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.
Norman MailerRead
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.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a deep sense of existential confusion and impending suffering.
Norman Mailer's quote expresses a state of intense inner turmoil and existential questioning. The speaker grapples with the confusion of identity and the anticipation of overwhelming pain, suggesting a profound struggle with self-awareness and the human experience of suffering, hinting that the future holds challenges that may surpass any previously known struggle.
In practice
In a discussion about personal struggles and identity, you might say, 'As Norman Mailer once expressed, I do not know who I am...'
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.
Alimony is the curse of the writing class.
My dreams, my dreams! What has become of their sweetness? What indeed has become of my youth?
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Confidence cannot find a place wherein to rest in safety.
Plots are artificial. Does your life have a plot? It has characters. There is a narrative. There's a lot of story, a lot of character. But plot? Eh, no.
The emotions aren't always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action.
For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.
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