--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man, who wert once a despot and a slave…" description: "\"Man, who wert once a despot and a slave, A dupe and a deceiver! a decay, A traveller from the cradle to the grave Through the dim night of this immorta..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg" --- # Man, who wert once a despot and a slave, A dupe and a… ![“Man, who wert once a despot and a slave, A dupe and a deceiver! a decay, A traveller from the cradle to the grave Through the dim night of this immortal day.” quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg) > “Man, who wert once a despot and a slave, A dupe and a deceiver! a decay, A traveller from the cradle to the grave Through the dim night of this immortal day.” [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A reflection on the rise and fall of power, from tyranny to servitude, and the fleeting nature of life. **In simple terms:** Power shifts and life is fleeting. Key Takeaway Recognize impermanence. Themes power mortality human nature Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - political leadership - personal reflection - historical analysis Key Concepts rise and fall impermanence existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront your own rise and fall? - What does mortality teach you about ambition? A Different Perspective Power can be reclaimed, but cycles repeat. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deceiver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceiver/) [Despots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despots/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Traveller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveller/) ## Related quotes > [It is necessary that the prince should know how to color his nature well, and how to be a hypocrite and dissembler. For men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/it-is-necessary-that-the-prince-should-know-how-to-color-his-nature/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [When merciless ambition, or mad zeal, has led two hosts of dupes to battlefield, That, blind, they there may dig each other's graves, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/when-merciless-ambition-or-mad-zeal-has-led-two-hosts-of-dupes-to/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Extraordinarily excessive sensuality it may be .. but it all comes down to the same thing in the end, and one means is surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/extraordinarily-excessive-sensuality-it-may-be-but-it-all-comes-down/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [The credulity of dupes is as inexhaustible as the invention of knaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-credulity-of-dupes-is-as-inexhaustible-as-the-invention-of-knaves/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [In vain we shall penetrate more and more deeply the secrets of the structure of the human body, we shall not dupe nature; we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/in-vain-we-shall-penetrate-more-and-more-deeply-the-secrets-of-the/) [Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/) > [Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/excessive-partiality-for-one-foreign-nation-and-excessive-dislike-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [When the Gauls laid waste Rome, they found the senators clothed in their robes, and seated in stern tranquillity in their curule chairs; in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/when-the-gauls-laid-waste-rome-they-found-the-senators-clothed-in/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [The weak-minded man is the slave of his vices and the dupe of his virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-antoine-petit-senn/the-weak-minded-man-is-the-slave-of-his-vices-and-the-dupe-of-his/) [Jean Antoine Petit-Senn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-antoine-petit-senn/) > [Let nothing dupe you! Such is the horrible maxim that acts as a solvent upon every noble feeling man experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/let-nothing-dupe-you-such-is-the-horrible-maxim-that-acts-as-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Ratings agencies are highly conflicted, unimaginative dupes. They are blissfully unaware of adverse selection and moral hazard. Investors should never trust them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-klarman/ratings-agencies-are-highly-conflicted-unimaginative-dupes-they-are/) [Seth Klarman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-klarman/) > [The human heart has so many crannies where vanity hides, so many holes where falsehood works, is so decked out with deceiving hypocrisy, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/the-human-heart-has-so-many-crannies-where-vanity-hides-so-many-holes/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [The bonds between ourselves and another person exists only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-between-ourselves-and-another-person-exists-only-in-our/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Pessimists fear becoming the dupes of Hope. Optimists enjoy Hope's company, and consider being duped no great matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/pessimists-fear-becoming-the-dupes-of-hope-optimists-enjoy-hope-s/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Women are ever the dupes or the victims of their extreme sensitiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/women-are-ever-the-dupes-or-the-victims-of-their-extreme-sensitiveness/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A forward critic often dupes us With sham quotations peri hupsos, And if we have not read Longinus, Will magisterially outshine us. Then, lest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/a-forward-critic-often-dupes-us-with-sham-quotations-peri-hupsos-and/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) ## More by Percy Bysshe Shelley > [The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark--now glittering--now reflecting gloom-- Now lending splendour, where