--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but…" description: "\"“Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but some old shed self that came yet from time to time in the name of sanity. a hand to gentle him back from the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg" --- # Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but some old shed… ![“Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but some old shed self that came yet from time to time in the name of sanity. a hand to gentle him back from the rim of his disastrous wrath.” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg) > ““Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but some old shed self that came yet from time to time in the name of sanity. a hand to gentle him back from the rim of his disastrous wrath.”” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character’s inner voice, not a demon, offers sanity by tempering his violent impulses. **In simple terms:** Inner voice guides away from rage. Key Takeaway Listen to your rational self. Themes inner conflict sanity self‑control Mood introspective thoughtful Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal crises - conflict resolution - mental health Key Concepts psychology morality literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - What inner voice helps you stay calm? - How do you differentiate rational guidance from fear? A Different Perspective The voice may be unreliable or suppressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Sanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanity/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Every religion has demons… Nothing like a real, live demon to give you some of that old-time religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/every-religion-has-demons-nothing-like-a-real-live-demon-to-give-you/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“You don't stop running because you get old', said the Demon. 'You get old because you stop running.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/you-don-t-stop-running-because-you-get-old-said-the-demon-you-get-old/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [Coming from a technology background, I mostly worked behind the scenes or let the men take the lead. I had to learn to assert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-agyare/coming-from-a-technology-background-i-mostly-worked-behind-the-scenes/) Regina Agyare > [“voice spoke in my ear, both familiar and terrifying. “Don’t run,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-shepherd/voice-spoke-in-my-ear-both-familiar-and-terrifying-don-t-run/) [Megan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-shepherd/) > [“Although Annabelle couldn’t see his face, she heard the note of quiet warning in his voice as he spoke to Westcliff. “We’ll continue our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/although-annabelle-couldn-t-see-his-face-she-heard-the-note-of-quiet/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-blushed-and-so-did-he-she-greeted-him-in-a-faltering-voice-and-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want! It happened every afternoon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-was-a-disturbance-in-my-heart-a-voice-that-spoke-there-and-said/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Despite the late hour, a disembodied male voice spoke, deep and languorous. “Listen to the following statements. How would you respond? Buon giorno, signora.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-t-ellison/despite-the-late-hour-a-disembodied-male-voice-spoke-deep-and/) [J.T. Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-t-ellison/) > [“Vanessa was deprived of her hormones in prison and thus retained several male characteristics that would have been less evident otherwise, most notably her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/vanessa-was-deprived-of-her-hormones-in-prison-and-thus-retained/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“Somewhere to the eastward a wolf howled; lightly, questioningly. I knew the voice, for I had heard it many times before. It was George,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farley-mowat/somewhere-to-the-eastward-a-wolf-howled-lightly-questioningly-i-knew/) [Farley Mowat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farley-mowat/) > [“She said 'no' to the words he spoke, and 'yes' to the voice that spoke them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-said-no-to-the-words-he-spoke-and-yes-to-the-voice-that-spoke-them/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) > [If you have never lost your sanity, then you have never been in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-have-never-lost-your-sanity-then-you-have-never-been-in-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Sanity quotes > [If you have never lost your sanity, then you have never been in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-have-never-lost-your-sanity-then-you-have-never-been-in-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Everything was so designed by Hannibal to break down Will in the first season, until Will's sanity became questionable. It's so much easier to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fuller/everything-was-so-designed-by-hannibal-to-break-down-will-in-the/) [Bryan Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fuller/) > [I never have written every day. When I'm writing a book, I write Monday through Friday. I always try to take Saturday and pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-never-have-written-every-day-when-i-m-writing-a-book-i-write-monday/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I only have so much energy, so something had to go. This is why, at the end of the day, I've preserved my sanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiri-te-kanawa/i-only-have-so-much-energy-so-something-had-to-go-this-is-why-at-the/) [Kiri Te Kanawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiri-te-kanawa/) > [“It isn't for the moment you are stuck that you need courage, but for the long uphill climb back to sanity, faith and security.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/it-isn-t-for-the-moment-you-are-stuck-that-you-need-courage-but-for/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [It wouldn't make for sanity would it, living with the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-wouldn-t-make-for-sanity-would-it-living-with-the-devil/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Sanity is seriously over-rated!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hamley/sanity-is-seriously-over-rated/) Paul Hamley > [If you tell me, I will leave you alone," I said. "And if you don't tell me, I am going to grab the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/if-you-tell-me-i-will-leave-you-alone-i-said-and-if-you-don-t-tell-me/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“I need to ask, are you afraid of spiders?" Nicholas blinked, suddenly caught off guard, "Yes, I'm afraid of spiders." "Were you always?" "What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-m-irwin/i-need-to-ask-are-you-afraid-of-spiders-nicholas-blinked-suddenly/) [Stephen M. Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-m-irwin/) > [We have now left Reason and Sanity Junction. 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There's not enough room in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/we-all-practice-self-deception-to-a-degree-no-man-can-handle-complete/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) [Browse all 968 Sanity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but some old shed self that came yet from time to time in the name of sanity. a hand to gentle him back from the rim of his disastrous wrath.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cormac McCarthy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-but-some-old-shed-self-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Sanity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-but-some-old-shed-self-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/cormac-mccarthy-181_time_whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-bu_2230329.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whatever voice spoke him was no demon but some old shed self that came yet from time to time in the name of…” — Cormac McCarthy", "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": "Cormac McCarthy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Whatever voice spoke him was no...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-but-some-old-shed-self-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/whatever-voice-spoke-him-was-no-demon-but-some-old-shed-self-that/#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 } } ] } ```