--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only time they appear human is when…" description: "\"“The only time they appear human is when you have a knife at their throats. The instant you remove it, they fall back into animality. Obscenity.”\" — Ja..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/jack-henry-abbott-37565_prison-guards_the-only-time-they-appear-human-is-when_2130605.jpg" --- # The only time they appear human is when you have a knife… ![“The only time they appear human is when you have a knife at their throats. The instant you remove it, they fall back into animality. Obscenity.” quote by Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/jack-henry-abbott-37565_prison-guards_the-only-time-they-appear-human-is-when_2130605.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/jack-henry-abbott-37565_prison-guards_the-only-time-they-appear-human-is-when_2130605.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/jack-henry-abbott-37565_prison-guards_the-only-time-they-appear-human-is-when_2130605.jpg) > ““The only time they appear human is when you have a knife at their throats. The instant you remove it, they fall back into animality. Obscenity.”” [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity can be reduced to animalistic behavior when power dynamics shift, revealing a thin veneer of civility. **In simple terms:** People act like animals when threatened. Key Takeaway Recognize the fragility of civility. Themes psychology power human nature Mood cynical critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - leadership training - ethical debates Key Concepts authority dynamics moral decay Questions to Reflect On - What situations reveal true character? - How can societies protect civility under stress? A Different Perspective Violence is not the only way to test humanity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animality-839892/) [Animality Obscenity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animality-obscenity-4389725/) [Human Knife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-knife-4389727/) [Knife Throats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knife-throats-4389726/) [Obscenity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscenity/) [Prison guards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison-guards/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The prison guards are capable of committing daily atrocities and obscenities, smiling the smile of the angels all the while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-harris/the-prison-guards-are-capable-of-committing-daily-atrocities-and/) [Jean Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-harris/) > [“What exists are not separated animals, but an inter-animality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/what-exists-are-not-separated-animals-but-an-inter-animality/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“Wolves fail to hide their integrity just like the way men fail to hide their own animality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/wolves-fail-to-hide-their-integrity-just-like-the-way-men-fail-to/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) > [If a man has to make a woman the center of his love, then why does he have to enter animality into it?...Can love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadat-hasan-manto/if-a-man-has-to-make-a-woman-the-center-of-his-love-then-why-does-he/) [Saadat Hasan Manto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadat-hasan-manto/) > [The laws of animality govern almost the whole of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/the-laws-of-animality-govern-almost-the-whole-of-history/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [“The relation of the human & animality is not a hierarchical relation, but lateral, an overcoming that does not abolish kinship”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/the-relation-of-the-human-animality-is-not-a-hierarchical-relation/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [Acting is about animality. It's great to be allowed to be animal. But I feel more alive as a director. Every morning, I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mathieu-amalric/acting-is-about-animality-it-s-great-to-be-allowed-to-be-animal-but-i/) [Mathieu Amalric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mathieu-amalric/) > [Unable to create a meaningful life for itself, the personality takes its own revenge: from the lower depths comes a regressive form of spontaneity:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/unable-to-create-a-meaningful-life-for-itself-the-personality-takes/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [We might even define the human as a dynamic process produced by a series of identifications and misidentifications with animality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-critchley/we-might-even-define-the-human-as-a-dynamic-process-produced-by-a/) [Simon Critchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-critchley/) > [“Animals don't behave like men,' he said. 'If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/animals-don-t-behave-like-men-he-said-if-they-have-to-fight-they/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [If you deny animality present within, you deny your very source of life. And then you will always be false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/if-you-deny-animality-present-within-you-deny-your-very-source-of/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [The fastest growing occupation in the private sector is security guards. The fastest growing occupation in the public sector is prison guards. (1992)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reich/the-fastest-growing-occupation-in-the-private-sector-is-security/) [Robert Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reich/) > [This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-hoss/this-so-called-ill-treatment-and-torture-in-detention-centers-stories/) [Rudolf Hoss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-hoss/) > [“Will you treat people who make you miserable, as prison guards, or travel agents?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-miklosy/will-you-treat-people-who-make-you-miserable-as-prison-guards-or/) [Leslie Miklosy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-miklosy/) > [Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom when Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/even-here-in-america-we-felt-the-cool-refreshing-breeze-of-freedom/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More by Jack Henry Abbott > [To be in prison so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/to-be-in-prison-so-long-it-s-difficult-to-remember-exactly-what-you/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [“I cannot be critical of an infant whose only possible source of nourishment can be found in the dugs of a wolf.