--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Murderers are not monsters, they're men…" description: "\"Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.\" — Alice Sebold" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f01/alice-sebold-999_frightening_murderers-are-not-monsters-they-re-men-a_3174039.jpg" --- # Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the… ![“Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.” quote by Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f01/alice-sebold-999_frightening_murderers-are-not-monsters-they-re-men-a_3174039.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f01/alice-sebold-999_frightening_murderers-are-not-monsters-they-re-men-a_3174039.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f01/alice-sebold-999_frightening_murderers-are-not-monsters-they-re-men-a_3174039.jpg) > “Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.” [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even ordinary people can commit horrific acts; the danger lies in their humanity, not monsterhood. **In simple terms:** Men can be killers. Key Takeaway Never assume evil is always monstrous. Themes human nature violence empathy morality Mood thoughtful urgent Type ethical psychological When to use this quote - crime prevention - justice system reform - education on warning signs - community vigilance Key Concepts psychopathy social alienation Questions to Reflect On - What signs might reveal hidden danger? - How can societies better detect and intervene? A Different Perspective Not all evil is obvious; some hide behind normalcy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Frightening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frightening/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters/) [Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer/) ## Related quotes > [So I’m into men now, even though they can be frightening. I want a schedule-keeping, waking-up-early, wallet-carrying, non-Velcro-shoe-wearing man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mindy-kaling/so-i-m-into-men-now-even-though-they-can-be-frightening-i-want-a/) [Mindy Kaling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mindy-kaling/) > [“The murderers are loose! They search the world All through the night, oh God, all through the night! To find the fire kindled in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrud-kolmar/the-murderers-are-loose-they-search-the-world-all-through-the-night/) [Gertrud Kolmar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrud-kolmar/) > [Therefore, not only are their passions satanic, but their lives are diabolic. So I say to you that these are even worse than murderers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/therefore-not-only-are-their-passions-satanic-but-their-lives-are/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [Those who believe in their truth -- the only ones whose imprint is retained by the memory of men -- leave the earth behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/those-who-believe-in-their-truth-the-only-ones-whose-imprint-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [We must kill them in war, just because they live beyond the river. If they lived on this side, we would be called murderers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-must-kill-them-in-war-just-because-they-live-beyond-the-river-if/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Truly, whoever we are, wherever we reside, we exist upon the whim of murderers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/truly-whoever-we-are-wherever-we-reside-we-exist-upon-the-whim-of/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Modern conquerors can kill, but do not seem to be able to create. Artists know how to create but cannot really kill. Murderers are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/modern-conquerors-can-kill-but-do-not-seem-to-be-able-to-create/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Before we snap to judge someone who's done a horrible crime, is it possible that all of us in the worst possible circumstances could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-black/before-we-snap-to-judge-someone-who-s-done-a-horrible-crime-is-it/) [Jack Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-black/) > [We don't cut off the hands of thieves or castrate rapists. Why must we murder murderers?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-kaminer/we-don-t-cut-off-the-hands-of-thieves-or-castrate-rapists-why-must-we/) [Wendy Kaminer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-kaminer/) > [Families are great murderers of the creative impulsive, particularly husbands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/families-are-great-murderers-of-the-creative-impulsive-particularly/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Two of the three men, who were imprisoned, Norman Butler and Robert 15x Johnson, convicted and given life sentences, I'm absolutely convinced were innocent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manning-marable/two-of-the-three-men-who-were-imprisoned-norman-butler-and-robert-15x/) [Manning Marable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manning-marable/) > [If you're part of a crew, nobody ever tells you that they're going to kill you, doesn't happen that way. There weren't any arguments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hill/if-you-re-part-of-a-crew-nobody-ever-tells-you-that-they-re-going-to/) [Henry Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hill/) > [I committed the first crime by creating men as mortals. After that, what more could you do, you the murderers? Come on; they already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-committed-the-first-crime-by-creating-men-as-mortals-after-that/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/god-remains-dead-and-we-have-killed-him-yet-his-shadow-still-looms/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-b-ferencz/war-makes-murderers-out-of-otherwise-decent-people-all-wars-and-all/) [Benjamin B. Ferencz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-b-ferencz/) ## More by Alice Sebold > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I left my mark on that man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-left-my-mark-on-that-man/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [These things, she felt, were not to be passed around like disingenuous party favors. She kept an honor code with her journals and her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/these-things-she-felt-were-not-to-be-passed-around-like-disingenuous/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I don't think ignorance is a way that you gain distance on something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-don-t-think-ignorance-is-a-way-that-you-gain-distance-on-something/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I was like I was in science