--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be a social success, do not act…" description: "\"To be a social success, do not act pathetic, arrogant, or bored. Do not discuss your unhappy childhood, your visit to the dentist,the shortcomings of y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/mason-cooley-92_arrogant_to-be-a-social-success-do-not-act-pathet_1443816.jpg" --- # To be a social success, do not act pathetic, arrogant, or… ![“To be a social success, do not act pathetic, arrogant, or bored. Do not discuss your unhappy childhood, your visit to the dentist,the shortcomings of your cleaning woman, the state of your bowels, or your spouse's bad habits. You will be thought a paragon (or perhaps a monster) of good behavior.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/mason-cooley-92_arrogant_to-be-a-social-success-do-not-act-pathet_1443816.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/mason-cooley-92_arrogant_to-be-a-social-success-do-not-act-pathet_1443816.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/mason-cooley-92_arrogant_to-be-a-social-success-do-not-act-pathet_1443816.jpg) > “To be a social success, do not act pathetic, arrogant, or bored. Do not discuss your unhappy childhood, your visit to the dentist,the shortcomings of your cleaning woman, the state of your bowels, or your spouse's bad habits. You will be thought a paragon (or perhaps a monster) of good behavior.” [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Social acceptance depends on presenting a composed, respectable image and avoiding overly personal or negative topics that alienate others. **In simple terms:** Behave well and keep private matters private to be liked. Key Takeaway Maintain decorum and limit personal disclosures. Themes social etiquette self‑presentation communication Mood cautious reflective strategic Type advice observational. When to use this quote - networking events - job interviews - family gatherings - online profiles - first dates Key Concepts impression management boundaries cultural norms Questions to Reflect On - What personal topics do you avoid in new relationships? - How can you balance honesty with social grace? A Different Perspective Over‑policing speech can suppress authenticity and hinder genuine connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arrogant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogant/) [Bad habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-habit/) [Bad habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-habits/) [Behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavior/) [Bored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bored/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Etiquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/etiquette/) [Good behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-behavior/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters/) [Paragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paragon/) [Shortcomings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shortcomings/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Unhappy childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-childhood/) ## Related quotes > [“It’s a juvenile display, the whole act, and pathetic; but it’s something I understand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-a-juvenile-display-the-whole-act-and-pathetic-but-it-s-something/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I would like to be a figment of my own imagination, but belly and bowels will not permit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/i-would-like-to-be-a-figment-of-my-own-imagination-but-belly-and/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Social success is growing into a person that other people can depend on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/social-success-is-growing-into-a-person-that-other-people-can-depend/) [Brene Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [A great social success is a pretty girl who plays her cards as carefully as if she were plain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/a-great-social-success-is-a-pretty-girl-who-plays-her-cards-as/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“But, by careful observation from the sidelines, I’d worked out that social success is often built on pretending just a little. Popular people sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/but-by-careful-observation-from-the-sidelines-i-d-worked-out-that/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [In The Tricky Art of Co-Existing, Sandi Toksvig navigates life's little dilemmas with wit and not-so-common sense. You'll learn the strange history of common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/in-the-tricky-art-of-co-existing-sandi-toksvig-navigates-life-s/) [William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/) > [“The pursuit of social success, in the form of prestige or power or both, is the most important obstacle in a competitive society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-pursuit-of-social-success-in-the-form-of-prestige-or-power-or-2/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“The pursuit of social success, in the form of prestige or power or both, is the most important obstacle to happiness in a competitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-pursuit-of-social-success-in-the-form-of-prestige-or-power-or/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Consciously or unconsciously most of us adhere to what is expected of our role because we realize our social success depends on this. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/consciously-or-unconsciously-most-of-us-adhere-to-what-is-expected-of/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“I have always understood that money made in the patent medicine business is a practical bar to social success.