--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The difference between coarse and refined…" description: "\"The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow.\" — Samuel Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png" --- # The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the… ![“The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png) > “The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Abuse varies in form; physical force vs. subtle poison cause different wounds. **In simple terms:** Coarse vs. refined abuse differ. Key Takeaway Recognize subtle forms of harm. Themes abuse psychology metaphor Mood reflective empathetic Type analysis insight When to use this quote - counseling - legal frameworks - education Key Concepts moral philosophy human behavior Questions to Reflect On - How to identify hidden abuse? - What support helps victims of covert harm? A Different Perspective Subtle abuse can be harder to prove. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Clubs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clubs/) [Cruelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Wounded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounded/) ## Related quotes > [The language denotes the man. A coarse or refined character finds its expression naturally in a coarse or refined phraseology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-language-denotes-the-man-a-coarse-or-refined-character-finds-its/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/whoever-wishes-to-attain-an-english-style-familiar-but-not-coarse-and/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words too familiar, or too remote, defeat the purpose of a poet. From those sounds which we hear on small or on coarse occasions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-too-familiar-or-too-remote-defeat-the-purpose-of-a-poet-from/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It didn’t and doesn’t turn out well. There is no happy ending to the story of sorrow if you are born with a predilection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/it-didn-t-and-doesn-t-turn-out-well-there-is-no-happy-ending-to-the/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Music may appeal to crude and coarse feelings or to refined and noble ones; and in so far as it does the latter it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/music-may-appeal-to-crude-and-coarse-feelings-or-to-refined-and-noble/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The Americans never use the word peasant, because they have no idea of the class which that term denotes; the ignorance of more remote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-americans-never-use-the-word-peasant-because-they-have-no-idea-of/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Taking food alone tends to make one hard and coarse. Those accustomed to it must lead a Spartan life if they are not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/taking-food-alone-tends-to-make-one-hard-and-coarse-those-accustomed/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [It had never occurred to him that the body of a woman of fifty, blown up to monstrous dimensions by childbearing, then hardened, roughened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-had-never-occurred-to-him-that-the-body-of-a-woman-of-fifty-blown/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [The bosom can ache beneath diamond brooches; and many a blithe heart dances under coarse wool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/the-bosom-can-ache-beneath-diamond-brooches-and-many-a-blithe-heart/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [There is no country in which so absolute a homage is paid to wealth. 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Handicrafts belong to a world existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/a-glass-pitcher-a-wicker-basket-a-tunic-of-coarse-cloth-their-beauty/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [It scored right away with me by being the smooth, fine-grained sort, not the coarse flaky, dry-on-the-outside rubbish full of chunds of gut and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/it-scored-right-away-with-me-by-being-the-smooth-fine-grained-sort/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [No man receives the full culture of a man in whom the sensibility to the beautiful is not cherished; and there is no condition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/no-man-receives-the-full-culture-of-a-man-in-whom-the-sensibility-to/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/of-what-use-is-it-to-please-the-herd-they-are-simply-coarse-animals/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [I have always considered The Merry Wives one of the worst plays, if not altogether the worst, that Shakespeare has left us. The wit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/i-have-always-considered-the-merry-wives-one-of-the-worst-plays-if/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [Being nice is okay,but don't allow anybody to abuse it...try to fight for your self when you know your on the right way...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-nice-is-okay-but-don-t-allow-anybody-to-abuse-it-try-to-fight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter it. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/build-a-bridge-over-shame-by-teaching-kids-about-sexual-abuse-give/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) > [It is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/it-is-sure-that-those-are-most-desirous-of-honour-or-glory-who-cry/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [I have a theory that all abuse, no matter what kind of abuse it is, is foremost an assault on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-westover/i-have-a-theory-that-all-abuse-no-matter-what-kind-of-abuse-it-is-is/) [Tara Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-westover/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [Finally, the scariest thing about abuse of any shape or form, is, in my opinion, not the abuse itself, but that if it continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cumming/finally-the-scariest-thing-about-abuse-of-any-shape-or-form-is-in-my/) [Alan Cumming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cumming/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Stand up for yourself. Never give any one permission to abuse you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/stand-up-for-yourself-never-give-any-one-permission-to-abuse-you/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/all-governments-should-be-pressured-to-correct-their-abuses-of-human/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [“Words are free. It does not mean you should abuse them. Be kind with them. They will mirror your actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadinet-tekie/words-are-free-it-does-not-mean-you-should-abuse-them-be-kind-with/) [Hadinet Tekie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadinet-tekie/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) [Browse all 3,113 Abuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-difference-between-coarse-and-refined-abuse-is-the-difference/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abuse" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-difference-between-coarse-and-refined-abuse-is-the-difference/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/samuel-johnson-50_abuse_the-difference-between-coarse-and-refine_2793515.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and…” — Samuel Johnson", "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": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The difference between coarse and refined...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-difference-between-coarse-and-refined-abuse-is-the-difference/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-difference-between-coarse-and-refined-abuse-is-the-difference/#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 } } ] } ```