--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was all Mrs. Waddington could do to…" description: "\"“It was all Mrs. Waddington could do to refrain from hurling a bust of Edgar Allan Poe at her head.”\" — P.G. Wodehouse" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/p-g-wodehouse-723_allan-poe_it-was-all-mrs-waddington-could-do-to-re_3218009.png" --- # It was all Mrs. Waddington could do to refrain from… ![“It was all Mrs. Waddington could do to refrain from hurling a bust of Edgar Allan Poe at her head.” quote by P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/p-g-wodehouse-723_allan-poe_it-was-all-mrs-waddington-could-do-to-re_3218009.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/p-g-wodehouse-723_allan-poe_it-was-all-mrs-waddington-could-do-to-re_3218009.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/p-g-wodehouse-723_allan-poe_it-was-all-mrs-waddington-could-do-to-re_3218009.png) > ““It was all Mrs. Waddington could do to refrain from hurling a bust of Edgar Allan Poe at her head.”” [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A comic exaggeration of a character’s desperation to avoid a physical attack, highlighting absurdity in social conflict. **In simple terms:** A character tries to avoid being hit by a bust. Key Takeaway Avoid escalating conflict with humor. Themes humor absurdity social conflict Mood playful lighthearted ironic Type satirical anecdotal When to use this quote - social gatherings - family disputes - office politics - public speaking Key Concepts satire exaggeration social etiquette Questions to Reflect On - How do you defuse tense situations with wit? - When is humor inappropriate? A Different Perspective The humor may mask underlying seriousness of aggression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allan poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allan-poe/) [Bust Edgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bust-edgar-6038713/) [Edgar Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgar-allan-354413/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Hurling Bust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurling-bust-6038714/) [Poe Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poe-head-6038711/) [Waddington Refrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waddington-refrain-6038712/) ## Related quotes > [Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/man-you-should-have-seen-them-kicking-edgar-allan-poe/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [My favorite poem ever was 'Annabel Lee' by Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-lynch/my-favorite-poem-ever-was-annabel-lee-by-edgar-allan-poe/) [Ross Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-lynch/) > [“It was a story by Edgar Allan Poe" "I didn't know the Teletubbies had first names ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-a-lancaster/it-was-a-story-by-edgar-allan-poe-i-didn-t-know-the-teletubbies-had/) [Mike A. Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-a-lancaster/) > [“You remind me of Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist out of stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/you-remind-me-of-edgar-allan-poe-s-dupin-i-had-no-idea-that-such/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Edgar Allan Poe, I think he's a brilliant poet. I was actually given a copy of his work when I was, like, 8 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dove-cameron/edgar-allan-poe-i-think-he-s-a-brilliant-poet-i-was-actually-given-a/) [Dove Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dove-cameron/) > [Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed-without-edgar-allan-poe/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [Edgar Allan Poe is amazing because he was so dark. He's from Baltimore and so cynical that you can feel it when you're reading,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldlink/edgar-allan-poe-is-amazing-because-he-was-so-dark-he-s-from-baltimore/) [Goldlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldlink/) > [If I'm too old to be Emo, how do you account for the very Emo and very old Edgar Allan Poe? Checkmate!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/if-i-m-too-old-to-be-emo-how-do-you-account-for-the-very-emo-and-very/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/no-formal-course-in-fiction-writing-can-equal-a-close-and-observant/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [If Edgar Allan Poe were alive today, his agent would be constantly slapping him upside the head with tightly rolled copies of his brilliant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/if-edgar-allan-poe-were-alive-today-his-agent-would-be-constantly/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-an-american-poet-short-story-writer-playwright/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“EDGAR ALLAN POE was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, the second of three children born to actors David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-born-on-january-19-1809-in-boston-the-second-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [The sky was the color of Edgar Allan Poe's pajamas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-sky-was-the-color-of-edgar-allan-poe-s-pajamas/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I always thought it would be really, really cool to play Edgar Allan Poe, because when I was a kid, he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-miller/i-always-thought-it-would-be-really-really-cool-to-play-edgar-allan/) [Ezra Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-miller/) > [“Sippy had described them as England's premier warts, and it looked to me as if he might be about right. Professor Pringle was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/sippy-had-described-them-as-england-s-premier-warts-and-it-looked-to/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) ## More by P.G. Wodehouse > [“Love, Miss Halliday, is a delicate plant. It needs tending, nurturing, assiduous fostering. This cannot be done by throwing the breakfast bacon at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/love-miss-halliday-is-a-delicate-plant-it-needs-tending-nurturing/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [ “\[A\]lways get to the dialogue as soon as possible. I always feel the thing to go for is speed. Nothing puts the reader off… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/a-lways-get-to-the-dialogue-as-soon-as-possible-i-always-feel-the/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“In these days in which we live, when existence has become a thing of infinite complexity and fate, if it slips us a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/in-these-days-in-which-we-live-when-existence-has-become-a-thing-of/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“Good Lord, Jeeves! Is there anything you don’t know?’ ‘I couldn’t say, sir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/good-lord-jeeves-is-there-anything-you-don-t-know-i-couldn-t-say-sir/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“Ask the first lion cub you meet, and it will tell you that, once you’ve tasted blood, there is no pulling up, and it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/ask-the-first-lion-cub-you-meet-and-it-will-tell-you-that-once-you-ve/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“He will lunch with you at your flat tomorrow at one-thirty. Please remember that he drinks no wine, strongly disapproves of smoking, and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/he-will-lunch-with-you-at-your-flat-tomorrow-at-one-thirty-please/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“Too often on such occasions one feels, as I feel so strongly with regard to poor old Stilton, that the kindly thing to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/too-often-on-such-occasions-one-feels-as-i-feel-so-strongly-with/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“My late Uncle Henry, you see, was by way of being the blot on the Wooster escutcheon. An extremely decent chappie personally, and one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/my-late-uncle-henry-you-see-was-by-way-of-being-the-blot-on-the/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [ “...he switched on the \[flashlight\]. When he did so, he instantly became the center attraction to a rowdy mob of those gnats, moths, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/he-switched-on-the-flashlight-when-he-did-so-he-instantly-became-the/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“Conversationally, I am like a clockwork toy. I have to be set going.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/conversationally-i-am-like-a-clockwork-toy-i-have-to-be-set-going/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“One of the advantages a sister has when arguing with a brother is that she is under no obligation to be tactful. If she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/one-of-the-advantages-a-sister-has-when-arguing-with-a-brother-is/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“Liz," said Mr. Cootes, lost in admiration, "when it comes to doping out a scheme, you're the snake's eyebrows!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/liz-said-mr-cootes-lost-in-admiration-when-it-comes-to-doping-out-a/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“a chap who's supposed to stop chaps pinching things from chaps having a chap come along and pinch something from him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/a-chap-who-s-supposed-to-stop-chaps-pinching-things-from-chaps-having/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“Bertie, do you read Tennyson?" "Not if I can help.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/bertie-do-you-read-tennyson-not-if-i-can-help/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [“It seems to be one of Nature’s laws that the most attractive girls should have the least attractive brothers. Fillmore Nicholas had not worn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/it-seems-to-be-one-of-nature-s-laws-that-the-most-attractive-girls/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) [Explore all 389 P.G. Wodehouse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) ## More Allan poe quotes > [Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/man-you-should-have-seen-them-kicking-edgar-allan-poe/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [ “To me \[Edgar Allan Poe's\] prose is unreadable—like Jane Austin's \[sic\]. No there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-me-edgar-allan-poe-s-prose-is-unreadable-like-jane-austin-s-sic-no/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” ― Edgar Allan Poe”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/words-have-no-power-to-impress-the-mind-without-the-exquisite-horror/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [ I would say that Edgar Allan Poe, \[Georges\] Perec, Thomas Pynchon, and \[Jorge Luis\] Borges are all boy-writers. These are writers who take... a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-would-say-that-edgar-allan-poe-georges-perec-thomas-pynchon-and/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The sky was the color of Edgar Allan Poe's pajamas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-sky-was-the-color-of-edgar-allan-poe-s-pajamas/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“EDGAR ALLAN POE was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, the second of three children born to actors David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-born-on-january-19-1809-in-boston-the-second-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe called it “the imp of the perverse,” that willful, self-destructive voice within that impels us to do things or say things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-cashill/edgar-allan-poe-called-it-the-imp-of-the-perverse-that-willful-self/) [Jack Cashill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-cashill/) > [I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-am-an-invisible-man-no-i-am-not-a-spook-like-those-who-haunted/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Suffice it to say I was compelled to create this group in order to find everyone who is, let's say, borrowing liberally from my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-schmelling/suffice-it-to-say-i-was-compelled-to-create-this-group-in-order-to/) [Sarah Schmelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-schmelling/) > [“And so it is with old HPL: the very model of an 18th century hipster, born decades too late to be one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-so-it-is-with-old-hpl-the-very-model-of-an-18th-century-hipster/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 classic “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” may have been history’s first behavioral profiler.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-douglas/of-edgar-allan-poe-s-1841-classic-the-murders-in-the-rue-morgue-may/) [John E. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-douglas/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-an-american-poet-short-story-writer-playwright/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“The Rough Beast snorted. “You don’t get it at all, buddy. It’s not about wrestling. It’s about stories. We’re storytellers.” Caperton studied him. “Somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-lipsyte/the-rough-beast-snorted-you-don-t-get-it-at-all-buddy-it-s-not-about/) [Sam Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-lipsyte/) > [“Wasn't he the one who sliced off his ear and mailed it to his girlfriend?" "Van Gogh," said Varen, in a monotone that suggested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-creagh/wasn-t-he-the-one-who-sliced-off-his-ear-and-mailed-it-to-his/) [Kelly Creagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-creagh/) > [“To the Greeks this problem of the conditions of poetic production, and the places occupied by either spontaneity or self-consciousness in any artistic work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-the-greeks-this-problem-of-the-conditions-of-poetic-production-and/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Browse all 71 Allan poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allan-poe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was all Mrs. Waddington could do to refrain from hurling a bust of Edgar Allan Poe at her head.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "P.G. 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