--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At last Paul went on. \"I know how it is…" description: "\"“At last Paul went on. \"I know how it is, son. You won't do it, you haven't the nerve for it-you're soft.\" He waited, while those cruel words sank in. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fe/upton-sinclair-4341_cruel_at-last-paul-went-on-i-know-how-it-is-so_1354378.png" --- # At last Paul went on. "I know how it is, son. You won't do… ![“At last Paul went on. "I know how it is, son. You won't do it, you haven't the nerve for it-you're soft." He waited, while those cruel words sank in. "Yes, that's the word, soft. You've always had everything you wanted- you've had it handed to you on a silver tray, and it's made you a weakling…” quote by Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fe/upton-sinclair-4341_cruel_at-last-paul-went-on-i-know-how-it-is-so_1354378.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fe/upton-sinclair-4341_cruel_at-last-paul-went-on-i-know-how-it-is-so_1354378.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fe/upton-sinclair-4341_cruel_at-last-paul-went-on-i-know-how-it-is-so_1354378.png) > ““At last Paul went on. "I know how it is, son. You won't do it, you haven't the nerve for it-you're soft." He waited, while those cruel words sank in. "Yes, that's the word, soft. You've always had everything you wanted- you've had it handed to you on a silver tray, and it's made you a weakling. You have a good heart, you know what's right, but you couldn't bear to act, you'd be too afraid of hurting somebody.”” [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A mentor harshly criticizes a young man for being soft, blaming his privileged upbringing for his lack of courage and action. **In simple terms:** Privilege can make people fearful and inactive despite good intentions. Key Takeaway Challenge comfort zones and act. Themes courage privilege growth Mood critical motivational Type advice reflective When to use this quote - career decisions - activism - personal development - mentorship - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts psychology ethics social critique Questions to Reflect On - How can you develop courage without harsh judgment? - What role does privilege play in your choices? A Different Perspective Harsh criticism can damage confidence; constructive guidance may work better. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cruel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel/) [Cruel Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel-words-2411634/) [Good heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-heart/) [Soft Waited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soft-waited-4616988/) [St Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/st-paul/) [Waited Cruel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waited-cruel-4616987/) [Weakling Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakling-good-4616989/) ## Related quotes > [Words can hurt us far more than sticks and stones. Bruises heal. Cruel words can make us cry for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-can-hurt-us-far-more-than-sticks-and-stones-bruises-heal-cruel/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cruel words erode the self-esteem like the ocean eats away the shore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-van-buren/cruel-words-erode-the-self-esteem-like-the-ocean-eats-away-the-shore/) [Abigail Van Buren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-van-buren/) > [“…The terrors are real. They come in the night when I sleep. I try to fight them but they nearly always win. Everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raine-miller/the-terrors-are-real-they-come-in-the-night-when-i-sleep-i-try-to/) [Raine Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raine-miller/) > [“A little bit of hatred can spoil a score of years And blur the eyes that ought to smile with many needless tears. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-guest/a-little-bit-of-hatred-can-spoil-a-score-of-years-and-blur-the-eyes/) [Edgar Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-guest/) > [“It is only once you see the baffled expression on the face of your enemy when you give his cruel words a warm smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/it-is-only-once-you-see-the-baffled-expression-on-the-face-of-your/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [“Not my job to judge, boy." Baba Yaga filled and lit the pipe again. "But I do observe that its difficult to escape familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-harper/not-my-job-to-judge-boy-baba-yaga-filled-and-lit-the-pipe-again-but-i/) [Steven Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-harper/) > [“My self-wroth is not linked to your cruel words and actions. My self-esteem is not affected by your deliberate attempts to destroy my character.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-cohen/my-self-wroth-is-not-linked-to-your-cruel-words-and-actions-my-self/) [Marina Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-cohen/) > [She was quiet for a moment or two. Then she said: Cruel words are a terrible thing, Quash. Sometimes you regret them. But what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-rutherfurd/she-was-quiet-for-a-moment-or-two-then-she-said-cruel-words-are-a/) [Edward Rutherfurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-rutherfurd/) > [“Then you must no longer think cruel thought. Cruel thoughts lead to cruel words, and hurt you as much as they hurt their target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/then-you-must-no-longer-think-cruel-thought-cruel-thoughts-lead-to/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“The strength of the familiar electromagnetic force between two electrons, for example, is expressed in physics in terms of a constant known as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-livio/the-strength-of-the-familiar-electromagnetic-force-between-two/) [Mario Livio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-livio/) > [“However, as a guarantee of its renewed youth, the symbolical phoenix never reappeared before the eyes of the world without having consumed solemnly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/however-as-a-guarantee-of-its-renewed-youth-the-symbolical-phoenix/) [Éliphas Lévi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [As in nature, as in the arts, so in grace; it is rough treatment that gives souls as well as stones their lustre; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-guthrie/as-in-nature-as-in-the-arts-so-in-grace-it-is-rough-treatment-that/) [Thomas Guthrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-guthrie/) > [“Environmentalist Paul Hawken, in the 2009 commencement address to the University of Portland, said, “Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-j-pastor/environmentalist-paul-hawken-in-the-2009-commencement-address-to-the/) [Paul J. Pastor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-j-pastor/) > [“Coined by ecologist Eugene Stoermer in the 1980s, but popularized by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen in 2002, the term Anthropocene refers to the geological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-eisenberg/coined-by-ecologist-eugene-stoermer-in-the-1980s-but-popularized-by/) [Cristina Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-eisenberg/) > [Wherever St. Paul went, there was a riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright-2/wherever-st-paul-went-there-was-a-riot-wherever-i-go-they-serve-tea/) [N. T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright-2/) ## More