--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A murderer is regarded by the…" description: "\"A murderer is regarded by the conventional world as something almost monstrous, but a murderer to himself is only an ordinary man. It is only if the mu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/graham-greene-441_conventional_a-murderer-is-regarded-by-the-convention_2125835.jpg" --- # A murderer is regarded by the conventional world as… ![“A murderer is regarded by the conventional world as something almost monstrous, but a murderer to himself is only an ordinary man. It is only if the murderer is a good man that he can be regarded as monstrous.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/graham-greene-441_conventional_a-murderer-is-regarded-by-the-convention_2125835.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/graham-greene-441_conventional_a-murderer-is-regarded-by-the-convention_2125835.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/graham-greene-441_conventional_a-murderer-is-regarded-by-the-convention_2125835.jpg) > “A murderer is regarded by the conventional world as something almost monstrous, but a murderer to himself is only an ordinary man. It is only if the murderer is a good man that he can be regarded as monstrous.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Murderers see themselves as ordinary, but society labels them monstrous; moral judgment depends on the perpetrator’s character. **In simple terms:** Society labels murderers as monsters. Key Takeaway Question moral labels. Themes ethics perception crime Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - courtrooms - media coverage - personal reflection Key Concepts morality self-identity Questions to Reflect On - What defines a monster? - Can a good person become a monster? A Different Perspective Not all murderers are evil; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-man/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer/) [Ordinary man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-man/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [A warrior, or any man for that matter, cannot possibly wish he were somewhere else; a warrior because he lives by challenge, an ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/a-warrior-or-any-man-for-that-matter-cannot-possibly-wish-he-were/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Choice word and measured phrase above the reach Of ordinary men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/choice-word-and-measured-phrase-above-the-reach-of-ordinary-men/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [It is frequently the tragedy of the great artist, as it is of the great scientist, that he frightens the ordinary man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/it-is-frequently-the-tragedy-of-the-great-artist-as-it-is-of-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“The ordinary man cannot imagine this Providence in any other form but that of a greatly exalted father, for only such a one could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-ordinary-man-cannot-imagine-this-providence-in-any-other-form-but/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [To consider oneself different from ordinary men is wrong, but it is right to hope that one will not remain like ordinary men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoshida-shoin/to-consider-oneself-different-from-ordinary-men-is-wrong-but-it-is/) [Yoshida Shoin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoshida-shoin/) > [The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-taste-for-glory-can-make-ordinary-men-behave-in-extraordinary-ways/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in. and the best of me is diligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/that-which-ordinary-men-are-fit-for-i-am-qualified-in-and-the-best-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [For the ordinary man, whose mind is a checkerboard of crisscrossing reflections, opinions, and prejudices, bare attention is virtually impossible; his life is thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-checkerboard-of-crisscrossing/) [Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/) > [I'm just an ordinary man. I get tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakii-retondo/i-m-just-an-ordinary-man-i-get-tired/) [Rakii Retondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakii-retondo/) > [Genius... is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/genius-is-the-capacity-to-see-ten-things-where-the-ordinary-man-sees/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He was the most ordinary man in all the world, and yet in her memory he'd become luminous, like the prince in a fairy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/he-was-the-most-ordinary-man-in-all-the-world-and-yet-in-her-memory/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Brian and I have ups and downs like every marriage does. Although he's a legend, he's still, inside, an ordinary man, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-dobson/brian-and-i-have-ups-and-downs-like-every-marriage-does-although-he-s/) [Anita Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-dobson/) > [One machine can do the work of hundred ordinary men but no machine can do the work of one extra ordinary man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smartmuslimanas/one-machine-can-do-the-work-of-hundred-ordinary-men-but-no-machine/) SmartMuslimAnas > [“She wrapped her arms around him. "If you take away my wealth and my name, I'm nothing more than an ordinary woman in love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jagears/she-wrapped-her-arms-around-him-if-you-take-away-my-wealth-and-my/) [Melissa Jagears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jagears/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Conventional quotes > [Whether you are buying a car or casting a ballot, choosing a job or planning a family, follow your moral compass. Don't let others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-hayes/whether-you-are-buying-a-car-or-casting-a-ballot-choosing-a-job-or/) [Denis Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-hayes/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. 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We weren't wealthy, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/my-father-was-in-real-estate-banking-and-land-management-as-family/) [Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/) > [Our Christian faith is actually very subversive of the conventional notion of success - the notion that what invests a person with worth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/our-christian-faith-is-actually-very-subversive-of-the-conventional/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [I think you will learn to be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-think-you-will-learn-to-be-natural-with-me-as-i-find-it-impossible/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [What's different now is that while political leaders used to give talking points to talk radio, now talk-radio hosts are giving talking points to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-avlon/what-s-different-now-is-that-while-political-leaders-used-to-give/) [John Avlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-avlon/) > [Some days, I think maybe we should try and be a little more conventional, but every time I try, I fail, so I'm learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seinabo-sey/some-days-i-think-maybe-we-should-try-and-be-a-little-more/) [Seinabo Sey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seinabo-sey/) > [The vision of extraordinary achievement is,by definition, a few steps beyond consensus and conventional logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-belsky/the-vision-of-extraordinary-achievement-is-by-definition-a-few-steps/) [Scott Belsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-belsky/) > [“Can you make me remember the conventional way?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-ellen-malpas/can-you-make-me-remember-the-conventional-way/) [Jodi Ellen Malpas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-ellen-malpas/) > [Nobody can live in society without conventions. The reason why sensible people are as conventional as they can bear to be is that conventionality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nobody-can-live-in-society-without-conventions-the-reason-why/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Currency speculation-over a trillion dollars a day-is a tax-free activity. The notion of a tax on "day trades" or other speculative swaps was revived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kierans/currency-speculation-over-a-trillion-dollars-a-day-is-a-tax-free/) [Eric Kierans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kierans/) > [Fear is a problem with film music and films; people want to be conventional, and there's more commercialism today. If you are not daring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-north/fear-is-a-problem-with-film-music-and-films-people-want-to-be/) [Alex North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-north/) Browse all 742 Conventional quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A murderer is regarded by the conventional world as something almost monstrous, but a murderer to himself is only an ordinary man. 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