How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Dixon had indeed heard of Gore-Urquhart, a rich devotee of the arts who made occasional contributions to the arts sections of the weekly reviews, who had a house in the neighbourhood where persons of distinction sometimes came to stay, and who was a fish that Welch has more than once vainly tried to land. (4.95)
Simply put, Mr. Gore-Urquhart has the respect of his entire community, not necessarily because he's a patron of the arts, but because he has the money to be a patron of the arts. In this situation, it's totally a matter of money = respect. The funny thing, though, is that Mr. Gore-Urquhart turns out to be one of the only men Jim respects in this entire book. He's a straight-shooter.
Quote #2
"I was reading about your uncle only recently, Miss Callaghan. There was a piece about him in the local paper. He was presenting some water-colours to our Gallery here. I don't know what we should do without someone like him to keep things going." (4.122)
Here, Margaret Peel takes a moment to give some props to Mr. Gore-Urquhart for being such a supporter of the arts. This is why people know about the guy; he throws his money around.
Quote #3
[…] the possession of the signs of sexual privilege is the important thing, not the quality nor the enjoyment of them. (10.13)
Jim's reflecting here about how appearances are the important thing. Being seen on the arm of a beautiful woman is what can make your reputation, even if you don't care about the woman at all.
Quote #4
Whatever aureole of choking nonsense surrounded this view of Bertrand's, Dixon thought the view itself worthy of some respect, or at least of some surprise. What a temptation it must be to produce proofs of one's status as an artist, to flatter people […]. (14.68)
Christine's just told Jim that Bertrand hasn't shown her his paintings because he doesn't want her to think of him as a painter until he can really see himself as one. As much as he dislikes Bertrand, he gives him some grudging respect for not showing off to Christine for once. As we know by now, lack of pretense is the thing that Jim respects most.
Quote #5
One large group was made up of local worthies: a couple of aldermen with their wives, a fashionable clergyman, a knighted physician, all of whom were members of the College Council. (21.16)
Amis gives us a quick survey of the people around town who are "respectable" types and lets us see the subtle sarcasm behind the word "worthies."
Quote #6
"I've evaded your Principal so many times recently that I felt I had to come to this."
"I can't see why you bother, you know. You're not dependent on the Principal. You're only letting yourself in for a lot of boredom." (21.31)
Jim has no clue why Mr. Gore-Urquhart would go out of his way to please the Principal of the university. For Jim, there's no reason to do something nice for a boring person unless that person holds some sort of power over you. Evidently, even someone as important as Uncle Julius fees compelled to show some scrap of respect for the Principal.
Quote #7
"I want to influence people so they'll do what I think it's important they should do. I can't get 'em to do that unless I let 'em bore me first, you understand. Then just as they're delighting in having got me punch-drunk with talk I come back at 'em and make 'em do what I've got lined up for 'em." (21.34)
It turns out that Mr. Gore-Urquhart doesn't have much respect for boring people, either, but he fakes respect for them. He's a strategic thinker.
Quote #8
"I'd no idea this was going to be such a grand affair. Half the big-wigs in the city must be here." (21.39)
Here, Margaret reminds Jim that there are a ton of important people with big reputations at his talk. This definitely makes the situation funnier, since none of these respectable people realize how little respect Jim has for any of them.
Quote #9
Below him, the local worthies were staring at him with frozen astonishment and protest. Of the Staff contingent, the senior members looked up with similar expressions, the junior wouldn't look up at all. The only person in the main body of the Hall who was actually producing sounds was Gore-Urquhart, and the sounds he was producing were of loud skirting laughter. Shouts, whistles, and applause came from the gallery. (22.14)
At this point, everyone in the auditorium has realized that Jim is delivering his lecture stinking drunk. All of the bigwigs down in front are outraged except for Gore-Urquhart, who thinks that Jim's performance is hilarious. All the regular folks up in the gallery think it's awesome, too. We think that Jim's putting the final nail in the coffin of his reputation, but we'll find out later that it's sealing the deal with old G-U.
Quote #10
"The point about Merrie England is that it was about the most un-Merrie period in our history. It's only the home-made pottery crowd, the organic husbandry crowd, the recorder-playing crowd, the Esperanto." (22.15)
With one final blaze of glory, Jim totally annihilates his reputation at the university. Totally inebriated, he shows what he really thinks about the phonies he's been dealing with and how little respect he has for the whole enterprise. Since his superiors are all about being respected for their work, you can imagine the outcome.