--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never was in such a horrid office…" description: "\"I never was in such a horrid office . . . It's not very nice to be where people are being swindled all day long, is it?\" — Nevil Shute" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/nevil-shute-16517_long_i-never-was-in-such-a-horrid-office-it-s_2692995.jpg" --- # I never was in such a horrid office . . . It's not very… ![“I never was in such a horrid office . . . It's not very nice to be where people are being swindled all day long, is it?” quote by Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/nevil-shute-16517_long_i-never-was-in-such-a-horrid-office-it-s_2692995.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/nevil-shute-16517_long_i-never-was-in-such-a-horrid-office-it-s_2692995.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/nevil-shute-16517_long_i-never-was-in-such-a-horrid-office-it-s_2692995.jpg) > “I never was in such a horrid office . . . It's not very nice to be where people are being swindled all day long, is it?” [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator laments working in a corrupt office where deceit is routine, highlighting moral discomfort. **In simple terms:** Office was corrupt and unpleasant. Key Takeaway Avoid unethical work environments. Themes ethics workplace corruption Mood disillusioned critical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - job search - whistleblowing - career change - ethical decision making Key Concepts moral conflict professional integrity organizational culture Questions to Reflect On - What would you do if faced with daily swindling? - Can you change the system from within? A Different Perspective Leaving may be difficult due to financial constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Office](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/office/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [“One customer, from Pittsburg, dined every night in his bedroom on grape-nuts, scrambled eggs and cocoa. Perhaps it hardly matters whether such people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/one-customer-from-pittsburg-dined-every-night-in-his-bedroom-on-grape/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I have a nice office. I have a nice house... So I'm not denying myself some great things. I just don't happen to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-have-a-nice-office-i-have-a-nice-house-so-i-m-not-denying-myself/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [If you get a call to go to a certain place in the middle of the night to pick up stolen goods, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/if-you-get-a-call-to-go-to-a-certain-place-in-the-middle-of-the-night/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“There is a sense, I think, in which the swindler and the swindled deserve each other. It is a kind of mutual humiliation society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/there-is-a-sense-i-think-in-which-the-swindler-and-the-swindled/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“Because many autistic people take what people say at face value, they are easily duped and swindled. Try”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-d-taylor/because-many-autistic-people-take-what-people-say-at-face-value-they/) [Thomas D. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-d-taylor/) > [Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it's the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-zuckoff/every-swindle-is-driven-by-a-desire-for-easy-money-it-s-the-one-thing/) [Mitchell Zuckoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-zuckoff/) > [When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/when-the-franc-was-in-danger-of-collapsing-in-1956-it-was-the/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [Men have been swindled by other men on many occasions. The autumn of 1929 was, perhaps, the first occasion when men succeeded on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/men-have-been-swindled-by-other-men-on-many-occasions-the-autumn-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The inclination to self-depreciation, to freely accepting being robbed, being duped, and being swindled, could be the modesty of a god among men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-inclination-to-self-depreciation-to-freely-accepting-being-robbed/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I wondered how I was going to do it and keep my job at Rolling Stone at the same time. 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"That's not very nice of you to say," I say.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/tris-he-says-what-did-they-do-to-you-you-re-acting-like-a-lunatic/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [People said that he was very nice, but I confess that his utter grotesqueness made me uneasy; perhaps in the same way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-said-that-he-was-very-nice-but-i-confess-that-his-utter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm a very nice guy, but don't mistake my kindness for weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herjavec/i-m-a-very-nice-guy-but-don-t-mistake-my-kindness-for-weakness/) [Robert Herjavec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herjavec/) > [For the time being Scherzer gives Washington a very nice rotation (on paper) with Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, and Doug Fister, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scherzer/for-the-time-being-scherzer-gives-washington-a-very-nice-rotation-on/) [Max Scherzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scherzer/) ## More by Nevil Shute > [ The thing most worth doing in this modern world \[is to\] create jobs that men can work at, and be proud of, and make… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/the-thing-most-worth-doing-in-this-modern-world-is-to-create-jobs/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“By 1948 I was safe on my feet and able to get about quite normally, but I was thirty-four and life was slipping past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/by-1948-i-was-safe-on-my-feet-and-able-to-get-about-quite-normally/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“You could have done something with newspapers. We didn't do it. No nation did, because we were all too silly. We liked our newspapers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/you-could-have-done-something-with-newspapers-we-didn-t-do-it-no/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“Until we’re dead, we Service people, the world will always be in danger of another war. We had too good a time in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/until-we-re-dead-we-service-people-the-world-will-always-be-in-danger/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [If what they say is right we're none of us going to have time to do all that we planned to do. But we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/if-what-they-say-is-right-we-re-none-of-us-going-to-have-time-to-do/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [She looked at him in wonder. "Do people think of me like that? I only did what anybody could have done." "That's as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/she-looked-at-him-in-wonder-do-people-think-of-me-like-that-i-only/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [I'm glad we haven't got newspapers now. It's been much nicer without them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/i-m-glad-we-haven-t-got-newspapers-now-it-s-been-much-nicer-without/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,” he said, “from whence cometh my help.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/i-will-lift-up-mine-eyes-unto-the-hills-he-said-from-whence-cometh-my/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [Aircraft do not crash of themselves. They come to grief because men are foolish, or vain, or lazy, or irresolute or reckless. One crash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/aircraft-do-not-crash-of-themselves-they-come-to-grief-because-men/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [When I was first sent from H.M.S. King Alfred to be interviewed by Goodeve in the Admiralty, I was furious. The War seemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/when-i-was-first-sent-from-h-m-s-king-alfred-to-be-interviewed-by/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [You cannot argue stupidity, you just have to accept it patiently as one of those things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/you-cannot-argue-stupidity-you-just-have-to-accept-it-patiently-as/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“Only by an act of treachery to those who believe in us can either of us escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/only-by-an-act-of-treachery-to-those-who-believe-in-us-can-either-of/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“Here they go cruising for a fortnight up in parts where everyone is dead of radiation, and all that they can catch is measles!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/here-they-go-cruising-for-a-fortnight-up-in-parts-where-everyone-is/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [“Security was now a thing of the past though it took a conscious effort to remember it; with no enemy in all the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/security-was-now-a-thing-of-the-past-though-it-took-a-conscious/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) > [Without work men are utterly undone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/without-work-men-are-utterly-undone/) [Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) [Explore all 39 Nevil Shute quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/) ## More Long quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. 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