--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I saw myself before an infuriated mob…" description: "\"“I saw myself before an infuriated mob, facing the firing squad, weeping out of pity for the evil they could not understand, and forgiving!-Like Jeanne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/arthur-rimbaud-2266_failure_i-saw-myself-before-an-infuriated-mob-fa_2623983.jpg" --- # I saw myself before an infuriated mob, facing the firing… ![“I saw myself before an infuriated mob, facing the firing squad, weeping out of pity for the evil they could not understand, and forgiving!-Like Jeanne d'Arc!-'Priests, professors, masters, you are making a mistake in turning me over to the law. I have never belonged to this people; I have never…” quote by Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/arthur-rimbaud-2266_failure_i-saw-myself-before-an-infuriated-mob-fa_2623983.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/arthur-rimbaud-2266_failure_i-saw-myself-before-an-infuriated-mob-fa_2623983.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/arthur-rimbaud-2266_failure_i-saw-myself-before-an-infuriated-mob-fa_2623983.jpg) > ““I saw myself before an infuriated mob, facing the firing squad, weeping out of pity for the evil they could not understand, and forgiving!-Like Jeanne d'Arc!-'Priests, professors, masters, you are making a mistake in turning me over to the law. I have never belonged to this people; I have never been a Christian; I am of the race that sang under torture; laws I have never understood; I have no moral sense, I am a brute: you are making a mistake.' Yes, my eyes are closed to your light. I am a beast, a nigger. But I can be saved. You are sham niggers, you, maniacs, fiends, misers. Merchant, you are a nigger; Judge, you are a nigger; General, you are a nigger; Emperor, old itch, you are a nigger: you have drunk of the untaxed liquor of Satan's still.-Fever and cancer inspire this people. Cripples and old men are so respectable they are fit to be boiled.-The smartest thing would be to leave this continent where madness stalks to provide hostages for these wretches. I enter the true kingdom of the children of Ham.”” [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A voice of alienation and rage confronts oppressive structures, using violent imagery to expose societal hypocrisy. **In simple terms:** Outsider challenges power with raw emotion. Key Takeaway Channel anger into transformative expression. Themes alienation power identity racism Mood defiant angry Type poetic political When to use this quote - political protest - artistic creation - social activism Key Concepts existentialism colonial critique poetic rebellion Questions to Reflect On - How does violent metaphor serve truth? - Can such rhetoric inspire constructive change? A Different Perspective Extremely graphic language may alienate readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [General Nigger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/general-nigger-2134473/) [Judge Nigger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judge-nigger-2134470/) [Making a mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-a-mistake/) [Nigger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger/) [Nigger Drunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger-drunk-2134472/) [Nigger Saved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nigger-saved-2134471/) [Old men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-men/) ## Related quotes > [“Yes, my eyes are closed to your light. I am an animal, a nigger. But I can be saved. You are fake niggers; maniacs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/yes-my-eyes-are-closed-to-your-light-i-am-an-animal-a-nigger-but-i/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“The art of rap is deceptive. 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It has caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/why-was-nigger-bleeped-out-i-mean-nigger-is-a-word-that-exists-people/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“He never denied it. He never did anything. He never acted like either a nigger or a white man. That was it. That was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/he-never-denied-it-he-never-did-anything-he-never-acted-like-either-a/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idiot-that-i-don-t-realize-that/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [Nigger Money talks trust me I know what I'm saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/nigger-money-talks-trust-me-i-know-what-i-m-saying/) [Trunxbeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trunxbeats/) ## More by Arthur Rimbaud > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“My turn now. 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Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together, that's not love. That's stupidity or selfishness or fear. Love doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/love-no-such-thing-whatever-it-is-that-binds-families-and-married/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Weakness or strength: you exist, that is strength. You don't know where you are going or why you are going, go in everywhere, answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/weakness-or-strength-you-exist-that-is-strength-you-don-t-know-where/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Oh! If only we were naked now, and free to watch our protruding parts align; To whisper - both of us - in ecstasy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/oh-if-only-we-were-naked-now-and-free-to-watch-our-protruding-parts/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [But, truly, I have wept too much! The Dawns are heartbreaking. Every moon is atrocious and every sun bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/but-truly-i-have-wept-too-much-the-dawns-are-heartbreaking-every-moon/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [What an old maid I'm getting to be. lacking the courage to be in love with death!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/what-an-old-maid-i-m-getting-to-be-lacking-the-courage-to-be-in-love/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies. - Farewell ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-shall-ask-forgiveness-for-having-fed-on-lies-farewell/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [And I am still alive-what though, my damnation is eternal. A man who deliberately mutilates himself is truly damned, is he not? I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/and-i-am-still-alive-what-though-my-damnation-is-eternal-a-man-who/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [. . . be absolute moderne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/be-absolute-moderne/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) [Explore all 148 Arthur Rimbaud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. 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I have never belonged to this people; I have never been a Christian; I am of the race that sang under torture; laws I have never understood; I have no moral sense, I am a brute: you are making a mistake.' Yes, my eyes are closed to your light. I am a beast, a nigger. But I can be saved. You are sham niggers, you, maniacs, fiends, misers. Merchant, you are a nigger; Judge, you are a nigger; General, you are a nigger; Emperor, old itch, you are a nigger: you have drunk of the untaxed liquor of Satan's still.-Fever and cancer inspire this people. Cripples and old men are so respectable they are fit to be boiled.-The smartest thing would be to leave this continent where madness stalks to provide hostages for these wretches. 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