--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He is useless on top of the ground; he…" description: "\"He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png" --- # He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under… ![“He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png) > “He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He is ineffective when above ground; he belongs below, nurturing growth like cabbages. **In simple terms:** Useless above, useful below. Key Takeaway Find your proper place to thrive. Themes purpose humility growth Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - gardening - teamwork - leadership - personal development Key Concepts social hierarchy self‑realization Questions to Reflect On - Where can you serve best? - What role suits your strengths? A Different Perspective Being above ground may still limit impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cabbages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabbages/) [Sarcastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sarcastic/) ## Related quotes > [“Pray for miracles, but plant cabbages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/pray-for-miracles-but-plant-cabbages/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [Elves and Dragons! Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you. Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/elves-and-dragons-cabbages-and-potatoes-are-better-for-me-and-you-don/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [In the night the cabbages catch at the moon, the leaves drip silver, the rows of cabbages are a series of little silver waterfalls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/in-the-night-the-cabbages-catch-at-the-moon-the-leaves-drip-silver/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [Oh thrice and four times happy... those who plant cabbages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/oh-thrice-and-four-times-happy-those-who-plant-cabbages/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Once our storyline gets under way, I just hope people don't throw cabbages at me in the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfre-woodard/once-our-storyline-gets-under-way-i-just-hope-people-don-t-throw/) [Alfre Woodard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfre-woodard/) > [I want death to find me planting my cabbages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-want-death-to-find-me-planting-my-cabbages/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [But always, to her, red and green cabbages were to be jade and burgundy, chrysoprase and prophyry. Life has no weapons against a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/but-always-to-her-red-and-green-cabbages-were-to-be-jade-and-burgundy/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [Cabbages, whose heads, tightly folded see and hear nothing of this world, dreaming only on the yellow and green magnificence that is hardening within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-haines/cabbages-whose-heads-tightly-folded-see-and-hear-nothing-of-this/) [John Haines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-haines/) > [“Being a cabbage has its drawbacks. Members of the cabbage family do not possess legs and can’t run away from predators. Instead, cabbages have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-a-cabbage-has-its-drawbacks-members-of-the-cabbage-family-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Few and signally blessed are those whom Jupiter has destined to be cabbage-planters. For they've always one foot on the ground andthe other not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/few-and-signally-blessed-are-those-whom-jupiter-has-destined-to-be/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [All mothers think their children are oaks, but the world never lacks for cabbages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/all-mothers-think-their-children-are-oaks-but-the-world-never-lacks/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/cauliflower-is-nothing-but-cabbage-with-a-college-education/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but Cabbage with a College Education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/training-is-everything-the-peach-was-once-a-bitter-almond-cauliflower/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run. Training is everything. The peach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/soap-and-education-are-not-as-sudden-as-a-massacre-but-they-are-more/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Hungarian Proverb: A dish of cabbages can be heated when it grows cold, but it will never taste the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mourid-barghouti/hungarian-proverb-a-dish-of-cabbages-can-be-heated-when-it-grows-cold/) [Mourid Barghouti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mourid-barghouti/) ## More by Mark Twain > [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/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Cabbage quotes > [Slugs crawl and crawl over our cabbages, like the world's slander over a good name. You may kill them, it is true; but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-william-jerrold/slugs-crawl-and-crawl-over-our-cabbages-like-the-world-s-slander-over/) [Douglas William Jerrold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-william-jerrold/) > [In the first place, lawyers better remember they are human beings, and a human being who hasn't his periods of doubts and distresses and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/in-the-first-place-lawyers-better-remember-they-are-human-beings-and/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [He who has plenty of pepper will pepper his cabbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/he-who-has-plenty-of-pepper-will-pepper-his-cabbage/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [He tapped my chest. 'Happy is here.' He tapped his own chest. 'Here.' I looked down past my chin. 'Inside?' 'Inside.' It was getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/he-tapped-my-chest-happy-is-here-he-tapped-his-own-chest-here-i/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [I'll show you how the cows eat cabbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ll-show-you-how-the-cows-eat-cabbage/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I don't like him." Looking from Kale to Alex, Ginger said, "I don't like cabbage. Do you see me taking on the produce section…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/i-don-t-like-him-looking-from-kale-to-alex-ginger-said-i-don-t-like/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [I want death to find me planting my cabbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-want-death-to-find-me-planting-my-cabbage/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The cabbage surpasses all other vegetables. If, at a banquet, you wish to dine a lot and enjoy your dinner, then eat as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cato-the-younger/the-cabbage-surpasses-all-other-vegetables-if-at-a-banquet-you-wish/) [Cato the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cato-the-younger/) > [I was put off by people at school - my cabbage wasn't as good as other people's, you know, so that put me off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-mcgough/i-was-put-off-by-people-at-school-my-cabbage-wasn-t-as-good-as-other/) [Roger McGough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-mcgough/) > [I like to get where the cabbage is cooking and catch the scents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-smith/i-like-to-get-where-the-cabbage-is-cooking-and-catch-the-scents/) [Red Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-smith/) > [Some like carrots, others like cabbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/some-like-carrots-others-like-cabbage/) Proverb > [And still I look for the men who will dare to be roses of England wild roses of England men who are wild roses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-still-i-look-for-the-men-who-will-dare-to-be-roses-of-england/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [It is clear that men accept an immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure, but only because they expect a greater pleasure in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/it-is-clear-that-men-accept-an-immediate-pain-rather-than-an/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The wildest dreams of wild men, even, are not the less true, though they may not recommend themselves to the sense which is most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-wildest-dreams-of-wild-men-even-are-not-the-less-true-though-they/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I too acknowledge the all-out omnipotence of early culture and nature; hereby we have either a doddered dwarf-bush, or a high-towering, wide-shadowing tree! either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/i-too-acknowledge-the-all-out-omnipotence-of-early-culture-and-nature/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) Browse all 128 Cabbage quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ought-to-be-under-it-inspiring/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cabbage" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ought-to-be-under-it-inspiring/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00d/mark-twain-22_cabbage_he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ou_411039.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.” — Mark Twain", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He is useless on top of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ought-to-be-under-it-inspiring/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ought-to-be-under-it-inspiring/#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 } } ] } ```