--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was thinking, \"So, I’m Emperor, am I?…" description: "\"I was thinking, \"So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.\" — Robert Graves" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/robert-graves-2410_able_i-was-thinking-so-i-m-emperor-am-i-what_3188026.png" --- # I was thinking, "So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But… ![“I was thinking, "So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.” quote by Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/robert-graves-2410_able_i-was-thinking-so-i-m-emperor-am-i-what_3188026.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/robert-graves-2410_able_i-was-thinking-so-i-m-emperor-am-i-what_3188026.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/robert-graves-2410_able_i-was-thinking-so-i-m-emperor-am-i-what_3188026.png) > “I was thinking, "So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.” [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) ## 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 mocks the absurdity of power while seeing a personal benefit in fame and influence. **In simple terms:** Power feels absurd, yet fame offers a perk. Key Takeaway Recognize the irony of authority. Themes power ego literature Mood wry reflective Type satirical literary When to use this quote - publishing - public speaking - political satire Key Concepts self‑awareness humor authorial ambition Questions to Reflect On - How does fame change your view of responsibility? - When does satire become sincere? A Different Perspective The humor may downplay real consequences of power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Emperor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emperor/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I have to get out once a week and speak with people or I start thinking I'm the emperor of Abyssinia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/i-have-to-get-out-once-a-week-and-speak-with-people-or-i-start/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“And what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? Was I thinking of the Sibyl's prophecy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/and-what-thoughts-or-memories-would-you-guess-were-passing-through-my/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [I want people to read good work. If I see someone reading a book by Lorrie Moore or Jennifer Egan, I'm psyched. If I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-alarcon/i-want-people-to-read-good-work-if-i-see-someone-reading-a-book-by/) [Daniel Alarcon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-alarcon/) > [Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/despite-the-enormous-quantity-of-books-how-few-people-read-and-if-one/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Instagram is like twitter but it is for people who can't read!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instagram-is-like-twitter-but-it-is-for-people-who-can-t-read/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you write a book for publication, you're writing it for other people to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/when-you-write-a-book-for-publication-you-re-writing-it-for-other/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [Young people read their news online; they expect to get their news for free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/young-people-read-their-news-online-they-expect-to-get-their-news-for/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [In my work, we're not looking at an icon, we're not looking at a sign, we're not looking at a representation. We're looking at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/in-my-work-we-re-not-looking-at-an-icon-we-re-not-looking-at-a-sign/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [Because so many people use goodreads, it is an amazingly good—and amazingly underutilized—resource for understanding what people read, why, and how they feel about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/because-so-many-people-use-goodreads-it-is-an-amazingly-good-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think people read the tabloids because they want to see you eating a burger, or out of your makeup or doing something stupid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/i-think-people-read-the-tabloids-because-they-want-to-see-you-eating/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [“People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse of history's rags and straws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/people-read-what-news-they-wanted-to-and-each-accordingly-built-his/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [I am never usually taking myself too seriously and I think that people when they read stuff from me, they have to realise that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/i-am-never-usually-taking-myself-too-seriously-and-i-think-that/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I think people can read authenticity and they know when you're involved and when you're just slapping your name on something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-la-anthony/i-think-people-can-read-authenticity-and-they-know-when-you-re/) [La La Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-la-anthony/) > [“I just want to stay away from people and read books and think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-just-want-to-stay-away-from-people-and-read-books-and-think/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More by Robert Graves > [The poet's first rule must be never to bore his readers; and his best way of keeping this rule is never to bore himself-which,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-poet-s-first-rule-must-be-never-to-bore-his-readers-and-his-best/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [She told me that all the girls in Annezin prayed every night for the war to end and for the English to go away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/she-told-me-that-all-the-girls-in-annezin-prayed-every-night-for-the/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“As quick as boiled asparagus!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-quick-as-boiled-asparagus/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Children born of fairy stock Never need for shirt or frock Never want for food or fire Always get their heart's desire Jingle pockets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/children-born-of-fairy-stock-never-need-for-shirt-or-frock-never-want/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [To know only one thing well is to have a barbaric mind: civilization implies the graceful relation of all varieties of experience to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/to-know-only-one-thing-well-is-to-have-a-barbaric-mind-civilization/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Before an attack, the platoon pools all its available cash and the survivors divide it up afterwards. 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The one-legged man forgets his leg of wood. The one-armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/entrance-and-exit-wounds-aresilvered-clean-the-track-aches-only-when/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [What we now call "finance" is, I hold, an intellectual perversion of what began as warm human love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/what-we-now-call-finance-is-i-hold-an-intellectual-perversion-of-what/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Manticor in Arabia (The manticors of the montaines Mighte feed them on thy braines.--Skelton.) Thick and scented daisies spread Where with surface dull like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/manticor-in-arabia-the-manticors-of-the-montaines-mighte-feed-them-on/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [As you are woman, so be lovely: As you are lovely, so be various, Merciful as constant, constant as various, So be mine, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-you-are-woman-so-be-lovely-as-you-are-lovely-so-be-various/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Philosophy is antipoetic. Philosophize about mankind and you brush aside individual uniqueness, which a poet cannot do without self-damage. Unless, for a start, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/philosophy-is-antipoetic-philosophize-about-mankind-and-you-brush/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Abstract reason, formerly the servant of practical human reasons, has everywhere become its master, and denies poetry any excuse for existence. Though philosophers like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/abstract-reason-formerly-the-servant-of-practical-human-reasons-has/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) [Explore all 166 Robert Graves quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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