The dead walk among us. Zombies, ghouls-no matter what their label-these somnambulists are the greatest threat to humanity, other than humanity itself.
Max BrooksRead
Zombies are apocalyptic. I think that's why people love them because we're living in, not apocalyptic times, but I think we're living in fear of the apocalyptic times.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote connects the fascination with zombies to contemporary fears about societal collapse and catastrophe.
Max Brooks suggests that the popularity of zombies in culture reflects a deeper societal anxiety about impending disasters. Although we may not be in outright apocalyptic conditions, the fears and uncertainties of modern life can create a feeling of living on the brink of catastrophe, and zombies symbolize that dread. The genre allows us to confront these fears in a fictional context, revealing our underlying worries about the future.
Themes
ZombiesApocalypseFearSocietyCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the cultural impact of horror movies, you might quote this to emphasize how art reflects societal fears.
More from Max Brooks
All quotes βSimilar quotes
He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.
Blaise PascalRead
Which way you ought to go depends on where you want to get to.
Lewis CarrollRead
What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.
Seneca The YoungerRead
Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
Soren KierkegaardRead
Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
Woodrow WilsonRead
You can make any human activity into meditation simply by being completely with it and doing it just to do it.
Alan WattsRead