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
No heart is so hard as the timid heart.
Interpretation
Timidity often leads to a hardened heart, lacking the warmth of courage.
In this quote, Norman Mailer suggests that those who are timid and unwilling to face their fears may develop an emotional hardness. This hardening stems from a refusal to engage with the world and take risks, leading to a lack of emotional depth and connection with others.
In practice
This quote can be used during a motivational speech about overcoming fear.
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.
I 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.
There's nothing glorious about being a professional. . . . Professionalism probably comes down to being able to work on a bad day.
The natural role of twentieth-century man is anxiety.
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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.
Mine was an easy ride compared to Jackie Robinson's.
One cannot answer for his courage when he has never been in danger.
You have to prepare to quit, and this is what I did. I prepared to quit, so on the day that came when I had to walk away from the game, I walked away and didn't look back.
You want to be a hero? Learn to create certainty in the face of fear.
My countrymen should have nerves of steel, muscles of iron, and minds like thunderbolt.
After the war, they took Army dogs and rehabilitated them for civilian life. But they turned soldiers into civilians immediately, and let em sink or swim.
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