--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mother went out again tonight, looking…" description: "\"Mother went out again tonight, looking like a courtesan.\" — John Kennedy Toole" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png" --- # Mother went out again tonight, looking like a courtesan. ![“Mother went out again tonight, looking like a courtesan.” quote by John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png) > “Mother went out again tonight, looking like a courtesan.” [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes a woman’s provocative appearance, hinting at social judgment and allure. **In simple terms:** She looks provocatively. Key Takeaway Notice how appearance influences perception. Themes appearance social judgment provocative Mood reflective critical Type literary observational When to use this quote - nightlife - social interactions - fashion choices - first impressions Key Concepts modernism social critique Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do we make about others? - How does attire affect treatment? A Different Perspective Judgment can be superficial and unfair. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Courtesan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesan/) [Courtesans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesans/) [Like Courtesan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-courtesan-255538/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother Went](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-went-687547/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Tonight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tonight/) [Went Tonight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/went-tonight-3455547/) ## Related quotes > [Public opinion is a courtesan, whom we seek to please without respecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-antoine-petit-senn/public-opinion-is-a-courtesan-whom-we-seek-to-please-without/) [Jean Antoine Petit-Senn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-antoine-petit-senn/) > [If I had to fall from Cassiel's grace, at least I know it took a courtesan worthy of Kings to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/if-i-had-to-fall-from-cassiel-s-grace-at-least-i-know-it-took-a/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [You have a curious way of arousing one's imagination, stimulating all one's nerves, and making one's pulses beat faster. You put an aureole on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/you-have-a-curious-way-of-arousing-one-s-imagination-stimulating-all/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) > [Glory is sometimes a low courtesan who on the road entices many who did not think of her. They are astonished to obtain favors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-14th-prince-of-ligne/glory-is-sometimes-a-low-courtesan-who-on-the-road-entices-many-who/) [Michel, 14th Prince of Ligne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-14th-prince-of-ligne/) > [I'll live as a courtesan, not as a woman. I'll embrace any man that comes my way. It's not hard giving your body and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hwang-jini/i-ll-live-as-a-courtesan-not-as-a-woman-i-ll-embrace-any-man-that/) [Hwang Jini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hwang-jini/) > [She had the underwear of a thirteen-year-old, as well, he thought. He glanced back at her. But the shoes of a courtesan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stuart/she-had-the-underwear-of-a-thirteen-year-old-as-well-he-thought-he/) [Anne Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stuart/) > [Death is as unexpected in his caprice as a courtesan in her disdain; but death is truer – Death has never forsaken any man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/death-is-as-unexpected-in-his-caprice-as-a-courtesan-in-her-disdain/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [How is it that one woman is…enough…for three men?” “I don’t know.” “She must be a very talented courtesan.” “Callie.” “Well, that was what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/how-is-it-that-one-woman-is-enough-for-three-men-i-don-t-know-she/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [It is something, I thought, when a king can put a courtesan to the blush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/it-is-something-i-thought-when-a-king-can-put-a-courtesan-to-the-blush/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) > [“Finding out that you are not your lover’s only lover hurts, but not as much as discovering that you are the side chick ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/finding-out-that-you-are-not-your-lover-s-only-lover-hurts-but-not-as/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“And so, like a courtesan, forced to perform the dance of the seven veils, I grudgingly reveal the names, one by one, of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/and-so-like-a-courtesan-forced-to-perform-the-dance-of-the-seven/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“I have never deceived anyone, for I have never belonged to anyone. My independence was all my wealth: I have known no other happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-pearl/i-have-never-deceived-anyone-for-i-have-never-belonged-to-anyone-my/) [Cora Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-pearl/) > [“The word for her in Paris, a courtesan who had made it to the stage, was grue—it happened so often there was a word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chee/the-word-for-her-in-paris-a-courtesan-who-had-made-it-to-the-stage/) [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) > [“I watched her, a tall girl with long hair so black that under the stage lighting it coruscated like moonlit liquid. It cascaded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/i-watched-her-a-tall-girl-with-long-hair-so-black-that-under-the/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [“The dresses are indecent," she said stiffly, the rich silk flowing against her body like water. "But pretty." She shot him another fulminating glance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-campbell/the-dresses-are-indecent-she-said-stiffly-the-rich-silk-flowing/) [Anna Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-campbell/) ## More by John Kennedy Toole > [“Myrna was not astigmatic; the lenses were clear glass; she wore the glasses to prove her dedication and intensity of purpose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/myrna-was-not-astigmatic-the-lenses-were-clear-glass-she-wore-the/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“She ran into the bathroom and powdered her face and the front of her dress, drew a surrealistic version of a mouth beneath her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/she-ran-into-the-bathroom-and-powdered-her-face-and-the-front-of-her/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“Is it the part of the police department to harass me when this city is a flagrant vice capital of the civilized world?" Ignatius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/is-it-the-part-of-the-police-department-to-harass-me-when-this-city/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [employers sense in me a denial of their values...they fear me. i suspect that they can see that i am forced to function in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/employers-sense-in-me-a-denial-of-their-values-they-fear-me-i-suspect/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“Do I believe the total perversion that I am witnessing?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/do-i-believe-the-total-perversion-that-i-am-witnessing/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [Between notes, he had contemplated means of destroying Myrna Minkoff but had reached no satisfactory conclusion. His most promising scheme had involved getting a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/between-notes-he-had-contemplated-means-of-destroying-myrna-minkoff/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“I suspect that beneath your offensively and vulgarly effeminate façade there may be a soul of sorts. Have you read widely in Boethius?" "Who?