--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the king’s bed is always found, just…" description: "\"“In the king’s bed is always found, just before it becomes a museum piece, the droppings of the black sheep.”\" — Nathanael West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png" --- # In the king’s bed is always found, just before it becomes… ![“In the king’s bed is always found, just before it becomes a museum piece, the droppings of the black sheep.” quote by Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png) > ““In the king’s bed is always found, just before it becomes a museum piece, the droppings of the black sheep.”” [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The black sheep’s misdeeds are inevitably discovered and become a spectacle, reflecting how society preserves and displays its outcasts. **In simple terms:** Misdeeds become museum pieces. Key Takeaway Consider how society treats its outcasts. Themes society outcasts exposure Mood ironic critical Type literary satirical When to use this quote - social critique - literary analysis - museum studies Key Concepts Moral decay spectacle legacy Questions to Reflect On - What does the black sheep symbolize? - How does society “museumize” deviance? A Different Perspective The metaphor may be too literal for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black sheep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-sheep/) [Droppings Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/droppings-black-5732008/) [King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/king/) [King Bed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/king-bed-5732007/) [Museum Piece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museum-piece-895794/) ## Related quotes > [We console ourselves with the comfortable fallacy that a single museum piece will do, ignoring the clear dictum of history that a species must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/we-console-ourselves-with-the-comfortable-fallacy-that-a-single/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [I think with my hands. I design things to be touched-not for a museum. A piece is ready when it has the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-zeisel/i-think-with-my-hands-i-design-things-to-be-touched-not-for-a-museum/) [Eva Zeisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-zeisel/) > [“To visit a museum is fine, to be a museum piece is terrible! - Gioconda and Si-Ya-U ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naz-m-hikmet/to-visit-a-museum-is-fine-to-be-a-museum-piece-is-terrible-gioconda/) [Nâzım Hikmet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naz-m-hikmet/) > [I think that you can treat a classic like a museum piece -stuffed and mounted- or you can make it a living, breathing narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-jackson/i-think-that-you-can-treat-a-classic-like-a-museum-piece-stuffed-and/) [Peter Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-jackson/) > [A product is not a product unless it sells. Otherwise it is merely a museum piece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-levitt/a-product-is-not-a-product-unless-it-sells-otherwise-it-is-merely-a/) [Theodore Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-levitt/) > [I never thought Jazz was meant to be a museum piece like other dead things once considered artistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-never-thought-jazz-was-meant-to-be-a-museum-piece-like-other-dead/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [“Baa Baa Black Sheep’ makes Marx’s Capital look like Mary Poppins .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/baa-baa-black-sheep-makes-marx-s-capital-look-like-mary-poppins/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“They came late to the empty land and looked with bitterness upon the six wolves watching them from the horizon's rim. With them was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/they-came-late-to-the-empty-land-and-looked-with-bitterness-upon-the/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [I was a bit of a humour black sheep. I would make these jokes full of irony and dark cynicism and that just didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayda-field/i-was-a-bit-of-a-humour-black-sheep-i-would-make-these-jokes-full-of/) [Ayda Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayda-field/) > [“Ryder Delaney was the one imperfection in my life.He was the bad boy,black sheep,the one your mother always warned you about.He had only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paige-weaver/ryder-delaney-was-the-one-imperfection-in-my-life-he-was-the-bad-boy/) [Paige Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paige-weaver/) > [I am the black sheep of my family. They are all super talented and intelligent and got proper jobs. Most of my family is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-poulter/i-am-the-black-sheep-of-my-family-they-are-all-super-talented-and/) [Will Poulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-poulter/) > [The Happy Black Sheep I love being a weird outcast. Crazy socks, weird and colorful clothes. I honestly don't see why people want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila/the-happy-black-sheep-i-love-being-a-weird-outcast-crazy-socks-weird/) [Leila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leila/) > [I'm the black sheep in a family of cops. I understand how difficult the job is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montel-vontavious-porter/i-m-the-black-sheep-in-a-family-of-cops-i-understand-how-difficult/) [Montel Vontavious Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montel-vontavious-porter/) > [Do not cringe and make yourself small if you are called the black sheep, the maverick, the lone wolf. Those with slow seeing say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/do-not-cringe-and-make-yourself-small-if-you-are-called-the-black/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“Constantly changing feelings can pull us off balance. Our Black Sheep Values help us stand firm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brant-menswar/constantly-changing-feelings-can-pull-us-off-balance-our-black-sheep/) [Brant Menswar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brant-menswar/) ## More by Nathanael West > [“Perhaps I can make you understand. Let’s start from the beginning. A man is hired to give advice to the readers of a newspaper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/perhaps-i-can-make-you-understand-let-s-start-from-the-beginning-a/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He read it for the same reason an animal tears at a wounded foot: to hurt the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-read-it-for-the-same-reason-an-animal-tears-at-a-wounded-foot-to/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He Sat in the window thinking. Man has a tropism for order. Keys in one pocket, change in the other. Mandolins are tuned G…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-sat-in-the-window-thinking-man-has-a-tropism-for-order-keys-in-one/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on eath. Love all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/love-a-man-even-in-his-sin-for-that-is-the-semblance-of-divine-love/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Prayers for the condemned man will be offered on an adding machine. Numbers constitute the only universal language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/prayers-for-the-condemned-man-will-be-offered-on-an-adding-machine/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Her sureness was based on the power to limit experience arbitrarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/her-sureness-was-based-on-the-power-to-limit-experience-arbitrarily/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“But now let us consider the holes in our own bodies and into what these congenital wounds open. Under the skin of man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/but-now-let-us-consider-the-holes-in-our-own-bodies-and-into-what/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [You once said to me that I talk like a man in a book. I not only talk, but think and feel like one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/you-once-said-to-me-that-i-talk-like-a-man-in-a-book-i-not-only-talk/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Art Is One if Life's Richest Offerings. For those who have not the talent to create, there is appreciation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/art-is-one-if-life-s-richest-offerings-for-those-who-have-not-the/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He's an escapist. He wants to cultivate his interior garden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-s-an-escapist-he-wants-to-cultivate-his-interior-garden/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“His mouth formed an O with lips torn angry in laying duck's eggs from a chicken's rectum.