--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are no norms. All people are…" description: "\"There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule that doesn’t exist.\" — Fernando Pessoa" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/fernando-pessoa-177_exception_there-are-no-norms-all-people-are-except_1972058.jpg" --- # There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule… ![“There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule that doesn’t exist.” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/fernando-pessoa-177_exception_there-are-no-norms-all-people-are-except_1972058.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/fernando-pessoa-177_exception_there-are-no-norms-all-people-are-except_1972058.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/fernando-pessoa-177_exception_there-are-no-norms-all-people-are-except_1972058.jpg) > “There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule that doesn’t exist.” [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. There are no universal rules; each individual defies categorization. **In simple terms:** No one fits a single rule. Key Takeaway Embrace individual uniqueness. Themes individuality philosophy anarchy Mood reflective philosophical Type thought‑provoking introspective When to use this quote - creative expression - social interactions - policy making Key Concepts existentialism personal freedom Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance uniqueness with community? - What rules serve you? A Different Perspective May encourage disregard for social norms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Norms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/norms/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Everyone has blind spots, and even the brightest people are no exceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-lu/everyone-has-blind-spots-and-even-the-brightest-people-are-no/) [Li Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-lu/) > [Rule A: Don't. Rule A1: Rule A doesn't exist. Rule A2: Do not discuss the existence or non-existence of Rules A, A1 or A2.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/rule-a-don-t-rule-a1-rule-a-doesn-t-exist-rule-a2-do-not-discuss-the/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [It wasn't possible just to rid oneself, simply, of the norms through which one is constituted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/it-wasn-t-possible-just-to-rid-oneself-simply-of-the-norms-through/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [In a high school, the norms act to hold down the achievements of those who are above average, so that the school's demands will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-coleman/in-a-high-school-the-norms-act-to-hold-down-the-achievements-of-those/) [James S. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-coleman/) > [A culture is like an immune system. It operates through the laws of systems, just like a body. If a body has an infection,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/a-culture-is-like-an-immune-system-it-operates-through-the-laws-of/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [Most conduct is guided by norms rather than by laws. Norms are voluntary and are effective because they are enforced by peer pressure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collier/most-conduct-is-guided-by-norms-rather-than-by-laws-norms-are/) [Paul Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collier/) > [Rules broken today become norms tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/rules-broken-today-become-norms-tomorrow/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Media play a powerful role in establishing and perpetuating social norms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-katz/media-play-a-powerful-role-in-establishing-and-perpetuating-social/) [Jackson Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-katz/) > [In places like South Afghanistan, where cultural norms prevent men from entering homes, female vaccinators often make the difference between a closed or opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-solo/in-places-like-south-afghanistan-where-cultural-norms-prevent-men/) [Ksenia Solo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-solo/) > [I'm convinced that in a healthy society, artistic norms should be constantly under question which is not of course, to deny the need for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earle-brown/i-m-convinced-that-in-a-healthy-society-artistic-norms-should-be/) [Earle Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earle-brown/) > [All of us, as bodies, are in the active position of figuring out how to live with and against the constructions - or norms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/all-of-us-as-bodies-are-in-the-active-position-of-figuring-out-how-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Gingrich was a far more volatile and aggressive individual than Boehner, but the institutional norms of self-restraint, and perhaps even self-interest, have broken down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/gingrich-was-a-far-more-volatile-and-aggressive-individual-than/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Do I wish that things were more orderly in Washington and rational and people listened to the best arguments and compromised and operated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/do-i-wish-that-things-were-more-orderly-in-washington-and-rational/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Sustaining Peace is happening. But it is the exception - not the norm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-lajcak/sustaining-peace-is-happening-but-it-is-the-exception-not-the-norm/) [Miroslav Lajcak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-lajcak/) > [If girls are ever going to start to be in bands as the norm rather than as the exception. They need to see people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobi-vail/if-girls-are-ever-going-to-start-to-be-in-bands-as-the-norm-rather/) Tobi Vail ## More by Fernando Pessoa > [Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-interests-me-but-nothing-holds-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“If only, I feel now, if only I could be someone able to see all this as if he had no other relation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/if-only-i-feel-now-if-only-i-could-be-someone-able-to-see-all-this-as/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [What's given, in fact, always depends on the person or thing it's given to. A minor incident in the street brings the cook to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-s-given-in-fact-always-depends-on-the-person-or-thing-it-s-given/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Smell is a strange sight. It evokes sentimental landscapes through a sudden sketching of the subconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/smell-is-a-strange-sight-it-evokes-sentimental-landscapes-through-a/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Tudo vale a pena quando a alma não é pequena”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tudo-vale-a-pena-quando-a-alma-n-o-pequena/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“no nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-nostalgia-hurts-as-much-as-nostalgia-for-things-that-never-existed/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“The feelings that hurt most, the motions that sting most, are those that are absurd; the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/the-feelings-that-hurt-most-the-motions-that-sting-most-are-those/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“I try to say what I feel Without thinking about what I feel. I try to place words right next to my idea So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-try-to-say-what-i-feel-without-thinking-about-what-i-feel-i-try-to/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Have you ever considered, beloved other, how invisible we are to each other? We look at each other without seeing. We listen to each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/have-you-ever-considered-beloved-other-how-invisible-we-are-to-each/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“To associate is to die. Only my consciousness of myself is real for me; other people are hazy phenomena in this consciousness, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/to-associate-is-to-die-only-my-consciousness-of-myself-is-real-for-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“When it comes to dreams, I’m no different from the errand boy and the seamstress. The only thing that distinguishes me from them is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/when-it-comes-to-dreams-i-m-no-different-from-the-errand-boy-and-the/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. Collective thought is stupid because it’s collective. Nothing passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-intelligent-idea-can-gain-general-acceptance-unless-some-stupidity/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Everything that surrounds us becomes part of us, it seeps into us with every experience of the flesh and of life and, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-that-surrounds-us-becomes-part-of-us-it-seeps-into-us-with/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) [Explore all 781 Fernando Pessoa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## More Exception quotes > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) > [I've always believed that humans are good at heart. 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Highlanders loved stories, and Jamie was no exception. "Oh, aye, "…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/alright-all-right-i-said-what-if-i-tell-you-a-story-instead/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [But Margaret went less abroad, among machinery and men; saw less of power in its public effect, and, as it happened, she was thrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/but-margaret-went-less-abroad-among-machinery-and-men-saw-less-of/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [My Chinese zodiac is a dog. But I'm an exception because of how much I love cats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-wu/my-chinese-zodiac-is-a-dog-but-i-m-an-exception-because-of-how-much-i/) [Jason Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-wu/) > [ I don't know if I know anyone, with the exception of the early inventors of rock music \[who wasn't influenced by something\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-don-t-know-if-i-know-anyone-with-the-exception-of-the-early/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [Child actors going on to become adult actors never really works, apart from a few. Jodie Foster was the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lester/child-actors-going-on-to-become-adult-actors-never-really-works-apart/) Mark Lester > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. And everything that I learn, I learn for a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/i-have-no-admiration-for-culture-i-have-no-reserve-knowledge-no/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I will forever stick up for Catholics and Christians in general. With a small number of very horrible exceptions, they do play by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-will-forever-stick-up-for-catholics-and-christians-in-general-with/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [“There never has been an artistic age, or an artistic people, since the beginning of the world. 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