--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I should have been producing obscure…" description: "\"“When I should have been producing obscure volumes of verse entitled the Triumph of Humpty Dumpty or the Nose with the Luminous Dong! Or at best, like ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54e/malcolm-lowry-8442_every-man_when-i-should-have-been-producing-obscur_264007.png" --- # When I should have been producing obscure volumes of verse… ![“When I should have been producing obscure volumes of verse entitled the Triumph of Humpty Dumpty or the Nose with the Luminous Dong! Or at best, like Clare, "weaving fearful vision" ... A frustrated poet in every man. Though it is perhaps a good idea under the circumstances to pretend at least to…” quote by Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54e/malcolm-lowry-8442_every-man_when-i-should-have-been-producing-obscur_264007.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54e/malcolm-lowry-8442_every-man_when-i-should-have-been-producing-obscur_264007.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54e/malcolm-lowry-8442_every-man_when-i-should-have-been-producing-obscur_264007.png) > ““When I should have been producing obscure volumes of verse entitled the Triumph of Humpty Dumpty or the Nose with the Luminous Dong! Or at best, like Clare, "weaving fearful vision" ... A frustrated poet in every man. Though it is perhaps a good idea under the circumstances to pretend at least to be proceeding with one's great work on "Secret Knowledge," then one can always say when it never comes out that the title explains the deficiency.”” [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments his unfulfilled artistic ambitions, using exaggerated titles to mock his own procrastination and the pressure to produce profound work. **In simple terms:** He jokes about not delivering great poetry and hides behind pretenses. Key Takeaway Acknowledge real progress over imagined grandeur. Themes creativity procrastination self‑critique Mood reflective self‑critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing practice - goal setting - creative blocks Key Concepts artistic ambition self‑deception literary pressure Questions to Reflect On - What project have you delayed by over‑thinking? - How can you balance ambition with realistic steps? A Different Perspective Excessive self‑mockery can hinder genuine effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Every man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-man/) [Frustrated Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frustrated-poet-2596154/) [Humpty dumpty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humpty-dumpty/) [Obscure Volumes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscure-volumes-2596156/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Verse Entitled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verse-entitled-2596155/) [Volumes Verse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volumes-verse-2596157/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. 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You get that alternative and you'll never put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/you-know-the-cure-for-all-this-talk-is-really-a-good-dose-of-2/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [I've never worked out what the moral of Humpty Dumpty is. I can only think of: Don't sit on a wall, if you're an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/i-ve-never-worked-out-what-the-moral-of-humpty-dumpty-is-i-can-only/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [You have a diasporic black world, and the only way to put it back together again is symbolic. It's like Humpty Dumpty. Whoever could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/you-have-a-diasporic-black-world-and-the-only-way-to-put-it-back/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five what remains?" "Three hundred and sixty-four, of course." 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Sincerely, The Heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zariahh-renee/dear-humpty-dumpty-you-are-not-the-only-one-who-falls-and-breaks-into/) [Zariahh Renee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zariahh-renee/) > [We are like Humpty Dumpty and all these king's horses and all these king's men cannot put us back together again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/we-are-like-humpty-dumpty-and-all-these-king-s-horses-and-all-these/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [That's where Humpty Dumpty went lolz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-hartman/that-s-where-humpty-dumpty-went-lolz/) [Celeste Hartman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-hartman/) > ['When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/when-i-use-a-word-humpty-dumpty-said-in-rather-a-scornful-tone-it/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [My work life makes much less sense now than 20 years ago. It's Humpty-Dumpty-like in a way; I can't put the pieces back together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-smith/my-work-life-makes-much-less-sense-now-than-20-years-ago-it-s-humpty/) [Kiki Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-smith/) ## More by Malcolm Lowry > [“Night: and once again, the nightly grapple with death, the room shaking with daemonic orchestras, the snatches of fearful sleep, the voices outside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/night-and-once-again-the-nightly-grapple-with-death-the-room-shaking/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [War is being declared to-morrow here so perhaps you can understand that I have been working under difficulties, but difficulties negligible compared with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/war-is-being-declared-to-morrow-here-so-perhaps-you-can-understand/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“He was safe here; this was the place he loved - sanctuary, the paradise of his despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/he-was-safe-here-this-was-the-place-he-loved-sanctuary-the-paradise/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [What I have absolutely no sympathy with is the legislator, the man who seeks, for his own profit, to exploit the weaknesses of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/what-i-have-absolutely-no-sympathy-with-is-the-legislator-the-man-who/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“The will of man is unconquerable. 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But whenever you are in need of a shadow, my shadow is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/adi-s-she-added-in-spanish-i-have-no-house-only-a-shadow-but-whenever/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“They were the cars at the fair that were whirling around her; no, they were the planets, while the sun stood, burning and spinning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/they-were-the-cars-at-the-fair-that-were-whirling-around-her-no-they/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“My lover. Oh come to me again as once in May.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/my-lover-oh-come-to-me-again-as-once-in-may/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“I have no house only a shadow. But whenever you are in need of a shadow, my shadow is yours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/i-have-no-house-only-a-shadow-but-whenever-you-are-in-need-of-a/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“Indeed, on the face of it, this man of abnormal strength and constitution and obscure ambition, whom Hugh would never know, could never deliver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/indeed-on-the-face-of-it-this-man-of-abnormal-strength-and/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“Under the Volcano” embraces everything from Dante to Freud to the cabala. Here it shambles like Cervantes, there it rages like Ahab, and every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/under-the-volcano-embraces-everything-from-dante-to-freud-to-the/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [War is being declared tomorrow here so perhaps you can understand that I have been working under difficulties, but difficulties negligible compared with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/war-is-being-declared-tomorrow-here-so-perhaps-you-can-understand/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“Can't you see there's a determinism about the fate of nations? They all seem to get what they deserve in the long run.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/can-t-you-see-there-s-a-determinism-about-the-fate-of-nations-they/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) [Explore all 78 Malcolm Lowry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) ## More Every man quotes > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. 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This \[presidential\] election is about every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/vote-for-donald-trump-you-re-going-to-see-something-and-you-ll-be-so/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“The old intergenerational give-and-take of the country-that-used-to-be, when everyone knew his role and took the rules dead seriously, the acculturating back-and-forth that all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-old-intergenerational-give-and-take-of-the-country-that-used-to/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. 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