--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything outside was elegant and savage…" description: "\"Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy. Everything inside was slow and cool and vacant. It seemed a shame to stay inside.\" — John Cheever" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg" --- # Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy… ![“Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy. Everything inside was slow and cool and vacant. It seemed a shame to stay inside.” quote by John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg) > “Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy. Everything inside was slow and cool and vacant. It seemed a shame to stay inside.” [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. External world feels vivid and alive, while inner world feels stagnant, creating a desire to escape confinement. **In simple terms:** Outside is lively; inside feels empty. Key Takeaway Seek balance between external excitement and internal peace. Themes conflict inner vs outer escape Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - creative work - social gatherings - personal introspection - travel planning Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to the outside world? - How can you enrich your inner life? A Different Perspective External allure may distract from necessary inner work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Savages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savages/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) ## Related quotes > [“I am desperate to get him inside me, but he's slow now. "I might not be able to make many guarantees in this world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-huss/i-am-desperate-to-get-him-inside-me-but-he-s-slow-now-i-might-not-be/) [J.A. Huss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-huss/) > [“Heatherlegh is the dearest doctor that ever was, and his invariable prescription to all his patients is, "lie low, go slow, and keep cool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/heatherlegh-is-the-dearest-doctor-that-ever-was-and-his-invariable/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband, who loved her more than he knew, was sometimes reminded by her lean face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-even-her-husband-who-loved-her/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [As a kid, I played my share of football in the street or in a vacant lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-sanders/as-a-kid-i-played-my-share-of-football-in-the-street-or-in-a-vacant/) [Barry Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-sanders/) > [I don't think baseball can abandon the Miami market. If MLB does let that market go vacant, I think it'll be one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zimbalist/i-don-t-think-baseball-can-abandon-the-miami-market-if-mlb-does-let/) [Andrew Zimbalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zimbalist/) > [I never hear parents exclaim impatiently, "Children, you must no make so much noise," that I do not think how soon the time may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/i-never-hear-parents-exclaim-impatiently-children-you-must-no-make-so/) [Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/) > [The sun to me is dark And silent as the moon, When she deserts the night Hid in her vacant interlunar cave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-sun-to-me-is-dark-and-silent-as-the-moon-when-she-deserts-the/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Wait! You don't have a man girl? Do you have an application form? I will love to fill that vacant position for you girl !!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/wait-you-don-t-have-a-man-girl-do-you-have-an-application-form-i-will/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [You can't legitimately kick on income tax, for it's on what you have made. You have already made it. But, look at land, farms,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/you-can-t-legitimately-kick-on-income-tax-for-it-s-on-what-you-have/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [“When the sense of «not belonging» is tolling the bell for true happiness, it infuses people into accepting life as a failure, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/when-the-sense-of-not-belonging-is-tolling-the-bell-for-true/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [There is nothing more distressing ... than the hard, scoffing spirit which treats the allegation of dishonesty in a public man as a cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-nothing-more-distressing-than-the-hard-scoffing-spirit-which/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Did you know...that when you walk past a flower, whether it be in somebody's garden or on a vacant hillside, the flower will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-atchison/did-you-know-that-when-you-walk-past-a-flower-whether-it-be-in/) [Ron Atchison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-atchison/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [Every time I bestow a vacant office I make a hundred discontented persons and one ingrate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-xiv/every-time-i-bestow-a-vacant-office-i-make-a-hundred-discontented/) [Louis XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-xiv/) ## More by John Cheever > [Only the opium eater truly understands the pain of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/only-the-opium-eater-truly-understands-the-pain-of-death/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [The poet or storyteller who feels that he is competing with a superb double play in the World Series is a lost man. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/the-poet-or-storyteller-who-feels-that-he-is-competing-with-a-superb/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“She perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how cruel and frail it was, like a worn piece of burlap, patched with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/she-perceived-vaguely-the-pitiful-corruption-of-the-adult-world-how/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [For lovers, touch is metamorphosis. All the parts of their bodies seem to change, and they seem to become something different and better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/for-lovers-touch-is-metamorphosis-all-the-parts-of-their-bodies-seem/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“I dream that someone in space says to me: So let us rush, then, to see the world. It is shaped like an egg,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-dream-that-someone-in-space-says-to-me-so-let-us-rush-then-to-see/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [I don't like to see all my energies, all of my youth, wasted in fur coats and radios and slipcovers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-don-t-like-to-see-all-my-energies-all-of-my-youth-wasted-in-fur/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Literature has been the salvation of the damned, literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed despair and can perhaps in this case save the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/literature-has-been-the-salvation-of-the-damned-literature-has/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [At my back I hear the word-"homosexual"-and it seems to split my world in two… It is ignorance, our ignorance of one another, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/at-my-back-i-hear-the-word-homosexual-and-it-seems-to-split-my-world/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [One would never have guessed that the world had such a capacity for genuine grief. The most we can do is exploit our memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/one-would-never-have-guessed-that-the-world-had-such-a-capacity-for/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“His stepmother -wearing a nightgown for comfort and a flowered hat for looks- had spent her days sitting in their parlor window in Baltimore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/his-stepmother-wearing-a-nightgown-for-comfort-and-a-flowered-hat-for/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house. Courage tastes of blood. Stand up straight. Admire the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/fear-tastes-like-a-rusty-knife-and-do-not-let-her-into-your-house/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [I dream that my face appears on a postage stamp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-dream-that-my-face-appears-on-a-postage-stamp/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/wisdom-is-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-not-the-strength-to-choose/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“There was some faint coughing, a moan, and then a man spoke. "Are you all right, darling?" he asked. "Yes," a woman said wearily.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/there-was-some-faint-coughing-a-moan-and-then-a-man-spoke-are-you-all/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“It was one of those midsummer Sundays when everyone sits around saying, "I drank too much last night." You might have heard it whispered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/it-was-one-of-those-midsummer-sundays-when-everyone-sits-around/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) [Explore all 132 John Cheever quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) ## More Savages quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/when-the-savages-of-louisiana-wish-to-have-fruit-they-cut-the-tree-at/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers, they were his enforcers, they were his thugs. And Hitler discovered that he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fischer/hitler-recruited-around-him-homosexuals-to-make-up-his-stormtroopers/) [Bryan Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fischer/) > [When forced to survive in an apocalyptic world, there are some characters that embrace their higher selves with some emerging as natural born leaders,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/when-forced-to-survive-in-an-apocalyptic-world-there-are-some/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I did not join the resistance movement to kill people, to kill the nation. Look at me now. Am I a savage person? My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pol-pot/i-did-not-join-the-resistance-movement-to-kill-people-to-kill-the/) [Pol Pot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pol-pot/) > [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [In certain savage tribes in New Guinea, they put the old people up in the trees and shake them once a year in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-certain-savage-tribes-in-new-guinea-they-put-the-old-people-up-in/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [Then he raised her enough to whisper in her ear, and while his voice was tender, his words were savage. "You're my woman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/then-he-raised-her-enough-to-whisper-in-her-ear-and-while-his-voice/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [The effect of the discovery of printing was evident in the savage religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Application of power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-innis/the-effect-of-the-discovery-of-printing-was-evident-in-the-savage/) [Harold Innis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-innis/) > [I think a domestic situation can change you and your attitudes. I suppose if you did get a bit content, then you might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mccartney/i-think-a-domestic-situation-can-change-you-and-your-attitudes-i/) [Paul McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mccartney/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/savage-peoples-are-ruled-by-passion-civilized-peoples-by-the-mind/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [His mane was like a crest, mounting, then falling low. His neck was long and slender, and arched to the small, savagely beautiful head.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-farley/his-mane-was-like-a-crest-mounting-then-falling-low-his-neck-was-long/) [Walter Farley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-farley/) [Browse all 687 Savages quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savages/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy. Everything inside was slow and cool and vacant. It seemed a shame to stay inside.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cheever" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savage-and-fleshy-everything/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Savages" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savage-and-fleshy-everything/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/john-cheever-3301_savages_everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savag_416931.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy. Everything inside was slow and cool and vacant. It…” — John Cheever", "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": "John Cheever", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything outside was elegant and savage...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savage-and-fleshy-everything/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savage-and-fleshy-everything/#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 } } ] } ```