Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. Pain is near that will be like no pain felt before.
Norman MailerRead
So the blind will lead the blind, and the deaf shout warnings to one another until their voices are lost.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the futility of relying on those who lack insight to guide others.
Norman Mailerβs quote speaks to the absurdity of miscommunication and misguided leadership. It suggests that when individuals who themselves lack understanding or awareness attempt to offer guidance, the result is chaos and confusion, akin to the blind leading the blind. The imagery of the deaf shouting warnings illustrates how ineffective communication can lead to a complete breakdown in dialogue, leading ultimately to a loss of voices and vital messages.
Themes
CommunicationLeadershipInsightGuidanceMisunderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on leadership failures, one could use this quote to emphasize the need for informed guidance.
More from Norman Mailer
All quotes βI no longer gave a sick dog's drop for the wisdom, the reliability and the authority of the public's literary mind, those creeps and old ladies of vested reviewing.
Norman MailerRead
There's nothing glorious about being a professional. . . . Professionalism probably comes down to being able to work on a bad day.
Norman MailerRead
The natural role of twentieth-century man is anxiety.
Norman MailerRead
Over-certified adjectives are the mark of most best-seller writing
Norman MailerRead
At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.
Norman MailerRead
Similar quotes
Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Let no one delay the study of philosophy while young nor weary of it when old.
EpicurusRead
Isn't it a remarkable coincidence almost everyone has the same religion as their parents ? And it always just happens to be the right religion. Religions run in families. If we'd been brought up in ancient Greece we would all be worshiping Zeus and Apollo. If we had been born Vikings we would be worshiping Wotan and Thor. How does this come about ? Through childhood indoctrination.
Richard DawkinsRead
Thoughts and feelings are suspended in a vacuum unless they instigate and feed the selected actions, and it is the characters actions which reveal the character in the play.
Uta HagenRead
The most powerful prayer, one wellnigh omnipotent, and the worthiest work of all is the outcome of a quiet mind. The quieter it is the more powerful, the worthier, the deeper, the more telling and more perfect the prayer is.
Meister EckhartRead
A cannon fires only once but words detonate across centuries
Grant MorrisonRead