--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is…" description: "\"I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has made me insufferable.\" — Max Beerbohm" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37d/max-beerbohm-4658_humility_i-was-a-modest-good-humoured-boy-it-is-o_2065773.jpg" --- # I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has… ![“I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has made me insufferable.” quote by Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37d/max-beerbohm-4658_humility_i-was-a-modest-good-humoured-boy-it-is-o_2065773.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37d/max-beerbohm-4658_humility_i-was-a-modest-good-humoured-boy-it-is-o_2065773.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37d/max-beerbohm-4658_humility_i-was-a-modest-good-humoured-boy-it-is-o_2065773.jpg) > “I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has made me insufferable.” [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Oxford's elite environment can transform a modest, humorous person into someone arrogant and intolerable. **In simple terms:** Oxford can make a modest person arrogant. Key Takeaway Stay humble despite prestigious surroundings. Themes education pride social influence Mood skeptical reflective Type observational critical When to use this quote - university life - career advancement Key Concepts sociology identity formation Questions to Reflect On - Does prestige change your behavior? - Can humility survive elite circles? A Different Perspective It may overgeneralize the effect of elite schools. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boy Oxford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boy-oxford-3964011/) [Humility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) [Humoured Boy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humoured-boy-3964012/) [Insufferable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insufferable/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Modest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modest/) [Oxford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oxford/) [Oxford Insufferable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oxford-insufferable-3964010/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [Not that I had any special reason for hating school. Strange as it may seem to my readers, I was not unpopular there. 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This is a bit rich coming from a man who actually married his own mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-morrissey/he-referred-to-me-as-an-insufferable-puffed-up-prat-this-is-a-bit/) [Steven Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-morrissey/) ## More by Max Beerbohm > [Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/only-mediocrity-can-be-trusted-to-be-always-at-its-best/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [People are either born hosts or born guests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/people-are-either-born-hosts-or-born-guests/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [By its very looseness, by its way of evoking rather than defining, suggesting rather than saying, English is a magnificent vehicle for emotional poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/by-its-very-looseness-by-its-way-of-evoking-rather-than-defining/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [There is much to be said for failure. It is more interesting than success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/there-is-much-to-be-said-for-failure-it-is-more-interesting-than/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [I believe the twenty-four hour day has come to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/i-believe-the-twenty-four-hour-day-has-come-to-stay/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [“As she sat here in the bay-window of her room, she was not reviewing the splendid pageant of her past. She was a young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/as-she-sat-here-in-the-bay-window-of-her-room-she-was-not-reviewing/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [As a teacher, as a propagandist, Mr. Shaw is no good at all, even in his own generation. 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What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's a great lesson in modesty that you realize you're illiterate in a field that you think you're an expert in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-wenders/it-s-a-great-lesson-in-modesty-that-you-realize-you-re-illiterate-in/) [Wim Wenders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-wenders/) > [The more holy, the more humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-more-holy-the-more-humble/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But, like all indulgences that are valued not just for their product but for their process, the sento will never entirely disappear. 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