--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I didn't believe in systems. Everything…" description: "\"I didn't believe in systems. Everything human was imperfect and ultimately absurd. What did I believe in then? In humor. In laughing at systems, at peo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/erica-jong-445_absurd_i-didn-t-believe-in-systems-everything-h_1171926.jpg" --- # I didn't believe in systems. Everything human was… ![“I didn't believe in systems. Everything human was imperfect and ultimately absurd. What did I believe in then? In humor. In laughing at systems, at people, at one's self. In laughing even at one's need to laugh all the time. In seeing life as contradictory, many-sided, various, funny, tragic, and…” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/erica-jong-445_absurd_i-didn-t-believe-in-systems-everything-h_1171926.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/erica-jong-445_absurd_i-didn-t-believe-in-systems-everything-h_1171926.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/erica-jong-445_absurd_i-didn-t-believe-in-systems-everything-h_1171926.jpg) > “I didn't believe in systems. Everything human was imperfect and ultimately absurd. What did I believe in then? In humor. In laughing at systems, at people, at one's self. In laughing even at one's need to laugh all the time. In seeing life as contradictory, many-sided, various, funny, tragic, and with moments of outrageous beauty. In seeing life as a fruitcake, including delicious plums and bad peanuts, but meant to be devoured hungrily all the same because you couldn't feast on the plums without also sometimes being poisoned by the peanuts.” [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects a worldview that embraces absurdity and humor as coping mechanisms for life's contradictions and imperfections. **In simple terms:** Humor helps us accept life's messy contradictions. Key Takeaway Use humor to navigate absurdity. Themes absurdity humor contradiction humanity life beauty Mood reflective wry hopeful Type philosophical inspirational literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - social critique - creative writing - mental health - philosophical discourse Key Concepts existentialism psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - How does humor change your perception of life's contradictions? - When does humor become avoidance? A Different Perspective Humor may mask deeper issues and prevent serious change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-humor-2010343/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Contradictory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictory/) [Delicious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delicious/) [Fruitcake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruitcake/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [I believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-believe/) [I believe in](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-believe-in/) [Imperfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperfect/) [Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/including/) [Laugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laugh/) [Laughing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughing/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Contradictory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-contradictory-839978/) [Meant to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meant-to-be/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Outrageous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outrageous/) [Peanuts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peanuts/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Plums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plums/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) [Various](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/various/) ## Related quotes > [I believe humor nullifies violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/i-believe-humor-nullifies-violence/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [We like to think the best of ourselves. We like to believe we always say and do the right things. We like to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/we-like-to-think-the-best-of-ourselves-we-like-to-believe-we-always/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [I am a great believe that your humor is developed at a very early age and it doesn't ever change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bobin/i-am-a-great-believe-that-your-humor-is-developed-at-a-very-early-age/) [James Bobin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bobin/) > [Life has all of these contradictory feelings and contradictory results. People spend their whole lives struggling to get what they think they want, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-ramis/life-has-all-of-these-contradictory-feelings-and-contradictory/) [Harold Ramis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-ramis/) > [“There is no religion and no philosophy that can give us a comprehensive answer to the whole of our problems, and the abandonment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-neumann/there-is-no-religion-and-no-philosophy-that-can-give-us-a/) [Erich Neumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-neumann/) > [“Life itself is contradictory. Only death is consistent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-caspary/life-itself-is-contradictory-only-death-is-consistent/) [Vera Caspary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-caspary/) > [It is not that I love contradictions: life is contradictory. Existence itself is possible only through contradictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/it-is-not-that-i-love-contradictions-life-is-contradictory-existence/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [My mother, because of her life, had almost a contradictory way of viewing life. She had this great zest and joy for life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-lansing/my-mother-because-of-her-life-had-almost-a-contradictory-way-of/) [Sherry Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-lansing/) > [“A sharp bolt of hunger hit Luther hard. His knees almost buckled, his poker face almost grimaced. For two weeks now his sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/a-sharp-bolt-of-hunger-hit-luther-hard-his-knees-almost-buckled-his/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [I would eat fruitcake if there'd been a nuclear war and I'd run out of canned goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/i-would-eat-fruitcake-if-there-d-been-a-nuclear-war-and-i-d-run-out/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [You little fruitcake, you little fruitcake, I said you are a fruitcake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-stark/you-little-fruitcake-you-little-fruitcake-i-said-you-are-a-fruitcake/) [Pete Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-stark/) > [“It is amazing how the world can change, he thought, during the life span of a fruitcake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-edsel/it-is-amazing-how-the-world-can-change-he-thought-during-the-life/) [Robert M. Edsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-edsel/) > [“Wonderful. Gives a whole new meaning to flour power. You'll undoubtedly change the world, one fruitcake at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-frost/wonderful-gives-a-whole-new-meaning-to-flour-power-you-ll-undoubtedly/) [Kimberly Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-frost/) > [“You are nuttier than a fruitcake, that’s what you are!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-t-suzuki/you-are-nuttier-than-a-fruitcake-that-s-what-you-are/) [L.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-t-suzuki/) > [Friends are the fruitcake of life - some nutty, some soaked in alcohol, some sweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/friends-are-the-fruitcake-of-life-some-nutty-some-soaked-in-alcohol/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) ## More by Erica Jong > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Will you ever? I dont think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/will-you-ever-i-dont-think-you-will-ever-fully-understand-how-you-ve/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Give advice to your children while they're young enough to believe you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/give-advice-to-your-children-while-they-re-young-enough-to-believe/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/perhaps-all-artists-were-in-a-sense-housewives-tenders-of-the-earth/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-have-lived-my-life-according-to-this-principle-if-i-m-afraid-of-it/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-writing-poetry-and-teaching-but/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Naomi Wolf dares to explode the myth of 'victim feminism' and pleads for allowing women to be as full of good and bad desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/naomi-wolf-dares-to-explode-the-myth-of-victim-feminism-and-pleads/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I knew I was in England by the smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-knew-i-was-in-england-by-the-smell/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The Lives of Great Men are more oft' at variance with their profess'd Phillosophies than consistent with 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-lives-of-great-men-are-more-oft-at-variance-with-their-profess-d/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Women's books are kind of discriminated against. If a man writes a book about his family stories, people think of it as literature. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-s-books-are-kind-of-discriminated-against-if-a-man-writes-a/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Many, many people have done a lot more sexual experimentation than I have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/many-many-people-have-done-a-lot-more-sexual-experimentation-than-i/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Is life much too long for an immortal?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/is-life-much-too-long-for-an-immortal/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Don't ye know that ev'ry Soul on Earth feels itself to be an Orphan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/don-t-ye-know-that-ev-ry-soul-on-earth-feels-itself-to-be-an-orphan/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/critics-write-out-of-intellectual-exercise-not-poets-poets-write/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Once I worshipped Keats for dying young. Now I think it's braver to die old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/once-i-worshipped-keats-for-dying-young-now-i-think-it-s-braver-to/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) [Explore all 542 Erica Jong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I didn't believe in systems. Everything human was imperfect and ultimately absurd. What did I believe in then? In humor. In laughing at systems, at people, at one's self. In laughing even at one's need to laugh all the time. In seeing life as contradictory, many-sided, various, funny, tragic, and with moments of outrageous beauty. 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