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/his-mouth-formed-an-o-with-lips-torn-angry-in-laying-duck-s-eggs-from/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Only those who still have hope can benefit from tears. When they finish, they feel better. But to those without hope, whose anguish is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/only-those-who-still-have-hope-can-benefit-from-tears-when-they/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [At college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in Beauty and in personal expression as an absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/at-college-and-perhaps-for-a-year-afterwards-they-had-believed-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“It was very sad under the trees. Although spring was well advanced, in the deep shade there was nothing but death-rotten leaves, gray and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/it-was-very-sad-under-the-trees-although-spring-was-well-advanced-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) [Explore all 58 Nathanael West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## More Black sheep quotes > [“Constantly changing feelings can pull us off balance. Our Black Sheep Values help us stand firm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brant-menswar/constantly-changing-feelings-can-pull-us-off-balance-our-black-sheep/) [Brant Menswar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brant-menswar/) > [Do not cringe and make yourself small if you are called the black sheep, the maverick, the lone wolf. Those with slow seeing say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/do-not-cringe-and-make-yourself-small-if-you-are-called-the-black/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [I'm the black sheep in a family of cops. I understand how difficult the job is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montel-vontavious-porter/i-m-the-black-sheep-in-a-family-of-cops-i-understand-how-difficult/) [Montel Vontavious Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montel-vontavious-porter/) > [The Happy Black Sheep I love being a weird outcast. Crazy socks, weird and colorful clothes. I honestly don't see why people want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila/the-happy-black-sheep-i-love-being-a-weird-outcast-crazy-socks-weird/) [Leila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leila/) > [I am the black sheep of my family. They are all super talented and intelligent and got proper jobs. Most of my family is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-poulter/i-am-the-black-sheep-of-my-family-they-are-all-super-talented-and/) [Will Poulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-poulter/) > [“Ryder Delaney was the one imperfection in my life.He was the bad boy,black sheep,the one your mother always warned you about.He had only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paige-weaver/ryder-delaney-was-the-one-imperfection-in-my-life-he-was-the-bad-boy/) [Paige Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paige-weaver/) > [I was a bit of a humour black sheep. I would make these jokes full of irony and dark cynicism and that just didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayda-field/i-was-a-bit-of-a-humour-black-sheep-i-would-make-these-jokes-full-of/) [Ayda Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayda-field/) > [“They came late to the empty land and looked with bitterness upon the six wolves watching them from the horizon's rim. With them was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/they-came-late-to-the-empty-land-and-looked-with-bitterness-upon-the/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [“Baa Baa Black Sheep’ makes Marx’s Capital look like Mary Poppins .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/baa-baa-black-sheep-makes-marx-s-capital-look-like-mary-poppins/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Monday. The black sheep of the weekdays. The middle finger of the workweek. The weekend-is-over bitchslap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-s/monday-the-black-sheep-of-the-weekdays-the-middle-finger-of-the/) [Laura S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-s/) > [A black sheep is a biting beast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bastard/a-black-sheep-is-a-biting-beast/) [Thomas Bastard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bastard/) > [Within three months I had gone from being this black sheep of the town to suddenly becoming a pop star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/within-three-months-i-had-gone-from-being-this-black-sheep-of-the/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [“I had choosen the path of the black sheep rather than that of the unicorns and puppies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magenta-periwinkle/i-had-choosen-the-path-of-the-black-sheep-rather-than-that-of-the/) [Magenta Periwinkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magenta-periwinkle/) > [“Followed white rabbit. Became black sheep. - Gabrille Maconi”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-fershleiser/followed-white-rabbit-became-black-sheep-gabrille-maconi/) [Rachel Fershleiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-fershleiser/) > [Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me. A toast to piracy and it's many shiny rewards. As a career, what could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirates/yo-ho-yo-ho-a-pirates-life-for-me-a-toast-to-piracy-and-it-s-many/) [Pirates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirates/) [Browse all 104 Black sheep quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-sheep/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the king’s bed is always found, just before it becomes a museum piece, the droppings of the black sheep.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathanael West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-before-it-becomes-a-museum/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Black sheep" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-before-it-becomes-a-museum/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/nathanael-west-11471_black-sheep_in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-b_1539688.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the king’s bed is always found, just before it becomes a museum piece, the droppings of the black sheep.” — Nathanael West", "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": "Nathanael West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In the king’s bed is always...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-before-it-becomes-a-museum/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/in-the-king-s-bed-is-always-found-just-before-it-becomes-a-museum/#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 } } ] } ```