"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
Most men live the lives that they are forced to have. They live the way they have to and not the way they want to. Kind of like they live quiet boring lives and don't really follow there dream. They just live whatever comes there way. I think that it also means that some people are hiding how they really feel even though they wish to live another life. Some people would love to be doing something else but they are following society and doing what is only asked of them.