--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [On Marilyn Monroe:] I think my response…" description: "\"[On Marilyn Monroe:] I think my response to her death was the common one: it came to me with the impact of a personal deprivation but I also felt it as..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png" --- # \[On Marilyn Monroe:\] I think my response to her death was… ![“[On Marilyn Monroe:] I think my response to her death was the common one: it came to me with the impact of a personal deprivation but I also felt it as I might a catastrophe in history or in nature; there was less in life, there was less of life, because she had ceased to exist. In her loss life…” quote by Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png) > “\[On Marilyn Monroe:\] I think my response to her death was the common one: it came to me with the impact of a personal deprivation but I also felt it as I might a catastrophe in history or in nature; there was less in life, there was less of life, because she had ceased to exist. In her loss life itself had been injured.” [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Her death felt both a personal loss and a cultural catastrophe, as if the world itself were wounded. **In simple terms:** Losing her seemed like a loss of life itself. Key Takeaway Recognize how personal grief can reflect broader cultural impact. Themes grief culture loss celebrity identity Mood sad reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - personal mourning - media analysis - cultural commentary Key Concepts existentialism collective mourning celebrity culture Questions to Reflect On - How does a public figure’s death affect your personal sense of loss? - Can cultural icons embody collective meaning? A Different Perspective Personal grief may amplify perceived societal loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actors/) [Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Deprivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprivation/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Impact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impact/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Are artists the canaries in the mine, warning of the coming explosion before anyone else? It's hard to look at the world before 1914…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/are-artists-the-canaries-in-the-mine-warning-of-the-coming-explosion/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [The latter. She had a good run, Sook said, doing a little shrug. It was his usual response to death at Mapleshade, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lutz/the-latter-she-had-a-good-run-sook-said-doing-a-little-shrug-it-was/) [Lisa Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lutz/) > [Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-burchill/tears-are-sometimes-an-inappropriate-response-to-death-when-a-life/) [Julie Burchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-burchill/) > [You're no Elvis Presley, I'm no Marilyn Monroe, but I do think you're sexy, just thought I'd tell you so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/you-re-no-elvis-presley-i-m-no-marilyn-monroe-but-i-do-think-you-re/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [I love Marilyn Monroe. I think she was the coolest blonde. I think like me she just didn't care what anyone thinks. She's happy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paris-hilton/i-love-marilyn-monroe-i-think-she-was-the-coolest-blonde-i-think-like/) [Paris Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paris-hilton/) > [Inactivity and deprivation of all accustomed stimulus is not rest; it is a preparation for the tomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/inactivity-and-deprivation-of-all-accustomed-stimulus-is-not-rest-it/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Many low-income children face chronic stress from nutritional deprivation or persistent violence at home or in the community. By addressing their medical, emotional and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-redlener/many-low-income-children-face-chronic-stress-from-nutritional/) [Irwin Redlener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-redlener/) > [“Suicide is nothing, but an act of depriving the soul from it's very right to liberation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aniruddha-sastikar/suicide-is-nothing-but-an-act-of-depriving-the-soul-from-it-s-very/) [Aniruddha Sastikar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aniruddha-sastikar/) > [What government has been doing, we've got major programmes now, of billions of pounds, which are directed by central government into these areas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-prescott/what-government-has-been-doing-we-ve-got-major-programmes-now-of/) [John Prescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-prescott/) > [My mother suffers mental health problems and has a learning deprivation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-rayner/my-mother-suffers-mental-health-problems-and-has-a-learning/) [Angela Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-rayner/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Capitalism has created a situation called scarcity. And that scarcity is not natural, it's socially induced. Along with that sense of scarcity, or feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/capitalism-has-created-a-situation-called-scarcity-and-that-scarcity/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [“We have created a manic world nauseous with the pursuit of material wealth. Many also bear their cross of imagined deprivation, while their fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/we-have-created-a-manic-world-nauseous-with-the-pursuit-of-material/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [“SOME OF THE HARDEST parts of parenting never change—like sleep deprivation, which, according to researchers at Queen’s University in Ontario, can in some respects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/some-of-the-hardest-parts-of-parenting-never-change-like-sleep/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/deprivation-is-for-me-what-daffodils-were-for-wordsworth/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) ## More by Diana Trilling > [The distinction that Jews have themselves always made between Jews of German origin and Jews of East European origin is as stringent as that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/the-distinction-that-jews-have-themselves-always-made-between-jews-of/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [At best-which is to say, even where our knowledge of a case comes to us only through courtroom evidence-it is difficult for the legal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/at-best-which-is-to-say-even-where-our-knowledge-of-a-case-comes-to/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Ideology is the sterner face of myth and we're a myth-making people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/ideology-is-the-sterner-face-of-myth-and-we-re-a-myth-making-people/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Surely going to bed with a man before marriage was the most courageous act of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/surely-going-to-bed-with-a-man-before-marriage-was-the-most/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [We lived our lives as if life was forever. To live one's life without a sense of time is to squander