--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is he mad? Anyway there's something on…" description: "\"Is he mad? Anyway there's something on his mind, as sure as there must be something on a deck when it cracks.\" — Herman Melville" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/herman-melville-162_cracks_is-he-mad-anyway-there-s-something-on-hi_2033646.jpg" --- # Is he mad? Anyway there's something on his mind, as sure… ![“Is he mad? Anyway there's something on his mind, as sure as there must be something on a deck when it cracks.” quote by Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/herman-melville-162_cracks_is-he-mad-anyway-there-s-something-on-hi_2033646.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/herman-melville-162_cracks_is-he-mad-anyway-there-s-something-on-hi_2033646.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/herman-melville-162_cracks_is-he-mad-anyway-there-s-something-on-hi_2033646.jpg) > “Is he mad? Anyway there's something on his mind, as sure as there must be something on a deck when it cracks.” [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uncertainty and hidden motives can be as obvious as a cracked deck, suggesting deeper concerns. **In simple terms:** Uncertainty hides motives. Key Takeaway Seek clarity in ambiguous situations. Themes uncertainty motivation perception Mood reflective curious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - decision making - interpretation Key Concepts psychology literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate hidden motives? - How do you address uncertainty? A Different Perspective Assumptions may mislead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [I'm mad in the front of my mind, but business-minded in the back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mcqueen/i-m-mad-in-the-front-of-my-mind-but-business-minded-in-the-back/) [Alexander McQueen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mcqueen/) > [I have never seen a more lucid, more lonely, better balanced mad mind than mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/i-have-never-seen-a-more-lucid-more-lonely-better-balanced-mad-mind/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [How clear the realization one is going mad -- the mind has a silence, nothing happens in the physique, urine gathers in your loins,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/how-clear-the-realization-one-is-going-mad-the-mind-has-a-silence/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Mind is basically the beginning of madness. And if you are too much in it, it will drive you mad. Mind has no certainity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/mind-is-basically-the-beginning-of-madness-and-if-you-are-too-much-in/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [I am not strictly speaking mad, for my mind is absolutely normal in the intervals, and even more so than before. But during the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-am-not-strictly-speaking-mad-for-my-mind-is-absolutely-normal-in/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [I have never seen a more lucid, better balanced, mad mind than mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/i-have-never-seen-a-more-lucid-better-balanced-mad-mind-than-mine/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Though amid all the smoking horror and diabolism of a sea-fight, sharks will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship's decks, like hungry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/though-amid-all-the-smoking-horror-and-diabolism-of-a-sea-fight/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Passion, and passion in its profoundest, is not a thing demanding a palatial stage whereon to play its part. Down among the groundlings, among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/passion-and-passion-in-its-profoundest-is-not-a-thing-demanding-a/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [The deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top. And there's something wrong with that. 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What we do have is total responibility as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-alten/none-of-us-have-any-control-over-the-deck-or-the-hand-we-ve-been/) [Steve Alten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-alten/) ## More by Herman Melville > [“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-man-though-idiotic-and-knowing-not-what-he-does-yet-full-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“But were the coming narrative to reveal in any instance, the complete abasement of poor Starbuck's fortitude, scarce might I have the heart to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/but-were-the-coming-narrative-to-reveal-in-any-instance-the-complete/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“(On Ralph Waldo Emerson)I love all men who dive. Any fish can swim near the surface, but it takes a great whale to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/on-ralph-waldo-emerson-i-love-all-men-who-dive-any-fish-can-swim-near/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“So seemed it to me, as I stood at her helm, and for long hours silently guided the way of this fire-ship on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/so-seemed-it-to-me-as-i-stood-at-her-helm-and-for-long-hours-silently/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“the only real owner of anything is its commander;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/the-only-real-owner-of-anything-is-its-commander/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/consider-the-subtleness-of-the-sea-how-its-most-dreaded-creatures/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/is-it-that-by-its-indefiniteness-it-shadows-forth-the-heartless-voids/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Now, as I before hinted, I have no objection to any person's religion, be it what it may, so long as that person does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/now-as-i-before-hinted-i-have-no-objection-to-any-person-s-religion/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Let America first praise mediocrity even, in her children, before she praises... the best excellence in the children of any other land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/let-america-first-praise-mediocrity-even-in-her-children-before-she/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Only the man who says no is free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/only-the-man-who-says-no-is-free/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Beneath those stars is a universe of gliding monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/beneath-those-stars-is-a-universe-of-gliding-monsters/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Yet this is life. For hardly have we mortals by long toilings extracted from this world's vast bulk its small but valuable sperm; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/yet-this-is-life-for-hardly-have-we-mortals-by-long-toilings/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I never fancied broiling fowls; - though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-never-fancied-broiling-fowls-though-once-broiled-judiciously/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/war-should-be-carried-on-like-a-monsoon-one-changeless-determination/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Genius is full of trash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/genius-is-full-of-trash/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Explore all 1,009 Herman Melville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## More Cracks quotes > [Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our teeples, drowned the cocks! You sulphurour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/blow-winds-and-crack-your-cheeks-rage-blow-you-cataracts-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I'm 45 years old. I used to be a club girl, but that's not my world anymore. 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(Savitar)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/interesting-isn-t-it-what-do-you-have-to-say-about-that-fury-savitar/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [You boys know what tropism is, it's what makes a plant grow toward the light. Everything aspires to the light. You don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-boys-know-what-tropism-is-it-s-what-makes-a-plant-grow-toward-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [What am I doing with my life am I living it or am I just going to some hum drum job that I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kai-greene/what-am-i-doing-with-my-life-am-i-living-it-or-am-i-just-going-to/) [Kai Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kai-greene/) > [Then there were the shabti, magical figurines that were supposed to come to life when summoned. A few months ago, I’d fallen for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/then-there-were-the-shabti-magical-figurines-that-were-supposed-to/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [When I was younger, I used humour as a tool to avoid getting too serious with people - if there was deep emotional stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-perry/when-i-was-younger-i-used-humour-as-a-tool-to-avoid-getting-too/) [Matthew Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-perry/) > [I'm a girl who has been tamping down her emotions and keeping them tightly guarded her whole life. 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This is where I learned to swear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/there-is-some-really-good-crack-when-i-come-back-here-this-is-where-i/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) Browse all 1,039 Cracks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is he mad? 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