day when, with an oath, they close them forever and their bones are shoveled out of sight, they never warm to one touch of human sympathy, never thrill to a single thought, never start to a single hope. In the name of the God of mercy; let them pour the maddening liquor down their throats and feel for one brief moment that they live!”” [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. The passage condemns the empty, joyless existence of the destitute, portraying their lives as devoid of genuine feeling, hope, or human connection, reduced to mere survival in squalor. **In simple terms:** It critiques the hollow lives of the poor. Key Takeaway Poverty can strip away the essence of living. Themes poverty existentialism social critique human suffering alienation Mood melancholy cynical sorrowful Type philosophical social commentary literary When to use this quote - observing the destitute in a tavern - reflecting on urban slums - considering the impact of poverty on children - examining societal indifference - contemplating the contrast between wealth and destitution Key Concepts class disparity meaninglessness human dignity social neglect Practical Applications - social policy analysis - literary critique Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to truly live? - How does society's neglect shape identity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cozy home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cozy-home/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mind and soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-and-soul/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Pleasures of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures-of-life/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) ## Related quotes > [“You should ask more questions; it is good for the mind and soul. Questions are doors in the castle of knowledge. Treasure lies behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-alistar/you-should-ask-more-questions-it-is-good-for-the-mind-and-soul/) [Luke Alistar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-alistar/) > [Life is a wretched gray Saturday, but it has to be lived through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/life-is-a-wretched-gray-saturday-but-it-has-to-be-lived-through/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“My life seemed so wretched, the future so hopeless, the past so black!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/my-life-seemed-so-wretched-the-future-so-hopeless-the-past-so-black/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Is life so wretched? Isn't it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddled? You are the one who must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/is-life-so-wretched-isn-t-it-rather-your-hands-which-are-too-small/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [An income means life to wretched mortals, but it is a terrible fate to die among the waves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesiod/an-income-means-life-to-wretched-mortals-but-it-is-a-terrible-fate-to/) [Hesiod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesiod/) > [Money is life to us wretched mortals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesiod/money-is-life-to-us-wretched-mortals/) [Hesiod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesiod/) > [“I considered; my life was so wretched it must be changed, or I must die. After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-considered-my-life-was-so-wretched-it-must-be-changed-or-i-must-die/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both...Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/life-is-glorious-but-life-is-also-wretched-it-is-both-life-is/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The greatest investment and greatest fair deal and enterprise is family, cozy homes. A cozy home is based on cozy people. Cozy people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-greatest-investment-and-greatest-fair-deal-and-enterprise-is/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [I like to go out, but sometimes it's nice to stay cozy at home, watching movies or TV, especially early in the week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-ronson/i-like-to-go-out-but-sometimes-it-s-nice-to-stay-cozy-at-home/) [Charlotte Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-ronson/) > [Whenever you remember me, now or hereafter, one word you must remember: God only lives in cozy homes. Man without a cozy home is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/whenever-you-remember-me-now-or-hereafter-one-word-you-must-remember/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“sharing my cozy home with the mice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-oke/sharing-my-cozy-home-with-the-mice/) [Janette Oke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-oke/) > [God lives in cozy homes. Happiness, which a cozy home can give you, is so divine on this Earth, you don't need anything more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/god-lives-in-cozy-homes-happiness-which-a-cozy-home-can-give-you-is/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [What is a cozy home? Where you enter and you feel the radiance of your divine self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/what-is-a-cozy-home-where-you-enter-and-you-feel-the-radiance-of-your/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-can-never-go-home-again-but-the-truth-is-you-can-never-leave-home/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## 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/) > [ 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/) > [“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-2/) [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 Cozy home quotes > [What is a cozy home? Where you enter and you feel the radiance of your divine self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/what-is-a-cozy-home-where-you-enter-and-you-feel-the-radiance-of-your/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [God lives in cozy homes. Happiness, which a cozy home can give you, is so divine on this Earth, you don't need anything more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/god-lives-in-cozy-homes-happiness-which-a-cozy-home-can-give-you-is/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“sharing my cozy home with the mice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-oke/sharing-my-cozy-home-with-the-mice/) [Janette Oke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-oke/) > [The greatest investment and greatest fair deal and enterprise is family, cozy homes. A cozy home is based on cozy people. Cozy people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-greatest-investment-and-greatest-fair-deal-and-enterprise-is/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-can-never-go-home-again-but-the-truth-is-you-can-never-leave-home/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I like to go out, but sometimes it's nice to stay cozy at home, watching movies or TV, especially early in the week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-ronson/i-like-to-go-out-but-sometimes-it-s-nice-to-stay-cozy-at-home/) [Charlotte Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-ronson/) > [Whenever you remember me, now or hereafter, one word you must remember: God only lives in cozy homes. Man without a cozy home is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/whenever-you-remember-me-now-or-hereafter-one-word-you-must-remember/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [I discovered that what most people call creepy, scary, and spooky, I call comfy, cozy, and home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zak-bagans/i-discovered-that-what-most-people-call-creepy-scary-and-spooky-i/) [Zak Bagans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zak-bagans/) > [It is not possible to live in today's society without a cozy home. What is a cozy home? A cozy home is a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/it-is-not-possible-to-live-in-today-s-society-without-a-cozy-home/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [A cozy home is not just a sixty-five thousand dollar house bought from Bank of America. A cozy home is a total consciousness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/a-cozy-home-is-not-just-a-sixty-five-thousand-dollar-house-bought/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [Today in the west we are asking the question, why is man unhappy? Answer is very simple. We have created a very fast society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/today-in-the-west-we-are-asking-the-question-why-is-man-unhappy/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [If you can do any favor for yourself, if you want to understand yourself, if you really want to build anything for yourself, try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/if-you-can-do-any-favor-for-yourself-if-you-want-to-understand/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) [Browse all 13 Cozy home quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cozy-home/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“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 who live in cozy homes, with all the graces and pleasures of life around us, that the dwellers in damp cellars and windy attics should creep from their dens of misery into the warmth and glare of the public-house bar, and seek to float for a brief space away from their dull world upon a Lethe stream of gin. But think, before you hold up your hands in horror at their ill-living, what \"life\" for these wretched creatures really means. Picture the squalid misery of their brutish existence, dragged on from year to year in the narrow, noisome room where, huddled like vermin in sewers, they welter, and sicken, and sleep; where dirt-grimed children scream and fight and sluttish, shrill-voiced women cuff, and curse, and nag; where the street outside teems with roaring filth and the house around is a bedlam of riot and stench. Think what a sapless stick this fair flower of life must be to them, devoid of mind and soul. The horse in his stall scents the sweet hay and munches the ripe corn contentedly. The watch-dog in his kennel blinks at the grateful sun, dreams of a glorious chase over the dewy fields, and wakes with a yelp of gladness to greet a caressing hand. But the clod-like life of these human logs never knows one ray of light. From the hour when they crawl from their comfortless bed to the hour when they lounge back into it again they never live one moment of real life. Recreation, amusement, companionship, they know not the meaning of. Joy, sorrow, laughter, tears, love, friendship, longing, despair, are idle words to them. From the day when their baby eyes first look out upon their sordid world to the day when, with an oath, they close them forever and their bones are shoveled out of sight, they never warm to one touch of human sympathy, never thrill to a single thought, never start to a single hope. In the name of the God of mercy; let them pour the maddening liquor down their throats and feel for one brief moment that they live!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jerome K. 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