class: I was curious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-was-like-i-was-in-science-class-i-was-curious/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“There are secret rooms inside us,” I had said to my therapist. “A relatively benign construct,” he said, and so I did not bother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/there-are-secret-rooms-inside-us-i-had-said-to-my-therapist-a/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“This is just a temporary hell, not a permanent one”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/this-is-just-a-temporary-hell-not-a-permanent-one/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“And a soul would run by a living being, touch them softly on the shoulder or cheek, and continue on its way to heaven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/and-a-soul-would-run-by-a-living-being-touch-them-softly-on-the/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [As if in the other side of his kiss there could ve a new life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/as-if-in-the-other-side-of-his-kiss-there-could-ve-a-new-life/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“My little brother's greatest fear was that the one person who meant so much to him would go away. He loved Lindsey and Grandma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/my-little-brother-s-greatest-fear-was-that-the-one-person-who-meant/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“She listened for the pain in my words, not to the narrative itself. She was intuiting what it meant to me, what was most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/she-listened-for-the-pain-in-my-words-not-to-the-narrative-itself-she/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [The relationship with the words someone uses is more intimate and integrated than just a quick read and a blurb can ever be. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/the-relationship-with-the-words-someone-uses-is-more-intimate-and/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [Ruth hadn't talked to my sister since before my death, and then it was only to excuse herself in the hallway at school. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/ruth-hadn-t-talked-to-my-sister-since-before-my-death-and-then-it-was/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [Since then I've always thought that under rape in the dictionary it should tell the truth. It is not just forcible intercourse; rape means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/since-then-i-ve-always-thought-that-under-rape-in-the-dictionary-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I live in a world where two truths coexist: where both hell and hope lie in the palm of my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-live-in-a-world-where-two-truths-coexist-where-both-hell-and-hope/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) [Explore all 302 Alice Sebold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## More Frightening quotes > [I wish that I had known back then that a mastery of process would lead to a product. Then I probably wouldn't have found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/i-wish-that-i-had-known-back-then-that-a-mastery-of-process-would/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [“Because, in the dark, I’m equally as frightening as any”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-ellis/because-in-the-dark-i-m-equally-as-frightening-as-any/) [Joy Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-ellis/) > [A self is a frightening thing to waste, it's the lens through which one's whole life is viewed, and few people are willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/a-self-is-a-frightening-thing-to-waste-it-s-the-lens-through-which/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [It was Ronald Reagan who used to say that the 10 most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the federal government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/it-was-ronald-reagan-who-used-to-say-that-the-10-most-frightening/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“Missing: A teenaged girl with lanky, blonde hair and a sunburst tattoo on her cheek. The holographic posters, brighter than day itself, lit up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-l-bernstein/missing-a-teenaged-girl-with-lanky-blonde-hair-and-a-sunburst-tattoo/) Amy L. Bernstein > [What if it turns out there really are witches and vampires and werewolves living right here alongside us? After all, what better disguise could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-lukyanenko/what-if-it-turns-out-there-really-are-witches-and-vampires-and/) [Sergei Lukyanenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-lukyanenko/) > [Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/fiction-that-isn-t-an-author-s-personal-adventure-into-the/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Death is frightening, and so is Eternal Life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/death-is-frightening-and-so-is-eternal-life/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [I understand that change is frightening for people, especially if there's nothing to go to. It's best to stay where you are. I understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/i-understand-that-change-is-frightening-for-people-especially-if/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [It's a question of dropping the armor and getting up and doing the work you want to do. And film at first is frightening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-dowd/it-s-a-question-of-dropping-the-armor-and-getting-up-and-doing-the/) [Ann Dowd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-dowd/) > [For any couple, once you delve into the idea of non-monogamy, you're entering pretty frightening territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-lister-jones/for-any-couple-once-you-delve-into-the-idea-of-non-monogamy-you-re/) [Zoe Lister-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-lister-jones/) > [“Zam watched as the creature began to fade, until it disappeared altogether and all that remained was his own reflection in the mirror. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lambert/zam-watched-as-the-creature-began-to-fade-until-it-disappeared/) [Frank Lambert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lambert/) > [Everything we have developed over the last 100 years should be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pentti-linkola/everything-we-have-developed-over-the-last-100-years-should-be/) [Pentti Linkola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pentti-linkola/) [Browse all 960 Frightening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frightening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Murderers are not monsters, they're men. 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