When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room.
Tom WaitsRead
Don't you know there ain't no devil, it's just god when he's drunk.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that what we perceive as evil may often be a misinterpretation of a higher power's actions due to our limited understanding.
Tom Waits' quote reflects on the duality of good and evil, proposing that our perceptions of devilish acts might stem from the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the divine. By suggesting that 'there ain't no devil,' Waits implies that the complexities of life can distort our view of morality, making us question the intentions behind seemingly malevolent actions. This viewpoint challenges us to consider a broader perspective on existence and the nature of suffering and joy.
Themes
DevilGodInterpretationPhilosophyLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion on morality, one might mention this quote to illustrate the complexity of good and evil.
More from Tom Waits
All quotes βIf you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
Tom WaitsRead
I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox.
Tom WaitsRead
Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothing.
Tom WaitsRead
My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
Tom WaitsRead
Now its raining its pouring the old man is snoring now I lay me down to sleep I hear the sirens in the street all my dreams are made of chrome I have no way to get back home Iβd rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make βem grow
Tom WaitsRead
Similar quotes
Those wanderers must have looked on Earth, circling safely in the narrow zone between fire and ice, and must have guessed that it was the favourite of the Sun's children.
Arthur C. ClarkeRead
A Warrior of Light values a child's eyes because they are able to look at the world without bitterness. When he wants to find out if the person beside him is worthy of his trust, he tries to see him as a child would
Paulo CoelhoRead
The author of the Gospel of Judas wasn't against martyrdom, and he didn't ever insult the martyrs. He said it's one thing to die for God if you have to do that. But it's another thing to say that's what God wants, that this is a glorification of God.
Elaine PagelsRead
I know not why any one but a school boy in his declamation would whine over the Commonwealth of Rome, which grew great only by the misery of the rest of mankind. The Romans, like others, as soon as they were rich, grew corrupt; and in their corruption sold the lives and freedoms of themselves and of one another.
Samuel JohnsonRead
To think justly, we must understand what others mean. To know the value of our thoughts, we must try their effect on other minds.
William HazlittRead
Let us never forget that authentic power is service, which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.
Pope FrancisRead