One of the disadvantages of being a patrician is that occasionally you’re obliged to act like one.
Meaning of the quote
Being a privileged person can come with a downside - sometimes you have to act like a privileged person, even if you don't want to. This quote suggests that even if you belong to the upper class, you may not always enjoy having to behave in a way that shows your social status.
About Dalton Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo was an acclaimed American screenwriter who overcame the Hollywood blacklist to win two Academy Awards. Despite being one of the “Hollywood Ten” who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Trumbo continued to write award-winning films under pseudonyms until his credits were finally restored in the 1960s.
More quotes from Dalton Trumbo
One of the disadvantages of being a patrician is that occasionally you’re obliged to act like one.
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I never considered the working class anything other than something to get out of.
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I fought fire with oil.
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Privately, I believe in none of them. Neither do you. Publicly, I believe in them all.
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Now the truth of the matter is that there are a lot of things people don’t understand. Take the Einstein theory. Take taxes. Take love. Do you understand them? Neither do I. But they exist. They happen.
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A good businessman never makes a contract unless he’s sure he can carry it through, yet every fool on earth is perfectly willing to sign a marriage contract without considering whether he can live up to it or not.
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I am one day going to be working openly in the motion picture industry. When that day comes, I swear to you that I will never sign a term contract with any major studio.
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Everybody now seems to be talking about democracy. I don’t understand this. As I think of it, democracy isn’t like a Sunday suit to be brought out and worn only for parades. It’s the kind of a life a decent man leads, it’s something to live for and to die for.
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I will, proudly and by preference, do at least one picture a year for King Brothers, and I will try to make it the best picture that I have it in me to do.
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The chief internal enemies of any state are those public officials who betray the trust imposed upon them by the people.
American screenwriter (1905-1976)
Democracy means that people can say what they want to. All the people. It means that they can vote as they wish. All the people. It means that they can worship God in any way they feel right, and that includes Christians and Jews and voodoo doctors as well.
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Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There’s no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn’t a gift. It’s a responsibility.
American screenwriter (1905-1976)
We’ll free every slave in every town and region. Can anybody get a bigger army than that?
American screenwriter (1905-1976)