"One can no longer live with people: it is too hideous and nauseating. Owners and owned, they are like the two sides of a ghastly disease"

This quote by David Herbert Lawrence speaks to the problem of living with other individuals in a society that is based on inequality. He recommends that the relationship in between those who own and those who are owned resembles a "ghastly disease" that is both "horrible and nauseating". This suggests that the power imbalance between the two groups is so extreme that it is intolerable to witness. Lawrence is recommending that the present state of society is so oppressive and unjustified that it is impossible to live with other individuals in it. He is requiring a change in the method individuals interact with each other, one that is based on shared respect and understanding. This quote speaks with the need for a more equitable society, one that is free from the oppressive power characteristics that have actually remained in location for so long.