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
There's that popular misconception of man as something between a brute and an angel. Actually man is in transit between brute and God.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that humanity is on a journey of moral and spiritual development, moving from baser instincts toward a higher, divine potential.
Norman Mailer's quote reflects the idea that human beings are not simply animals or divine beings, but rather exist in a state of transition. It highlights the complexity of human nature and implies that individuals have the capacity for significant growth, striving to move beyond their primal instincts toward a more virtuous and god-like existence.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about personal development during a motivational seminar.
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.
Over-certified adjectives are the mark of most best-seller writing
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.
Night is beautiful when you are happy--comforting when you are in grief--terrible when you are lonely and unhappy.
Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of Godβs money will I keep for myself?
Mysticism and exaggeration go together. A mystic must not fear ridicule if he is to push all the way to the limits of humility or the limits of delight.
Two days overdue, THE WORLD'S WORK has not reached me. Pray make a note of this. I would rather not have to resort to violence.
Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.
It is impossible that had Buonaparte descended from a race of vegetable feeders that he could have had either the inclination or the power to ascend the throne of the Bourbons.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.