--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They marched like madmen from place to…" description: "\"“They marched like madmen from place to place, until overcome by exhaustion and lack of strength they could no longer move from one side to the other, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg" --- # They marched like madmen from place to place, until… ![“They marched like madmen from place to place, until overcome by exhaustion and lack of strength they could no longer move from one side to the other, and they remained there, wherever this sad siren voice had summoned them, self-important, and dead.” quote by David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg) > ““They marched like madmen from place to place, until overcome by exhaustion and lack of strength they could no longer move from one side to the other, and they remained there, wherever this sad siren voice had summoned them, self-important, and dead.”” [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A harrowing account of exhausted travelers driven by a haunting call, ending in despair and death, illustrating the peril of relentless pursuit without rest. **In simple terms:** Pursuing a goal without rest can lead to ruin. Key Takeaway Know when to pause and assess limits. Themes determination exhaustion danger mythic call death Mood tense somber reflective Type cautionary philosophical When to use this quote - explorers in harsh terrain - long‑distance treks - military campaigns - search for treasure Key Concepts human endurance psychology of obsession mythic narrative Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to ignore fatigue? - When should ambition yield to safety? A Different Perspective May romanticize sacrifice, ignoring the value of self‑care. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exhaustion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhaustion/) ## Related quotes > [Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like a madmen, so that you can live the rest of your life like Batman!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/entrepreneurship-is-living-a-few-years-of-your-life-like-a-madmen-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And so they have marched many more times since August Morning. They have joined every workers' strike, been part of every vigil and every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kei-miller/and-so-they-have-marched-many-more-times-since-august-morning-they/) [Kei Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kei-miller/) > [“No one is spared. The sick, the elderly, children, babies, and pregnant women - all marched to their death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/no-one-is-spared-the-sick-the-elderly-children-babies-and-pregnant/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [“We broke camp together and set off in our opposite directions: we of the XIIth and our allies marched east, towards the rising sun,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-scott/we-broke-camp-together-and-set-off-in-our-opposite-directions-we-of/) [M.C. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-scott/) > [“they saw that the great mountains had marched down very near to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/they-saw-that-the-great-mountains-had-marched-down-very-near-to-them/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [This marched was planned to be non violent and non confrontational, and gladly it stayed that way. What really impressed me was the self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-blair/this-marched-was-planned-to-be-non-violent-and-non-confrontational/) [John Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-blair/) > [One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never-2/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Ten thousand women marched through the streets shouting, 'We will not be dictated to,' and went off and became stenographers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ten-thousand-women-marched-through-the-streets-shouting-we-will-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Today on MLK DAY, please remember those who marched when it was illegal to march, participated in sit-ins in restaurants like the ones you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-nathaniel-butler/today-on-mlk-day-please-remember-those-who-marched-when-it-was/) [Eugene Nathaniel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-nathaniel-butler/) > [One of my first memories is marching with my mom. 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I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-harper/i-don-t-kid-myself-in-thinking-that-i-m-on-the-front-lines-i-know-the/) [Ben Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-harper/) > [“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## More by David Grann > [“To believe that the Osages survived intact from their ordeal is a delusion of the mind. What has been possible to salvage has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/to-believe-that-the-osages-survived-intact-from-their-ordeal-is-a/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Over the next two decades, the Osage were forced to cede nearly a hundred million acres of their ancestral land, ultimately finding refuge in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/over-the-next-two-decades-the-osage-were-forced-to-cede-nearly-a/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Only in the mid-nineteenth century, after the growth of industrial cities and a rash of urban riots—after dread of the so-called dangerous classes surpassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/only-in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-after-the-growth-of-industrial/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [I look for stories everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/i-look-for-stories-everywhere/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Emmett White became a firm, even unyielding, sheriff. 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Our lives are messy and chaotic and bewildering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/the-way-we-live-history-is-not-the-way-historians-tell-history-our/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Fawcett, who had always found refuge in the natural world, no longer recognized the wilderness of bombed-out villages, denuded trees, craters, and sunbaked skeletons.