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-suspect-that-beneath-your-offensively-and-vulgarly-effeminate-fa/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-am-at-the-moment-writing-a-lengthy-indictment-against-our-century/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“In my private apocalypse he will be impaled upon his own nightstick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/in-my-private-apocalypse-he-will-be-impaled-upon-his-own-nightstick/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [Psycho? The woman's senile. We had to stop at about thirty gas stations on the way over here. Finally I got tired of getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/psycho-the-woman-s-senile-we-had-to-stop-at-about-thirty-gas-stations/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-mingle-with-my-peers-or-no-one-and-since-i-have-no-peers-i-mingle/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“Hey! All you peoples draggin along here. Stop and come stick your ass on a Night of Joy stool," he started again. "Night of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/hey-all-you-peoples-draggin-along-here-stop-and-come-stick-your-ass/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/schiller-needed-the-scent-of-apples-rotting-in-his-desk-in-order-to/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“Every difficult work presents us with a choice of whether to judge the author inept for not being clear, or ourselves stupid for not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/every-difficult-work-presents-us-with-a-choice-of-whether-to-judge/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [“Had you ‘artists’ had a part in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel, it would have ended up looking like a particularly vulgar train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/had-you-artists-had-a-part-in-the-decoration-of-the-sistine-chapel-it/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) [Explore all 102 John Kennedy Toole quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) ## More Courtesan quotes > [“The dresses are indecent," she said stiffly, the rich silk flowing against her body like water. "But pretty." She shot him another fulminating glance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-campbell/the-dresses-are-indecent-she-said-stiffly-the-rich-silk-flowing/) [Anna Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-campbell/) > [“Finding out that you are not your lover’s only lover hurts, but not as much as discovering that you are the side chick ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/finding-out-that-you-are-not-your-lover-s-only-lover-hurts-but-not-as/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [It is something, I thought, when a king can put a courtesan to the blush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/it-is-something-i-thought-when-a-king-can-put-a-courtesan-to-the-blush/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) > [“I watched her, a tall girl with long hair so black that under the stage lighting it coruscated like moonlit liquid. It cascaded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/i-watched-her-a-tall-girl-with-long-hair-so-black-that-under-the/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [“The word for her in Paris, a courtesan who had made it to the stage, was grue—it happened so often there was a word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chee/the-word-for-her-in-paris-a-courtesan-who-had-made-it-to-the-stage/) [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) > [“I have never deceived anyone, for I have never belonged to anyone. My independence was all my wealth: I have known no other happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-pearl/i-have-never-deceived-anyone-for-i-have-never-belonged-to-anyone-my/) [Cora Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-pearl/) > [How is it that one woman is…enough…for three men?” “I don’t know.” “She must be a very talented courtesan.” “Callie.” “Well, that was what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/how-is-it-that-one-woman-is-enough-for-three-men-i-don-t-know-she/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [Death is as unexpected in his caprice as a courtesan in her disdain; but death is truer – Death has never forsaken any man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/death-is-as-unexpected-in-his-caprice-as-a-courtesan-in-her-disdain/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“Wonderful what Hollywood will do to a nobody. It will make a radiant glamour queen out of a drab little wench who ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/wonderful-what-hollywood-will-do-to-a-nobody-it-will-make-a-radiant/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“Here’s her story, a tale of the bear-keeper’s daughter and the Empire: what happened to her and what happened because of her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-strickland/here-s-her-story-a-tale-of-the-bear-keeper-s-daughter-and-the-empire/) [Carol Strickland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-strickland/) > [She had the underwear of a thirteen-year-old, as well, he thought. He glanced back at her. But the shoes of a courtesan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stuart/she-had-the-underwear-of-a-thirteen-year-old-as-well-he-thought-he/) [Anne Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stuart/) > [I'll live as a courtesan, not as a woman. I'll embrace any man that comes my way. It's not hard giving your body and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hwang-jini/i-ll-live-as-a-courtesan-not-as-a-woman-i-ll-embrace-any-man-that/) [Hwang Jini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hwang-jini/) > [Glory is sometimes a low courtesan who on the road entices many who did not think of her. They are astonished to obtain favors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-14th-prince-of-ligne/glory-is-sometimes-a-low-courtesan-who-on-the-road-entices-many-who/) [Michel, 14th Prince of Ligne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-14th-prince-of-ligne/) > [“Let those who love me follow me'Cora Pearl, on being the very first person to dye her hair red in 1864”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-pearl-courtesan-of-the-demi-monde/let-those-who-love-me-follow-me-cora-pearl-on-being-the-very-first/) [Cora Pearl courtesan of the demi-monde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-pearl-courtesan-of-the-demi-monde/) > [You have a curious way of arousing one's imagination, stimulating all one's nerves, and making one's pulses beat faster. You put an aureole on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/you-have-a-curious-way-of-arousing-one-s-imagination-stimulating-all/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) [Browse all 23 Courtesan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mother went out again tonight, looking like a courtesan.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Kennedy Toole" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-like-a-courtesan/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Courtesan" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-like-a-courtesan/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/161/john-kennedy-toole-4650_courtesan_mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-li_1179799.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mother went out again tonight, looking like a courtesan.” — John Kennedy Toole", "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 Kennedy Toole", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mother went out again tonight, looking...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-like-a-courtesan/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/mother-went-out-again-tonight-looking-like-a-courtesan/#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 } } ] } ```