---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every time I look up and catch that kid's…"
description: "\"“Every time I look up and catch that kid's vacant eye, I suffer agonies. I tell you, Bertie, sometimes when he gives me a patronising glance and then t..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg"
---

#  Every time I look up and catch that kid's vacant eye, I…

![“Every time I look up and catch that kid's vacant eye, I suffer agonies. I tell you, Bertie, sometimes when he gives me a patronising glance and then turns away and is sick, as if it revolted him to look at me, I come within an ace of occupying the entire front page of the evening papers as the…” quote by PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg)

> ““Every time I look up and catch that kid's vacant eye, I suffer agonies. I tell you, Bertie, sometimes when he gives me a patronising glance and then turns away and is sick, as if it revolted him to look at me, I come within an ace of occupying the entire front page of the evening papers as the latest murder sensation.””

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

## 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 feels intense guilt and shame when observing a child's suffering, imagining it as a scandalous crime.

**In simple terms:** Seeing a child's pain makes him feel guilty.

Key Takeaway

Reflect on how others' pain affects you personally.

Themes

guilt empathy social observation

Mood

melancholic ironic

Type

literary humorous

When to use this quote

- parenting
- mental health counseling
- social work
- media reporting

Key Concepts

psychological distress social critique

Questions to Reflect On

- Why do we sometimes dramatize others' suffering?
- How can we respond constructively to observed pain?

A Different Perspective

The hyperbolic tone may exaggerate emotional impact.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [Human beings suffer agonies, and their sad fates become legends; poets write verses about them and playwrights compose dramas, and the remembrance of past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/human-beings-suffer-agonies-and-their-sad-fates-become-legends-poets/)

[Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/)

> [She wasn't happy, but then she wasn't unhappy. She wasn't anything. But I don't believe anyone is a nothing. There has to be something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/she-wasn-t-happy-but-then-she-wasn-t-unhappy-she-wasn-t-anything-but/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [ “\[Aunt Dahlia to Bertie Wooster\] 'To look at you, one would think you were just an ordinary sort of amiable idiot--certifiable, perhaps, but quite… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse-3/aunt-dahlia-to-bertie-wooster-to-look-at-you-one-would-think-you-were/)

[P G Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse-3/)

> [“I've been through a bad time, Bertie, these last weeks. The sun ceased to shine - " "That's curious. We've had gorgeous weather in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/i-ve-been-through-a-bad-time-bertie-these-last-weeks-the-sun-ceased/)

[P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/)

## More by PG Wodehouse

> [“You have the most infernal habit when anyone says the simplest thing to you, of letting your lower jaw drop and looking like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/you-have-the-most-infernal-habit-when-anyone-says-the-simplest-thing/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“I am putting out the brown suit, sir.' 'No, I think I'll wear the blue with the faint red stripe.' 'Not the blue with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/i-am-putting-out-the-brown-suit-sir-no-i-think-i-ll-wear-the-blue/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“I'd always thought of Jeeves as a kind of natural phenomenon; but, by Jove! of course, when you come to think of it, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/i-d-always-thought-of-jeeves-as-a-kind-of-natural-phenomenon-but-by/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“All I tried to do was to give the little brute a cheerful expression. But, as it has worked out, he looks positively dissipated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/all-i-tried-to-do-was-to-give-the-little-brute-a-cheerful-expression-2/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“I don't want to wrong anybody, so I won't go so far as to say that she actually wrote poetry, but her conversation, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/i-don-t-want-to-wrong-anybody-so-i-won-t-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-she-2/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“Don't come near the flat!' 'But it's my own flat.' 'I can't help that. Aunt Isabel doesn't like you. She asked me what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/don-t-come-near-the-flat-but-it-s-my-own-flat-i-can-t-help-that-aunt/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“As I believe I told you before, there had been some slight unpleasantness between us, arising from the occasion when she had sent me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/as-i-believe-i-told-you-before-there-had-been-some-slight/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“That's always the way in this world. The chappies you'd like to lend money to won't let you, whereas the chappies you don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/that-s-always-the-way-in-this-world-the-chappies-you-d-like-to-lend-2/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

> [“Of course, old man, I only saw the kid once, and then only for a moment, but - but it was an ugly sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/of-course-old-man-i-only-saw-the-kid-once-and-then-only-for-a-moment/)

[PG Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

[Explore all 10 PG Wodehouse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/)

## More Suffer Agonies quotes

> [Human beings suffer agonies, and their sad fates become legends; poets write verses about them and playwrights compose dramas, and the remembrance of past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/human-beings-suffer-agonies-and-their-sad-fates-become-legends-poets/)

[Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/)

Browse all 2 Suffer Agonies quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Every time I look up and catch that kid's vacant eye, I suffer agonies. I tell you, Bertie, sometimes when he gives me a patronising glance and then turns away and is sick, as if it revolted him to look at me, I come within an ace of occupying the entire front page of the evening papers as the latest murder sensation.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "PG Wodehouse"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid-s-vacant-eye-i-suffer-agonies/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Suffer Agonies"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid-s-vacant-eye-i-suffer-agonies/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/pg-wodehouse-42042_suffer-agonies_every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid_3168327.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Every time I look up and catch that kid's vacant eye, I suffer agonies. I tell you, Bertie, sometimes when…” — PG Wodehouse",
                "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": "PG Wodehouse",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pg-wodehouse/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Every time I look up and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid-s-vacant-eye-i-suffer-agonies/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pg-wodehouse/every-time-i-look-up-and-catch-that-kid-s-vacant-eye-i-suffer-agonies/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