from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-everlasting-universe-of-things-flows-through-the-mind-and-rolls/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-quick-dreams-the-passion-winged-ministers-of-thought/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hail-to-thee-blithe-spirit/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The jealous keys of truth's eternal doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-jealous-keys-of-truth-s-eternal-doors/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Though we eat little flesh and drink no wine, Yet let's be merry; we'll have tea and toast; Custards for supper, and an endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/though-we-eat-little-flesh-and-drink-no-wine-yet-let-s-be-merry-we-ll/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [A dream has power to poison sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/a-dream-has-power-to-poison-sleep/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Titles are tinsel, power a corrupter, glorya bubble, and excessive wealth a libel on its possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/titles-are-tinsel-power-a-corrupter-glorya-bubble-and-excessive/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed !”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-fall-upon-the-thorns-of-life-i-bleed/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poets-and-philosophers-are-the-unacknowledged-legislators-of-the-world/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude To live alone, an isolated thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/dar-st-thou-amid-the-varied-multitude-to-live-alone-an-isolated-thing/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I love tranquil solitude, And such society As is quiet, wise, and good; Between thee and me What difference? but thou dost possess The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-love-tranquil-solitude-and-such-society-as-is-quiet-wise-and-good/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The practice of utter sincerity towards other men would avail to no good end, if they were incapable of practising it towards their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-practice-of-utter-sincerity-towards-other-men-would-avail-to-no/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow claspest the limits of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/thou-shoreless-flood-which-in-thy-ebb-and-flow-claspest-the-limits-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Senseless is the breast and cold Which relenting love would fold; Bloodless are the veins and chill Which the pulse of pain did fill;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/senseless-is-the-breast-and-cold-which-relenting-love-would-fold/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) [Explore all 533 Percy Bysshe Shelley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## More Cradle quotes > [One must accept the fact that we have only one companion in this world, a companion who accompanies us from the cradle to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/one-must-accept-the-fact-that-we-have-only-one-companion-in-this/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-was-some-of-the-mud-that-got-to-sit-up-and-look-around-lucky-me/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/tolkien-can-say-that-aragorn-became-king-and-reigned-for-a-hundred/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [You can’t bring an unwritten place to life without losing something substantial. Manila is the cradle, the graveyard, the memory. The Mecca, the Cathedral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-syjuco/you-can-t-bring-an-unwritten-place-to-life-without-losing-something/) [Miguel Syjuco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-syjuco/) > [The job of the government - and my responsibility - is to help people live healthier lives. The framework is about giving local authorities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lansley/the-job-of-the-government-and-my-responsibility-is-to-help-people/) [Andrew Lansley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lansley/) > [That government is best which governs the least, so taught the courageous founders of this nation. This simple declaration is diametrically opposed to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/that-government-is-best-which-governs-the-least-so-taught-the/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/christianity-is-the-companion-of-liberty-in-all-its-conflicts-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Snuggle in God's arms. When you are hurting, when you feel lonely, left out. let Him cradle you, comfort you, reassure you of His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-arthur/snuggle-in-god-s-arms-when-you-are-hurting-when-you-feel-lonely-left/) [Kay Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-arthur/) > [What happens: events interiors, snatch them from the cradle, from the source. I want to watch watching arrive. 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Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) Browse all 393 Cradle quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man, who wert once a despot and a slave, A dupe and a deceiver! a decay, A traveller from the cradle to the grave Through the dim night of this immortal day.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Percy Bysshe Shelley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a-dupe-and-a-deceiver-a-decay/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cradle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a-dupe-and-a-deceiver-a-decay/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_cradle_man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a_2206859.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man, who wert once a despot and a slave, A dupe and a deceiver! a decay, A traveller from the cradle to the…” — Percy Bysshe Shelley", "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": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Man, who wert once a despot...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a-dupe-and-a-deceiver-a-decay/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/man-who-wert-once-a-despot-and-a-slave-a-dupe-and-a-deceiver-a-decay/#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 } } ] } ```