--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These pens are unusually thick and heavy…" description: "\"“These pens are unusually thick and heavy. You know, phallic imagery and all that. The bigger the, um, pen, the bigger the… well, you get the idea.” Ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc2/nick-stephenson-35424_pens_these-pens-are-unusually-thick-and-heavy_3004471.jpg" --- # These pens are unusually thick and heavy. You know… ![“These pens are unusually thick and heavy. You know, phallic imagery and all that. The bigger the, um, pen, the bigger the… well, you get the idea.” Mary rolled her eyes. “Right, I forgot. It all comes down to dick measuring in the end.” quote by Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc2/nick-stephenson-35424_pens_these-pens-are-unusually-thick-and-heavy_3004471.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc2/nick-stephenson-35424_pens_these-pens-are-unusually-thick-and-heavy_3004471.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc2/nick-stephenson-35424_pens_these-pens-are-unusually-thick-and-heavy_3004471.jpg) > ““These pens are unusually thick and heavy. You know, phallic imagery and all that. The bigger the, um, pen, the bigger the… well, you get the idea.” Mary rolled her eyes. “Right, I forgot. It all comes down to dick measuring in the end.”” [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker uses a metaphor comparing pen size to masculinity, critiquing the tendency to equate physical attributes with power or status. **In simple terms:** Pen size is used as a symbol of male dominance. Key Takeaway Question superficial measures of worth. Themes gender masculinity symbolism Mood ironic critical Type gender social commentary When to use this quote - advertising - product design - media analysis - personal interactions Key Concepts phallus symbolism social critique power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do symbols influence perception? - What alternatives exist to assess value? A Different Perspective Metaphors can oversimplify complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“I can't take a dick-measuring contest." . . . "I know Meshack has a big one. And from what I've felt, Zulu is big.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-wright/i-can-t-take-a-dick-measuring-contest-i-know-meshack-has-a-big-one/) [Kenya Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-wright/) > [“If this was a dick measuring contest, I found myself thinking numbly, then I was Pee Wee and she was John Holmes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/if-this-was-a-dick-measuring-contest-i-found-myself-thinking-numbly/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [When you go somewhere like Kenya and you see how the children don't have pencils and pens, and all of these things are considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomie-harris/when-you-go-somewhere-like-kenya-and-you-see-how-the-children-don-t/) [Naomie Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomie-harris/) > [When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-you-have-committed-enough-words-to-paper-you-feel-you-have-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Trust me, I did not set out to establish three pen names and, for the record, I do not recommend it as a career…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayne-ann-krentz/trust-me-i-did-not-set-out-to-establish-three-pen-names-and-for-the/) [Jayne Ann Krentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayne-ann-krentz/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [With taxes, if they aren't working right, we can change them with a stroke of the pen. It's basically a market-type mechanism. People make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/with-taxes-if-they-aren-t-working-right-we-can-change-them-with-a/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [Do not borrow the productions of other men's brains and pens and recite them as a lesson; but make the most of the talents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/do-not-borrow-the-productions-of-other-men-s-brains-and-pens-and/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [A day which passed without a poem from my pen I considered lost and misused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/a-day-which-passed-without-a-poem-from-my-pen-i-considered-lost-and/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [I was taking all prints and I brought them to the Magnum meetings, trying the old Josef Koudelka trick: Give them to photographers, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-van-agtmael/i-was-taking-all-prints-and-i-brought-them-to-the-magnum-meetings/) [Peter van Agtmael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-van-agtmael/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) Brian Reade ## More by Nick Stephenson > [“THE HAZMAT SUIT was stifling and Luca Ginelli could barely catch his breath as he studied the monitors. Thanks to the research laboratory's state-of-the-art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/the-hazmat-suit-was-stifling-and-luca-ginelli-could-barely-catch-his/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“and Gisele Blake?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/and-gisele-blake/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“nanoscope, the young lab technician could easily study particles as small as one nanometer in diameter – the equivalent of one billionth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/nanoscope-the-young-lab-technician-could-easily-study-particles-as/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“Modesty serves little purpose. Other than to feed one’s insecurities by inviting more praise, that is. I have no need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/modesty-serves-little-purpose-other-than-to-feed-one-s-insecurities/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“Every snowflake in an avalanche thinks itself guiltless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/every-snowflake-in-an-avalanche-thinks-itself-guiltless/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“bank gives some poor schmuck a mortgage at 100% the value of his property. No deposit. The bank sells the debt off to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/bank-gives-some-poor-schmuck-a-mortgage-at-100-the-value-of-his/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“Tradition had it that Al-Qurnah is the site of the Garden of Eden. Sear smiled at the thought and credited someone's twisted idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/tradition-had-it-that-al-qurnah-is-the-site-of-the-garden-of-eden/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) > [“give you an example. A bank gives some poor schmuck a mortgage at 100% the value of his property. No deposit. The bank sells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stephenson/give-you-an-example-a-bank-gives-some-poor-schmuck-a-mortgage-at-100/) [Nick Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) [Explore all 9 Nick Stephenson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stephenson/) ## More Pens quotes > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) Brian Reade > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I was taking all prints and I brought them to the Magnum meetings, trying the old Josef Koudelka trick: Give them to photographers, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-van-agtmael/i-was-taking-all-prints-and-i-brought-them-to-the-magnum-meetings/) [Peter van Agtmael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-van-agtmael/) > [A day which passed without a poem from my pen I considered lost and misused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/a-day-which-passed-without-a-poem-from-my-pen-i-considered-lost-and/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Do not borrow the productions of other men's brains and pens and recite them as a lesson; but make the most of the talents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/do-not-borrow-the-productions-of-other-men-s-brains-and-pens-and/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [With taxes, if they aren't working right, we can change them with a stroke of the pen. It's basically a market-type mechanism. People make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/with-taxes-if-they-aren-t-working-right-we-can-change-them-with-a/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Trust me, I did not set out to establish three pen names and, for the record, I do not recommend it as a career…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayne-ann-krentz/trust-me-i-did-not-set-out-to-establish-three-pen-names-and-for-the/) [Jayne Ann Krentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayne-ann-krentz/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-you-have-committed-enough-words-to-paper-you-feel-you-have-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [When you go somewhere like Kenya and you see how the children don't have pencils and pens, and all of these things are considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomie-harris/when-you-go-somewhere-like-kenya-and-you-see-how-the-children-don-t/) [Naomie Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomie-harris/) > [A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-man-starts-upon-a-sudden-takes-pen-ink-and-paper-and-without-ever/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [I see how complicated it is to make a film and how many people are involved and I love the fact that I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/i-see-how-complicated-it-is-to-make-a-film-and-how-many-people-are/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) Browse all 983 Pens quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“These pens are unusually thick and heavy. 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