"A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience"

This quote by John Updike is a funny way of saying that a healthy man can be quite demanding and need a great deal of patience from those around him. It implies that the average adult male can be quite difficult to handle and that it takes a lot of persistence to put up with him. The quote is also a suggestion that it is essential to be mindful of just how much we ask of others and to be considerate of their sensations. It is a tip to be knowledgeable about our own behavior and to be respectful of the people around us. It is a suggestion that we should not take the patience of others for approved which we need to be grateful for the perseverance they show us.