by Upton Sinclair > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [You don't have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it. I didn't like the way I found America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/you-don-t-have-to-be-satisfied-with-america-as-you-find-it-you-can/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“A wonderful privilege it was to be thus admitted into the soul of a man of genius, to be allowed to share the ecstasies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/a-wonderful-privilege-it-was-to-be-thus-admitted-into-the-soul-of-a/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“...the souls of none of them were dead, but only sleeping; now and then they would waken, and these were cruel times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-souls-of-none-of-them-were-dead-but-only-sleeping-now-and-then/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“He learned that love is not all pleasure, but can be agony and heartache, martyrdom and sacrifice. He learned what the clergyman was talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/he-learned-that-love-is-not-all-pleasure-but-can-be-agony-and/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [I am sustained by a sense of the worthwhileness of what I am doing; a trust in the good faith of the process which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/i-am-sustained-by-a-sense-of-the-worthwhileness-of-what-i-am-doing-a/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“We have a flabby public opinion which would wring its hands in anguish if we took the labor leader by the scruff of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/we-have-a-flabby-public-opinion-which-would-wring-its-hands-in/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“He seemed to be growing conservative, allying himself with Göring’s friends, the great industrialists, and forgetting the promises he had made to the common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/he-seemed-to-be-growing-conservative-allying-himself-with-g-ring-s/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [The first thing brought forth by the study of any religion, ancient or modern, is that it is based upon Fear, born of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-first-thing-brought-forth-by-the-study-of-any-religion-ancient-or/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [American journalism is a class institution, serving the rich and spurning the poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/american-journalism-is-a-class-institution-serving-the-rich-and/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“Now I ask you: could any muck-raker in a rage make up a list of titles more completely expressive of vulgarity, commercialism and general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/now-i-ask-you-could-any-muck-raker-in-a-rage-make-up-a-list-of-titles/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“In that country, rich or poor, a man was free... So America was a place of which lovers and young people dreamed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/in-that-country-rich-or-poor-a-man-was-free-so-america-was-a-place-of/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“Study and think and improve your mind, and keep it clear of all this fog of hatred and propaganda”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/study-and-think-and-improve-your-mind-and-keep-it-clear-of-all-this/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-private-control-of-credit-is-the-modern-form-of-slavery/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“When one comes to the ultra-modern profession of advertising," responded Schliemann—"the science of persuading people to buy what they do not want—he is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/when-one-comes-to-the-ultra-modern-profession-of-advertising/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) [Explore all 112 Upton Sinclair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) ## More Cruel quotes > [“History has a cruel way of disappointing optimists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-thompson/history-has-a-cruel-way-of-disappointing-optimists/) [Keith Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-thompson/) > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“Don't be so cruel to me. Don't promise me anything. I've got everything that i need. I need love in a good way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tegan-quin/don-t-be-so-cruel-to-me-don-t-promise-me-anything-i-ve-got-everything/) [Tegan Quin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tegan-quin/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Even the cruel feel pain. And even the cruel can change. I hope this changes him. He could do so much, if only he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/even-the-cruel-feel-pain-and-even-the-cruel-can-change-i-hope-this/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [You must learn that to endure cruelty is to become cruel yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bleach/you-must-learn-that-to-endure-cruelty-is-to-become-cruel-yourself/) [Bleach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bleach/) > [“my power is as cruel a joke as it can get? That’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-d-anderson/my-power-is-as-cruel-a-joke-as-it-can-get-that-s/) [Katie D. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-d-anderson/) > [I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-must-be-cruel-only-to-be-kind-thus-bad-begins-and-worse-remains/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Huamns, uregulated, are cruel and capricious; violet and selfish; miserable and quarrelsome. It is only after their instincts and basic emotions have been controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/huamns-uregulated-are-cruel-and-capricious-violet-and-selfish/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“You would think those who have endured unkindness would be kinder as a result, intent on sparing others the awful suffering they abhorred firsthand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/you-would-think-those-who-have-endured-unkindness-would-be-kinder-as/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [There is no kindness more cruel than the kindness which consigns another person to their sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-is-no-kindness-more-cruel-than-the-kindness-which-consigns/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Vanity can create a very cruel space for you if you don't know how to manage it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/vanity-can-create-a-very-cruel-space-for-you-if-you-don-t-know-how-to/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [Life is cruel and we do terrible things to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-pym/life-is-cruel-and-we-do-terrible-things-to-each-other/) [Barbara Pym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-pym/) > [What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-people-loathe-the-most-is-to-be-orphaned-desolate-unworthy-but/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) [Browse all 1,069 Cruel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“At last Paul went on. \"I know how it is, son. You won't do it, you haven't the nerve for it-you're soft.\" He waited, while those cruel words sank in. \"Yes, that's the word, soft. You've always had everything you wanted- you've had it handed to you on a silver tray, and it's made you a weakling. 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