--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am willing to admit that some people…" description: "\"I am willing to admit that some people might live there for years, or even a lifetime, so protected that they never sense the sweet stench of corruptio..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/thomas-merton-231_accusation_i-am-willing-to-admit-that-some-people-m_1256115.jpg" --- # I am willing to admit that some people might live there… ![“I am willing to admit that some people might live there for years, or even a lifetime, so protected that they never sense the sweet stench of corruption that is all around them - the keen, thin scent of decay that pervades everything and accuses with a terrible accusation the superficial…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/thomas-merton-231_accusation_i-am-willing-to-admit-that-some-people-m_1256115.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/thomas-merton-231_accusation_i-am-willing-to-admit-that-some-people-m_1256115.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/thomas-merton-231_accusation_i-am-willing-to-admit-that-some-people-m_1256115.jpg) > “I am willing to admit that some people might live there for years, or even a lifetime, so protected that they never sense the sweet stench of corruption that is all around them - the keen, thin scent of decay that pervades everything and accuses with a terrible accusation the superficial youthfulness, the abounding undergraduate noise, that fills those ancient buildings.” [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that long‑term comfort can blind people to pervasive moral decay surrounding them. **In simple terms:** Comfort can hide corruption. Key Takeaway Stay vigilant against hidden decay. Themes morality awareness comfort corruption youth Mood reflective somber Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic life - corporate culture - urban development - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism social critique ethical blindness Questions to Reflect On - Do you overlook decay in familiar settings? - How can you cultivate awareness without cynicism? A Different Perspective Blindness can be self‑imposed, not just external. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accusation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accusation/) [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [College](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Corruption Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption-keen-3976800/) [Decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decay/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Noise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noise/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Protected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protected/) [Scent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scent/) [Scent Decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scent-decay-3976798/) [Stench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stench/) [Stench Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stench-corruption-3976795/) [Superficial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superficial/) [Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet/) [Sweet Stench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet-stench-3976797/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Undergraduate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undergraduate/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [Willing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willing/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Youthfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youthfulness/) ## Related quotes > [Fascism: awful stench of saw and axe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-leiris/fascism-awful-stench-of-saw-and-axe/) [Michel Leiris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-leiris/) > [“It'd taken another half hour under the shower to peel his throbbing eyes open and get rid of the stench of cheap whiskey and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-ivy/it-d-taken-another-half-hour-under-the-shower-to-peel-his-throbbing/) [Alexandra Ivy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-ivy/) > [“Good thing about bad rubbish is you can make the stench go away just by covering it up. It never comes back as long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/good-thing-about-bad-rubbish-is-you-can-make-the-stench-go-away-just/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“The bell rang again. I climbed down the carpeted stairs into the chilly hallway and opened the front door. There were no streetlights, bins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-porter/the-bell-rang-again-i-climbed-down-the-carpeted-stairs-into-the/) [Max Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-porter/) > [Writer speaks a stench.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/writer-speaks-a-stench/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Girl I loved you but you stuck your face in bullshit and I couldnt take your stench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/binkuki/girl-i-loved-you-but-you-stuck-your-face-in-bullshit-and-i-couldnt/) [Binkuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/binkuki/) > [Like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/like-a-man-who-has-been-dying-for-many-days-a-man-in-your-city-is/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [“Some people are like gravity; they draw you into a room with a hop in your step and a smile on your face. Others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/some-people-are-like-gravity-they-draw-you-into-a-room-with-a-hop-in/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [On the downside, to paraphrase Thom Yorke talking about the music business, we're still having to deal with the stench of the last fart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/on-the-downside-to-paraphrase-thom-yorke-talking-about-the-music/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [“The stench that surrounded me suggested that the tarp over my face had been previously used either to transport fertiliser or as toilet paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabel-monaghan/the-stench-that-surrounded-me-suggested-that-the-tarp-over-my-face/) [Annabel Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabel-monaghan/) > [“Why do you need to see him? 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The rigidity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-mission-of-christian-humility-in-social-life-is-not-merely-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/peace-cannot-be-built-on-exclusivism-absolutism-and-intolerance-but/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Things that are good are good, and if one is responding to that goodness one is in contact with a truth from which one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/things-that-are-good-are-good-and-if-one-is-responding-to-that/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Love winter when the plant says nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-winter-when-the-plant-says-nothing/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-logic-of-worldly-success-rests-on-a-fallacy-the-strange-error/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“The wisdom of the flesh is a judgement that the ordinary ends of our natural appetites are the goods to which the whole of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-wisdom-of-the-flesh-is-a-judgement-that-the-ordinary-ends-of-our/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns: that is a penance You do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-will-no-longer-wound-myself-with-the-thoughts-and-questions-that/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy. 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Bands themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-johnson/this-hype-word-bothers-me-though-it-always-sounds-like-an-accusation/) [Holly Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-johnson/) > [Knowledge of God's Word is a bulwark against deception, temptation, accusation, even persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/knowledge-of-god-s-word-is-a-bulwark-against-deception-temptation/) [Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/) > [I never mind the accusations of domesticity, as long as people recognise that all of us, even the luckiest, will live lives in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-never-mind-the-accusations-of-domesticity-as-long-as-people/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [As so often, a political event involving Donald Trump looks like swinging wildly between melodrama and farce. 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Give it back now! And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hermione-will-you-please-don-t-you-tell-me-what-to-do-harry-potter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sentimentalist” is the abuse with which people counter the accusation that they are cruel, thereby implying that to be sentimental is worse than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/sentimentalist-is-the-abuse-with-which-people-counter-the-accusation/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [In every relationship, sooner or later, there is a court scene. 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