--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was like either: (A) I was a terrible…" description: "\"It was like either: (A) I was a terrible guy who was knowingly doing this rotten thing over and over, or (B) it wasn’t so rotten, really, just normal, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/george-saunders-317_guy_it-was-like-either-a-i-was-a-terrible-gu_626117.jpg" --- # It was like either: (A) I was a terrible guy who was… ![“It was like either: (A) I was a terrible guy who was knowingly doing this rotten thing over and over, or (B) it wasn’t so rotten, really, just normal, and the way to confirm it was normal was to keep doing it, over and over.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/george-saunders-317_guy_it-was-like-either-a-i-was-a-terrible-gu_626117.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/george-saunders-317_guy_it-was-like-either-a-i-was-a-terrible-gu_626117.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/george-saunders-317_guy_it-was-like-either-a-i-was-a-terrible-gu_626117.jpg) > “It was like either: (A) I was a terrible guy who was knowingly doing this rotten thing over and over, or (B) it wasn’t so rotten, really, just normal, and the way to confirm it was normal was to keep doing it, over and over.” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Repeated harmful actions become normalized when they are continuously justified, blurring moral judgment. **In simple terms:** Doing bad things repeatedly can feel normal. Key Takeaway Question and challenge repeated harmful patterns. Themes ethics behavior normalization Mood thoughtful critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - organizational culture - social movements Key Concepts moral psychology habit formation Questions to Reflect On - What habits have you normalized that may be harmful? - How can you break the cycle of justification? A Different Perspective Normalization can mask underlying damage, making it harder to change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doing Rotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-rotten-4968898/) [Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guy/) [Normal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normal/) [Rotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rotten/) [Rotten Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rotten-really-5056119/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Terrible Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible-guy-5056118/) [Thing Wasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-wasn-1359529/) [Wasn Rotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasn-rotten-5056117/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness is doing it rotten your own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/happiness-is-doing-it-rotten-your-own-way/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [And in that moment, the wordless thing passed between us, the thing that wasn't quite love but was so close I could believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/and-in-that-moment-the-wordless-thing-passed-between-us-the-thing/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [The only thing I wasn't prepared for was being everywhere all at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-timberlake/the-only-thing-i-wasn-t-prepared-for-was-being-everywhere-all-at-the/) [Justin Timberlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-timberlake/) > [“There wasn't anything more, and the one good thing that was mine wasn't mine after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/there-wasn-t-anything-more-and-the-one-good-thing-that-was-mine-wasn/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [That whole Wavy Spice, '90s thing, it wasn't who I was or what I saw myself doing in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-nokia/that-whole-wavy-spice-90s-thing-it-wasn-t-who-i-was-or-what-i-saw/) [Princess Nokia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-nokia/) > [When my first record came out, it was in the middle of the real Muse, Keane, British thing, and that beat-driven thing wasn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/when-my-first-record-came-out-it-was-in-the-middle-of-the-real-muse/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [I follow a more easy, and, in my opinion, a wiser course, namely--to inveigh against the levity of the female sex, their fickleness, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/i-follow-a-more-easy-and-in-my-opinion-a-wiser-course-namely-to/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [If you think of the ice caps as the fridge of our planet, if your fridge at home died, the food you eat would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orlando-bloom/if-you-think-of-the-ice-caps-as-the-fridge-of-our-planet-if-your/) [Orlando Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orlando-bloom/) > [“They threw rotten fruit at me and told me next time it would be acid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/they-threw-rotten-fruit-at-me-and-told-me-next-time-it-would-be-acid/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [As I write, Johnny Rotten's first moments in "Anarchy in the U.K." - a rolling earthquake of a laugh, a buried shout, then hoary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/as-i-write-johnny-rotten-s-first-moments-in-anarchy-in-the-u-k-a/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [Between the covers of the books that no one had ever read again, in the old parchments damaged by dampness, a livid flower had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/between-the-covers-of-the-books-that-no-one-had-ever-read-again-in/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [International friendly games are not worth the lives of the silk worms who perish to make the pennants. 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