--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No man is boss in his own home, but he…" description: "\"No man is boss in his own home, but he can make up for it, he thinks, by making a dog play dead.\" — W. C. Fields" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png" --- # No man is boss in his own home, but he can make up for it… ![“No man is boss in his own home, but he can make up for it, he thinks, by making a dog play dead.” quote by W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png) > “No man is boss in his own home, but he can make up for it, he thinks, by making a dog play dead.” [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uses humor to suggest that a man lacks authority at home, but compensates by making his dog appear dead, highlighting absurd coping mechanisms. **In simple terms:** Man lacks home authority; uses dog trick. Key Takeaway Recognize unhealthy power dynamics. Themes humor authority family dynamics Mood satirical light‑hearted Type humorous observational When to use this quote - family gatherings - stress relief - pet training - role‑play games Key Concepts Psychology social satire Questions to Reflect On - Why do people use absurdity to cope? - What healthier alternatives exist? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay serious issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Boss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boss/) [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pet/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [No man is the boss of his own house, but he can make up for it, he thinks, by making a dog play dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/no-man-is-the-boss-of-his-own-house-but-he-can-make-up-for-it-he/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [There are so many professional women who have to be this boss, but when they get home, it's like, 'Can someone take care of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-orji/there-are-so-many-professional-women-who-have-to-be-this-boss-but/) [Yvonne Orji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-orji/) > [My wife is the boss at home, and my daughters are the bosses. I am just the worker. We are a very warm family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jet-li/my-wife-is-the-boss-at-home-and-my-daughters-are-the-bosses-i-am-just/) [Jet Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jet-li/) > [Be alert as you watch a dog at play or at rest. Let the animal teach you to feel at home in the now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/be-alert-as-you-watch-a-dog-at-play-or-at-rest-let-the-animal-teach/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Sometimes I wonder how you can stand being just a dog..." "You play with the cards you're dealt... Whatever that means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/sometimes-i-wonder-how-you-can-stand-being-just-a-dog-you-play-with/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [“I wanted Bird Dog to play that game like I wanted a sack of hammers across the jaw.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-ryan/i-wanted-bird-dog-to-play-that-game-like-i-wanted-a-sack-of-hammers/) [Terry Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-ryan/) > [“Readers who have owned animals will appreciate how difficult it would be to train a dog to play exclusively in his own yard, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gordon/readers-who-have-owned-animals-will-appreciate-how-difficult-it-would/) [Thomas Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gordon/) > [More power than all the success slogans ever penned by human hand is the realization for every man that he has but one boss.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-heatter/more-power-than-all-the-success-slogans-ever-penned-by-human-hand-is/) Gabriel Heatter > [Man, I made myself a boss and then I gave me a promotion and I step into the booth and change the world like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/man-i-made-myself-a-boss-and-then-i-gave-me-a-promotion-and-i-step/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [People in this day and age are still under the illusion that every woman who is successful must be being controlled by a man...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-allen/people-in-this-day-and-age-are-still-under-the-illusion-that-every/) [Lily Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-allen/) > [When you run an organization like the Teamsters one man has to be the boss and run things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-hoffa/when-you-run-an-organization-like-the-teamsters-one-man-has-to-be-the/) [Jimmy Hoffa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-hoffa/) > [“It's been a long time since I let a man boss me around. I kind of miss it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-reisz/it-s-been-a-long-time-since-i-let-a-man-boss-me-around-i-kind-of-miss/) [Tiffany Reisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-reisz/) > [I like watching a man boss everybody around. It's so sexy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-tunney/i-like-watching-a-man-boss-everybody-around-it-s-so-sexy/) [Robin Tunney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-tunney/) > [How can another man call another man boss? That's like calling another man 'Daddy.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-dash/how-can-another-man-call-another-man-boss-that-s-like-calling-another/) [Damon Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-dash/) > [A good man likes a hard boss. I don't mean a nagging boss or a grouchy boss. I mean a boss who insists on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/a-good-man-likes-a-hard-boss-i-don-t-mean-a-nagging-boss-or-a-grouchy/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) ## More by W. C. Fields > [Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house unless they have a well-stocked bar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/thou-shalt-not-covet-thy-neighbor-s-house-unless-they-have-a-well/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Take me down to the bar! We'll drink breakfast together!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/take-me-down-to-the-bar-we-ll-drink-breakfast-together/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/there-comes-a-time-in-the-affairs-of-man-when-he-must-take-the-bull/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [If pigs had wings, they would be pigeons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/if-pigs-had-wings-they-would-be-pigeons/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [I feel like a midget with muddy feet had been walking over my tongue all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-feel-like-a-midget-with-muddy-feet-had-been-walking-over-my-tongue/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [What would you do if you were President, and, on the first day of May, the Russian Ambassador presented you with a beautiful cake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-president-and-on-the-first-day-of-may/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [My illness is due to my doctor's insistence that I drink milk, a whitish fluid they force down helpless babies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/my-illness-is-due-to-my-doctor-s-insistence-that-i-drink-milk-a/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [I am an expert of electricity. My father occupied the chair of applied electricity at the state prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-am-an-expert-of-electricity-my-father-occupied-the-chair-of-applied/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Bert Williams was the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/bert-williams-was-the-funniest-man-i-ever-saw-and-the-saddest-man-i/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [A comic should suffer as much over a single line as a man with a hernia would in picking up a heavy barbell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/a-comic-should-suffer-as-much-over-a-single-line-as-a-man-with-a/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [All my available funds are completely tied up in cash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/all-my-available-funds-are-completely-tied-up-in-cash/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Back in my rummy days, I would tremble and shake for hours upon arising. It was the only exercise I got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/back-in-my-rummy-days-i-would-tremble-and-shake-for-hours-upon/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Happiness means quiet nerves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/happiness-means-quiet-nerves/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [W. C. Fields, a lifetime agnostic, was discovered reading a Bible on his deathbed. ''I'm looking for a loop-hole,'' he explained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/w-c-fields-a-lifetime-agnostic-was-discovered-reading-a-bible-on-his/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [The movie people would have nothing to do with me until they heard me speak in a Broadway play, then they all wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/the-movie-people-would-have-nothing-to-do-with-me-until-they-heard-me/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) [Explore all 221 W. C. Fields quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No man is boss in his own home, but he can make up for it, he thinks, by making a dog play dead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. C. Fields" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-can-make-up-for-it-he-thinks-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-can-make-up-for-it-he-thinks-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/w-c-fields-1625_animal_no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-ca_801733.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No man is boss in his own home, but he can make up for it, he thinks, by making a dog play dead.” — W. C. Fields", "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": "W. C. Fields", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No man is boss in his...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-can-make-up-for-it-he-thinks-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/no-man-is-boss-in-his-own-home-but-he-can-make-up-for-it-he-thinks-by/#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 } } ] } ```