it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/we-lived-our-lives-as-if-life-was-forever-to-live-one-s-life-without/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [In the bad sixties, when drugs came into widespread use among adolescents and when Scarsdale mothers developed the habit of not asking about each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/in-the-bad-sixties-when-drugs-came-into-widespread-use-among/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [“At a time in our culture when violence was achieving a new legitimacy as a form of public assertion, there was perhaps a special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/at-a-time-in-our-culture-when-violence-was-achieving-a-new-legitimacy/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Long-married couples balance their checkbooks as a substitute for love-making, or they refuse each other love by protesting one another's financial error or excess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/long-married-couples-balance-their-checkbooks-as-a-substitute-for/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Where there are children, people become neighbors; they don't merely hold property adjacent to one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/where-there-are-children-people-become-neighbors-they-don-t-merely/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Wit isn't a useful instrument of defense; it may make a short-run appeal, but it creates a backlash- one saw this in the Hiss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/wit-isn-t-a-useful-instrument-of-defense-it-may-make-a-short-run/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Behind the contained and orderly lives we lead as members of the respectable middle class there's a terrible human capacity that may one day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/behind-the-contained-and-orderly-lives-we-lead-as-members-of-the/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Whoever had known sexual jealousy, that most destructive of emotions-and this would be so for men no less than women-had known madness and had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/whoever-had-known-sexual-jealousy-that-most-destructive-of-emotions/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [Touch a university with hostile hands and the blood you draw is prompt, copious, and real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/touch-a-university-with-hostile-hands-and-the-blood-you-draw-is/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [There's much to be said for challenging fate instead of ducking behind it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/there-s-much-to-be-said-for-challenging-fate-instead-of-ducking/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) > [I learned early in life that to laugh before breakfast was to cry before dinner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/i-learned-early-in-life-that-to-laugh-before-breakfast-was-to-cry/) [Diana Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) [Explore all 21 Diana Trilling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/) ## More Actors quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I'm very used to working with first time actors - you can just look back at 'E.T.' with Drew Barrymore, and Christian Bale from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-spielberg/i-m-very-used-to-working-with-first-time-actors-you-can-just-look/) [Steven Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-spielberg/) > [Forget the credit, they (male actors) take all the money as well. We don't get paid even one-third of what male actors get. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kangana-ranaut/forget-the-credit-they-male-actors-take-all-the-money-as-well-we-don/) [Kangana Ranaut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kangana-ranaut/) > [I love film people and actors and I am in the right world because I am one of those people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-film-people-and-actors-and-i-am-in-the-right-world-because-i/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [When we watch a film as actors, you have to understand that we always see much more than what's on screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kunal-khemu/when-we-watch-a-film-as-actors-you-have-to-understand-that-we-always/) [Kunal Khemu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kunal-khemu/) > [As actors, you become an expert at starting over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupita-nyong-o/as-actors-you-become-an-expert-at-starting-over/) [Lupita Nyong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupita-nyong-o/) > [The whole concept of stage fright is fascinating. Actors get stage fright, but they wouldn't be on the stage in the first place if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/the-whole-concept-of-stage-fright-is-fascinating-actors-get-stage/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [No actor wants to choose - they just want all of the options available to them all the time; we tend to be pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-jacobs/no-actor-wants-to-choose-they-just-want-all-of-the-options-available/) [Gillian Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-jacobs/) > [A rapper is about being completely true to yourself. Being an actor is about changing who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-smith/a-rapper-is-about-being-completely-true-to-yourself-being-an-actor-is/) [Will Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-smith/) > [I've been a professional actor for almost 40 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-perlman/i-ve-been-a-professional-actor-for-almost-40-years/) [Ron Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-perlman/) > [American actors are coy. We all have pricks and cunts, or are you different from the rest of us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/american-actors-are-coy-we-all-have-pricks-and-cunts-or-are-you/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) [Browse all 11,394 Actors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actors/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[On Marilyn Monroe:] I think my response to her death was the common one: it came to me with the impact of a personal deprivation but I also felt it as I might a catastrophe in history or in nature; there was less in life, there was less of life, because she had ceased to exist. In her loss life itself had been injured.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diana Trilling" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to-her-death-was-the-common-one/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Actors" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to-her-death-was-the-common-one/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/diana-trilling-27127_actors_on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to_998376.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[On Marilyn Monroe:] I think my response to her death was the common one: it came to me with the impact of a…” — Diana Trilling", "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": "Diana Trilling", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-trilling/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[On Marilyn Monroe:] I think my...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to-her-death-was-the-common-one/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-trilling/on-marilyn-monroe-i-think-my-response-to-her-death-was-the-common-one/#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 } } ] } ```