--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a special Providence that…" description: "\"There is a special Providence that watches over idiots, drunken men, and boys.\" — Thomas Bailey Aldrich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png" --- # There is a special Providence that watches over idiots… ![“There is a special Providence that watches over idiots, drunken men, and boys.” quote by Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png) > “There is a special Providence that watches over idiots, drunken men, and boys.” [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A benevolent force watches over the foolish, the drunk, and the youthful, implying a protective, perhaps humorous, oversight. **In simple terms:** Even the reckless are watched over. Key Takeaway Recognize unseen guidance. Themes fate providence human frailty Mood wry thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - social services - personal growth Key Concepts theology literary satire Questions to Reflect On - What does “special Providence” mean to you? - How does this idea affect accountability? A Different Perspective May be seen as dismissive of responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Providence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/providence/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [The Providence that watches over the affairs of men works out of their mistakes, at times, a healthier issue than could have been accomplished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/the-providence-that-watches-over-the-affairs-of-men-works-out-of/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [The young are heated by Nature as drunken men by wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-young-are-heated-by-nature-as-drunken-men-by-wine/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Drunken men give some of the best pep talks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/drunken-men-give-some-of-the-best-pep-talks/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/young-men-are-apt-to-think-themselves-wise-enough-as-drunken-men-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nuns go by as quiet as lust, and drunken men with sober eyes sing in the lobby of the Greek hotel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/nuns-go-by-as-quiet-as-lust-and-drunken-men-with-sober-eyes-sing-in/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Wits, like drunken men with swords, are apt to draw their steel upon their best acquaintances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-william-jerrold/wits-like-drunken-men-with-swords-are-apt-to-draw-their-steel-upon/) [Douglas William Jerrold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-william-jerrold/) > [There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/there-is-a-providence-that-protects-idiots-drunkards-children-and-the/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Love should be between 2 people who love one another but some idiots dont know how to count](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mee/love-should-be-between-2-people-who-love-one-another-but-some-idiots/) [Mee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mee/) > [There are not enough retarded people on this earth because the idiots are still alive. Jennifer Amorelli.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-amorelli/there-are-not-enough-retarded-people-on-this-earth-because-the-idiots/) [Jennifer Amorelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-amorelli/) > [Studio people are idiots. Until they see someone else doing it and make a success of it, they don't open their minds. Most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-schneider/studio-people-are-idiots-until-they-see-someone-else-doing-it-and/) [Rob Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-schneider/) > [If Girl In Luv, Hr Parents Ask: Who Is Dat Idiot? If Boy In Luv, His Parents Ask: Idiot, Who Is Dat Girl? Moral:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie/if-girl-in-luv-hr-parents-ask-who-is-dat-idiot-if-boy-in-luv-his/) [Sadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadie/) > [I'm fed up with the idiots... the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and the people who green-light the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-connery/i-m-fed-up-with-the-idiots-the-ever-widening-gap-between-people-who/) [Sean Connery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-connery/) > [Solemnity is the shield of idiots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solemnity-is-the-shield-of-idiots/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Boy, did she love those idiots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emory-r-frie/boy-did-she-love-those-idiots/) [Emory R. Frie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emory-r-frie/) > [“By their very nature, idiots do not have the intellectual capacity to identify genius. All that idiots are mentally equipped to recognize are other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dermot-davis/by-their-very-nature-idiots-do-not-have-the-intellectual-capacity-to/) [Dermot Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dermot-davis/) ## More by Thomas Bailey Aldrich > [No bird has ever uttered note That was not in some first bird's throat; Since Eden's freshness and man's fall No rose has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/no-bird-has-ever-uttered-note-that-was-not-in-some-first-bird-s/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [There is no man at once so unselfish and selfish as a man in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-no-man-at-once-so-unselfish-and-selfish-as-a-man-in-love/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [I have frequently noticed how circumstances conspire to help a man, or a boy, when he has thoroughly resolved on doing a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/i-have-frequently-noticed-how-circumstances-conspire-to-help-a-man-or/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Everywhere on the Continent, the tourist is looked upon as a bird to be plucked, and presently the bird himself feebly comes to regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/everywhere-on-the-continent-the-tourist-is-looked-upon-as-a-bird-to/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Imagine all human beings swept off the face of the earth, excepting one man. Imagine this man in some vast city, New York or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/imagine-all-human-beings-swept-off-the-face-of-the-earth-excepting/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The possession of gold has ruined fewer men than the lack of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-possession-of-gold-has-ruined-fewer-men-than-the-lack-of-it/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [“..Fell over the prostrate steersman, and there we all lay in a heep, two or three of us quite picturesque with the nosebleed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/fell-over-the-prostrate-steersman-and-there-we-all-lay-in-a-heep-two/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [A man should have duties outside of himself; without them, he is a mere balloon, inflated with thin egotism and drifting nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/a-man-should-have-duties-outside-of-himself-without-them-he-is-a-mere/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Great thoughts in crude, unshapely verse set forth lose half their preciousness, and ever must, unless the diamond with its own rich dust be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/great-thoughts-in-crude-unshapely-verse-set-forth-lose-half-their/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [So I sit there kicked my heels, thinking about New Orleans, and watching a morbid blue-bottle fly attempt to commit suicide by butting his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/so-i-sit-there-kicked-my-heels-thinking-about-new-orleans-and/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [What is more cheerful, now, in the fall of the year, than an open-wood-fire? Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-more-cheerful-now-in-the-fall-of-the-year-than-an-open-wood/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Decoration Day is the most beautiful of our national holidays… The grim cannon have turned into palm branches, and the shell and shrapnel into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/decoration-day-is-the-most-beautiful-of-our-national-holidays-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Famous old houses seem to have an intuitive perception of the value of corner lots. If it is a possible thing, they always set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/famous-old-houses-seem-to-have-an-intuitive-perception-of-the-value/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Every man has within himself a gold mine whose riches are limited only by his own industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/every-man-has-within-himself-a-gold-mine-whose-riches-are-limited/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The fate of the worm refutes the pretended ethical teaching of the proverb, which assumes to illustrate the advantage of early rising and does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-fate-of-the-worm-refutes-the-pretended-ethical-teaching-of-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) [Explore all 116 Thomas Bailey Aldrich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) ## More Idiots quotes > [“By their very nature, idiots do not have the intellectual capacity to identify genius. All that idiots are mentally equipped to recognize are other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dermot-davis/by-their-very-nature-idiots-do-not-have-the-intellectual-capacity-to/) [Dermot Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dermot-davis/) > [“Boy, did she love those idiots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emory-r-frie/boy-did-she-love-those-idiots/) [Emory R. Frie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emory-r-frie/) > [Solemnity is the shield of idiots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solemnity-is-the-shield-of-idiots/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm fed up with the idiots... the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and the people who green-light the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-connery/i-m-fed-up-with-the-idiots-the-ever-widening-gap-between-people-who/) [Sean Connery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-connery/) > [If Girl In Luv, Hr Parents Ask: Who Is Dat Idiot? If Boy In Luv, His Parents Ask: Idiot, Who Is Dat Girl? Moral:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie/if-girl-in-luv-hr-parents-ask-who-is-dat-idiot-if-boy-in-luv-his/) [Sadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadie/) > [Studio people are idiots. Until they see someone else doing it and make a success of it, they don't open their minds. Most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-schneider/studio-people-are-idiots-until-they-see-someone-else-doing-it-and/) [Rob Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-schneider/) > [There are not enough retarded people on this earth because the idiots are still alive. Jennifer Amorelli.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-amorelli/there-are-not-enough-retarded-people-on-this-earth-because-the-idiots/) [Jennifer Amorelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-amorelli/) > [Love should be between 2 people who love one another but some idiots dont know how to count](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mee/love-should-be-between-2-people-who-love-one-another-but-some-idiots/) [Mee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mee/) > [On entering this world our starting-point is ignorance. None, however, but idiots remain there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/on-entering-this-world-our-starting-point-is-ignorance-none-however/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [God preserve me from idiots and men in love, which is the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-v-heberden/god-preserve-me-from-idiots-and-men-in-love-which-is-the-same-thing/) M. V. Heberden > [Forget the idiots, they're going to see what they want to see, even if you change. They don't want to see you happy. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forget-the-idiots-they-re-going-to-see-what-they-want-to-see-even-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Missing out an apostrophe or two does not make you an idiot. But equating party allegiance with nationhood certainly makes you a thug. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-webb/missing-out-an-apostrophe-or-two-does-not-make-you-an-idiot-but/) [Robert Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-webb/) > [Humanity is OK, but 99% of people are boring idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/humanity-is-ok-but-99-of-people-are-boring-idiots/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Build a company that idiots could run because eventually they will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-rabois/build-a-company-that-idiots-could-run-because-eventually-they-will/) [Keith Rabois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-rabois/) > [Las Vegas turns women into men and men into idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bugsy-siegel/las-vegas-turns-women-into-men-and-men-into-idiots/) Bugsy Siegel Browse all 465 Idiots quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is a special Providence that watches over idiots, drunken men, and boys.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Bailey Aldrich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-a-special-providence-that-watches-over-idiots-drunken-men/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Idiots" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-a-special-providence-that-watches-over-idiots-drunken-men/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_idiots_there-is-a-special-providence-that-watch_2886772.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is a special Providence that watches over idiots, drunken men, and boys.” — Thomas Bailey Aldrich", "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": "Thomas Bailey Aldrich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is a special Providence that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-a-special-providence-that-watches-over-idiots-drunken-men/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-a-special-providence-that-watches-over-idiots-drunken-men/#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 } } ] } ```