--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the mid nineteenth century, the…" description: "\"In the mid nineteenth century, the typical murderer was a drunken illiterate; a hundred years later the typical murderer regards himself as a thinking ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg" --- # In the mid nineteenth century, the typical murderer was a… ![“In the mid nineteenth century, the typical murderer was a drunken illiterate; a hundred years later the typical murderer regards himself as a thinking man.” quote by Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg) > “In the mid nineteenth century, the typical murderer was a drunken illiterate; a hundred years later the typical murderer regards himself as a thinking man.” [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The profile of violent offenders shifted from impulsive, uneducated individuals to self‑styled intellectuals, reflecting societal changes in self‑perception and media portrayal. **In simple terms:** Murderers changed from drunk, illiterate to self‑perceived thinkers. Key Takeaway Recognize how narratives shape criminal stereotypes. Themes crime society media psychology Mood critical analytical Type observational critical When to use this quote - law enforcement training - media analysis - criminal justice reform - public education Key Concepts sociology identity stereotyping Questions to Reflect On - How do media depictions influence public fear? - What drives the self‑image of modern offenders? A Different Perspective Simplistic view ignores underlying socioeconomic factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer/) [Nineteenth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteenth-century/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [One of the most persistent fallacies about the Christian Church is that it kept learning alive during the Dark and Middle Ages. What the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/one-of-the-most-persistent-fallacies-about-the-christian-church-is/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [“The nineteenth century was the Age of Romanticism; for the first time in history, man stopped thinking of himself as an animal or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-nineteenth-century-was-the-age-of-romanticism-for-the-first-time/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [When the political columnists say 'Every thinking man' they mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to 'Every intelligent voter' they mean everybody who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-p-adams/when-the-political-columnists-say-every-thinking-man-they-mean/) [Franklin P. Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-p-adams/) > [“Understand this clearly: you can teach a man to draw a straight line, and to carve it; and to copy and carve any number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/understand-this-clearly-you-can-teach-a-man-to-draw-a-straight-line/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“The majority never has right on its side. Never I say! That is one of the social lies that a free, thinking man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/the-majority-never-has-right-on-its-side-never-i-say-that-is-one-of/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“A silent man is a thinking man. A silent woman is an angry one …”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/a-silent-man-is-a-thinking-man-a-silent-woman-is-an-angry-one/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I've had six or eight hookers in my life. I never woke up the next day thinking man I'm glad I got a hooker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-stanhope/i-ve-had-six-or-eight-hookers-in-my-life-i-never-woke-up-the-next-day/) [Doug Stanhope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-stanhope/) > [It is the fate of every truth to be an object of ridicule when it is first acclaimed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/it-is-the-fate-of-every-truth-to-be-an-object-of-ridicule-when-it-is/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“He Sat in the window thinking. Man has a tropism for order. Keys in one pocket, change in the other. Mandolins are tuned G…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-sat-in-the-window-thinking-man-has-a-tropism-for-order-keys-in-one/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [No rage is equal to the rage of a contented right-thinking man when he is confronted in the marketplace by an idea which belongs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurman-arnold/no-rage-is-equal-to-the-rage-of-a-contented-right-thinking-man-when/) [Thurman Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurman-arnold/) > [Probably no one of us has the True Religion. But all of us together - if we are allowed to be free - are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/probably-no-one-of-us-has-the-true-religion-but-all-of-us-together-if/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [“But here you might have noticed something. I said, ‘It stands to reason’. Do you see ? Men have a weapon against you. Reason.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/but-here-you-might-have-noticed-something-i-said-it-stands-to-reason/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Man must speak, then sing, then dance. The speaking is the brain, the thinking man. The singing is the emotion. The dancing is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isadora-duncan/man-must-speak-then-sing-then-dance-the-speaking-is-the-brain-the/) [Isadora Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isadora-duncan/) > [Part of the broader task of Christian scholarship is to help create and sustain a cultural milieu in which the gospel can be heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/part-of-the-broader-task-of-christian-scholarship-is-to-help-create/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [I've said many times before that Pebble Beach is a wonderful thinking-man's golf course. That is why it is such a great U.S. Open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicklaus/i-ve-said-many-times-before-that-pebble-beach-is-a-wonderful-thinking/) [Jack Nicklaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicklaus/) ## More by Colin Wilson > [“Man is not a 'fixed and limited animal whose nature is absolutely constant'. He changed drastically when he developed 'divided consciousness' to cope with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-not-a-fixed-and-limited-animal-whose-nature-is-absolutely/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“As to Gurdjieff's power to renew his own energies, its essence had been understood by psychologists of the nineteenth century, decades before the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/as-to-gurdjieff-s-power-to-renew-his-own-energies-its-essence-had/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The mystical impulse in men is somehow a desire to possess the universe. In women, it's a desire to be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-mystical-impulse-in-men-is-somehow-a-desire-to-possess-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The exploration of oneself is usually also an exploration of the world at large, of other writers, a process of comparison with oneself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-exploration-of-oneself-is-usually-also-an-exploration-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“There is in Shaw, as in Gurdjieff and Nietzsche, a recognition of the immense effort of Will that is necessary to express even a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/there-is-in-shaw-as-in-gurdjieff-and-nietzsche-a-recognition-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [I was aggressively nonpolitical. I believed that people who make a fuss about politics do so because their heads are too empty to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-was-aggressively-nonpolitical-i-believed-that-people-who-make-a/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Christianity was an epidemic rather than a religion. It appealed to fear, hysteria and ignorance. It spread across the Western world, not because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/christianity-was-an-epidemic-rather-than-a-religion-it-appealed-to/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [When I open my eyes in the morning, I am not confronted by a world, but by a million possible worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/when-i-open-my-eyes-in-the-morning-i-am-not-confronted-by-a-world-but/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Religion, mysticism and magic all spring from the same basic 'feeling' about the universe: a sudden feeling of meaning, which human beings sometimes 'pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/religion-mysticism-and-magic-all-spring-from-the-same-basic-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Man is brilliant at solving problems; but solving them only makes him the victim of his own childishness and laziness. It is this recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-brilliant-at-solving-problems-but-solving-them-only-makes-him/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [It was Rousseau who was largely responsible for the problem by giving currency to the idea that freedom can exist without responsibility and discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/it-was-rousseau-who-was-largely-responsible-for-the-problem-by-giving/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If I'd stayed on in London and carried on going to literary parties, it would have wrecked me as a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-i-d-stayed-on-in-london-and-carried-on-going-to-literary-parties/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Imagination should be used, not to escape reality but to create it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/imagination-should-be-used-not-to-escape-reality-but-to-create-it/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If you asked me what is the basis of all my work, it's the feeling there's something basically wrong with human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-you-asked-me-what-is-the-basis-of-all-my-work-it-s-the-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The sheer volume of evidence for survival after death is so immense that to ignore it is like standing at the foot of Mount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-sheer-volume-of-evidence-for-survival-after-death-is-so-immense/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) [Explore all 81 Colin Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## More Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the mid nineteenth century, the typical murderer was a drunken illiterate; a hundred years later the typical murderer regards himself as a thinking man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colin Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typical-murderer-was-a-drunken/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typical-murderer-was-a-drunken/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b1/colin-wilson-8331_century_in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typica_2552450.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the mid nineteenth century, the typical murderer was a drunken illiterate; a hundred years later the…” — Colin Wilson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Colin Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the mid nineteenth century, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typical-murderer-was-a-drunken/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-the-typical-murderer-was-a-drunken/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```