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-always-understood-that-money-made-in-the-patent-medicine/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I'd worked out that social success is often built on pretending just a little. Popular people sometimes have to laugh at things they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/i-d-worked-out-that-social-success-is-often-built-on-pretending-just/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [(An unhappy childhood was not) an unsuitable preparation for my future, in that it demanded a constant wariness, the habit of observation, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/an-unhappy-childhood-was-not-an-unsuitable-preparation-for-my-future/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [They say that to be a writer you must first have an unhappy childhood. I don't know if unhappiness is necessary, but I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-rylant/they-say-that-to-be-a-writer-you-must-first-have-an-unhappy-childhood/) [Cynthia Rylant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-rylant/) > [Mice: What is the best early training for a writer? Y.C.: An unhappy childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/mice-what-is-the-best-early-training-for-a-writer-y-c-an-unhappy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/i-am-convinced-that-except-in-a-few-extraordinary-cases-one-form-or/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## More by Mason Cooley > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Money comes to life as it is spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/money-comes-to-life-as-it-is-spent/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/experience-teaches-us-but-we-scarcely-know-what/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The body has a mind of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-body-has-a-mind-of-its-own/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/in-retirement-i-look-for-days-off-from-my-days-off-mason-cooley/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More Arrogant quotes > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [ \[T\]he tax code has been piling up, year after year, a symbol of everything gone wrong in America, of arrogant rulers and lost freedom,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-armey/t-he-tax-code-has-been-piling-up-year-after-year-a-symbol-of/) [Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-armey/) > [What I would say to filmmakers, if I may be so bold or so arrogant, is to draw inspiration from other filmmakers, but go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/what-i-would-say-to-filmmakers-if-i-may-be-so-bold-or-so-arrogant-is/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [I absolutely hate arrogant people, irks me to no end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-absolutely-hate-arrogant-people-irks-me-to-no-end/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Splutter, splutter. Yes - we're off - we're rising. But why start off with an engine like that? But it smooths out now, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/splutter-splutter-yes-we-re-off-we-re-rising-but-why-start-off-with/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Mourinho is a bit arrogant, but you've got to like him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nicol/mourinho-is-a-bit-arrogant-but-you-ve-got-to-like-him/) [Steve Nicol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nicol/) > [Some say work smarter, not harder, but the wisest are both. Whether you're more of a hard worker or a smart worker, if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colby-tatem/some-say-work-smarter-not-harder-but-the-wisest-are-both-whether-you/) [Colby Tatem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colby-tatem/) > [I was spoiled and I was arrogant. I was very demanding, had an overblown image of who I was and got a reputation for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judge-reinhold/i-was-spoiled-and-i-was-arrogant-i-was-very-demanding-had-an/) [Judge Reinhold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judge-reinhold/) > [We are not being arrogant or complacent when we are said that our country, as a united nation, has never in its entire history,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabo-mbeki/we-are-not-being-arrogant-or-complacent-when-we-are-said-that-our/) [Thabo Mbeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabo-mbeki/) > [“So you intend to go through life never loving anyone? Just … things?” “No. I’m looking for something more.” “More than love?” “Yes.” “Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-ahdieh/so-you-intend-to-go-through-life-never-loving-anyone-just-things-no-i/) [Renee Ahdieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-ahdieh/) > [People are tired of wasteful government programs and welfare chiselers, and they are angry about the constant spiral of taxes and government regulations, arrogant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/people-are-tired-of-wasteful-government-programs-and-welfare/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“He was a man. Handsome as sin, arrogant as fuck, and in need of at least one woman to prove he wasn’t God’s gift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-blue/he-was-a-man-handsome-as-sin-arrogant-as-fuck-and-in-need-of-at-least/) [Melissa Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-blue/) > [Being nice to people gets you nowhere. Being arrogant gets you nowhere. Blackmail, now that's a thing that will get you everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-nice-to-people-gets-you-nowhere-being-arrogant-gets-you-nowhere/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's amusing how arrogant people can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-amusing-how-arrogant-people-can-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,146 Arrogant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogant/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To be a social success, do not act pathetic, arrogant, or bored. Do not discuss your unhappy childhood, your visit to the dentist,the shortcomings of your cleaning woman, the state of your bowels, or your spouse's bad habits. 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