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/fawcett-who-had-always-found-refuge-in-the-natural-world-no-longer/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Does God think that, because it is raining, I am not going to destroy the world? - Lope de Aguirre after going mad in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/does-god-think-that-because-it-is-raining-i-am-not-going-to-destroy/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“In 1804, a delegation of Osage chiefs met with Jefferson at the White House. He told the navy secretary that the Osage, whose warriors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/in-1804-a-delegation-of-osage-chiefs-met-with-jefferson-at-the-white/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [A lot of the stuff I tweet is out of childlike curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/a-lot-of-the-stuff-i-tweet-is-out-of-childlike-curiosity/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Instead, the terrain looked like Nebraska—perpetual plains that faded into the horizon. When I asked Taukane where the forest was, he said, simply, “Gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/instead-the-terrain-looked-like-nebraska-perpetual-plains-that-faded/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [I covered Congress, and everyone always wanted me to be a political reporter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/i-covered-congress-and-everyone-always-wanted-me-to-be-a-political/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [For a while, when I got out of college, I tried to write fiction. I'd grown up more around novelists, and my initial attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/for-a-while-when-i-got-out-of-college-i-tried-to-write-fiction-i-d/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [One of the nice things about 'The New Yorker' is they let you write stories that sometimes end up almost half a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/one-of-the-nice-things-about-the-new-yorker-is-they-let-you-write/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) [Explore all 160 David Grann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) ## More Exhaustion quotes > [“And though I feel an unfathomable exhaustion, I feel compelled to keep at it, as though to give up working would be to concede…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-laffoley/and-though-i-feel-an-unfathomable-exhaustion-i-feel-compelled-to-keep/) Steven Laffoley > [“Remember what I done for you here today,' he shouted and passed out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-higson/remember-what-i-done-for-you-here-today-he-shouted-and-passed-out/) [Charlie Higson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-higson/) > [“...and, without once looking back, walk down the road through the forest. If the Germans want to shoot me, let them. I am too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audie-murphy/and-without-once-looking-back-walk-down-the-road-through-the-forest/) [Audie Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audie-murphy/) > [… but only because exhaustion is a life-sign; it is at least a form of being human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/but-only-because-exhaustion-is-a-life-sign-it-is-at-least-a-form-of/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [People would do well to ask themselves how many of their ambitions and aspirations derive from the type of economic system they inhabit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/people-would-do-well-to-ask-themselves-how-many-of-their-ambitions/) [Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/) > [Everything that these folks are saying that they're trying to move away from, like comparison, perfectionism, judgement, and exhaustion as a status symbol -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/everything-that-these-folks-are-saying-that-they-re-trying-to-move/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [The downfall of civilized states tends to come not from the direct assaults of foes, but from internal decay combined with the consequences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-downfall-of-civilized-states-tends-to-come-not-from-the-direct/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [“Death is the expression of exhaustion, a solution arrived at rationally once one has known the deepest depths of tiredness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hui-wei/death-is-the-expression-of-exhaustion-a-solution-arrived-at/) [Hui Wei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hui-wei/) > [It is not the dream of what you're feeling laziness, if not, the sleep of exhaustion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-not-the-dream-of-what-you-re-feeling-laziness-if-not-the-sleep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Write to exhaustion so that you can no longer manage to avoid writing the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elissa-schappell/write-to-exhaustion-so-that-you-can-no-longer-manage-to-avoid-writing/) [Elissa Schappell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elissa-schappell/) > [Enthusiasm is always connected with the senses, whatever be the object that excites it. The true strength of virtue is serenity of mind, combined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enthusiasm-is-always-connected-with-the-senses-whatever-be-the-object/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The sort of the template of being a mother is that you're endlessly giving to the point of exhaustion. You know, that's amazing if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/the-sort-of-the-template-of-being-a-mother-is-that-you-re-endlessly/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-fought-a-military-war-our-opponents-fought-a-political-one-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I lived in New York, and I was the guy who was flying home almost every week, so there was a physical exhaustion and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-jacobson/i-lived-in-new-york-and-i-was-the-guy-who-was-flying-home-almost/) [Peter Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-jacobson/) > [Patience is the most valuable trait of the endgame player. In the endgame, the most common errors, besides those resulting from ignorance of theory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pal-benko/patience-is-the-most-valuable-trait-of-the-endgame-player-in-the/) [Pal Benko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pal-benko/) [Browse all 329 Exhaustion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhaustion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They marched like madmen from place to place, until overcome by exhaustion and lack of strength they could no longer move from one side to the other, and they remained there, wherever this sad siren voice had summoned them, self-important, and dead.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Grann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-place-until-overcome-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exhaustion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-place-until-overcome-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/david-grann-2569_quote_they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-p_1636767.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They marched like madmen from place to place, until overcome by exhaustion and lack of strength they could…” — David Grann", "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": "David Grann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They marched like madmen from place...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-place-until-overcome-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/they-marched-like-madmen-from-place-to-place-until-overcome-by/#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 } } ] } ```