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/i-cannot-be-critical-of-an-infant-whose-only-possible-source-of/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [There was never sufficient evidence presented at my trial to support a finding of intent to kill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/there-was-never-sufficient-evidence-presented-at-my-trial-to-support/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [I have been desperate to escape for so many years now, it is routine for me to try to escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/i-have-been-desperate-to-escape-for-so-many-years-now-it-is-routine/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [“Everyone in prison has an ideal of violence, murder. Beneath all relationships between prisoners is the ever-present fact of murder. It ultimately defines our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/everyone-in-prison-has-an-ideal-of-violence-murder-beneath-all/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [I escaped one time. In 1971 I was in the free world for six weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/i-escaped-one-time-in-1971-i-was-in-the-free-world-for-six-weeks/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [“I would never say, to justify a lapse in principle, "I am only human"--as though that were some kind of justification for weakness, moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/i-would-never-say-to-justify-a-lapse-in-principle-i-am-only-human-as/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [When I'm forced by circumstances to be in a crowd of prisoners, it's all I can do to refrain from attack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/when-i-m-forced-by-circumstances-to-be-in-a-crowd-of-prisoners-it-s/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [The other inmates stand in a long straight line, flanked by guards, and I am dragged past them. I do not respect them, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/the-other-inmates-stand-in-a-long-straight-line-flanked-by-guards-and/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [“Sometimes I doubt that anyone with a philosophical turn of mind is fit to judge anyone. He never comprehends the concept of guilt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/sometimes-i-doubt-that-anyone-with-a-philosophical-turn-of-mind-is/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) > [Nothing is over and done with. Nothing. Not even your malice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-henry-abbott/nothing-is-over-and-done-with-nothing-not-even-your-malice/) [Jack Henry Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) [Explore all 12 Jack Henry Abbott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-henry-abbott/) ## More Obscenity quotes > [It's true that obscenity is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-true-that-obscenity-is-a-matter-of-taste-and-in-the-eye-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [That which attempts to elevate the ugly to the level of beauty becomes neither; but an obscenity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/that-which-attempts-to-elevate-the-ugly-to-the-level-of-beauty/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“No more peeping through keyholes! No more mas turbating in the dark! No more public confessions! Unscrew the doors from their jambs! I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/no-more-peeping-through-keyholes-no-more-mas-turbating-in-the-dark-no/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [The most important truths always appear first as blasphemies or obscenities. That's why every great innovator is persecuted. And the sacraments look obscene, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/the-most-important-truths-always-appear-first-as-blasphemies-or/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“They told me I was not to draw.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-diana/they-told-me-i-was-not-to-draw/) [Mike Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-diana/) > [Western people often see obscenity where there is only symbolism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-woodroffe/western-people-often-see-obscenity-where-there-is-only-symbolism/) [Sir John Woodroffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-woodroffe/) > [There is something powerful in the whispering of obscenities, about those in power. There's something delightful about it, something naughty, secretive, forbidden, thrilling. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-something-powerful-in-the-whispering-of-obscenities-about/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Whether my acting was obscene, or whether it was distasteful, well, Judge Rehnquist, who just recently passed away couldn't define pornography. His comment on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-reems/whether-my-acting-was-obscene-or-whether-it-was-distasteful-well/) [Harry Reems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-reems/) > [Slavery is an obscenity. It is not just stealing someone's labor; it is the theft of an entire life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bales/slavery-is-an-obscenity-it-is-not-just-stealing-someone-s-labor-it-is/) [Kevin Bales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bales/) > [Since obscenity is the truth of our passion today, it is the only stuff of art -- or almost the only stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/since-obscenity-is-the-truth-of-our-passion-today-it-is-the-only/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Sex and obscenity are not synonymous. Obscene material is material which deals with sex in a manner appealing to prurient interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sex-and-obscenity-are-not-synonymous-obscene-material-is-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is not sadly, today being promoted obscenity in the name of modernity, and, sadly is that, younger generation are happily assimilated are pornography,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/this-is-not-sadly-today-being-promoted-obscenity-in-the-name-of/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [What good is an obscenity trial except to popularize literature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-good-is-an-obscenity-trial-except-to-popularize-literature/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [When you can use dirty words in every situation with everyone, that's a real big liberation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lina-wertmuller/when-you-can-use-dirty-words-in-every-situation-with-everyone-that-s/) [Lina Wertmuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lina-wertmuller/) > [The nowadays ruling that no word is unprintable has, I think, done nothing whatever for beautiful letters. ... Obscenity is too valuable a commodity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/the-nowadays-ruling-that-no-word-is-unprintable-has-i-think-done/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) [Browse all 141 Obscenity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscenity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The only time they appear human is when you have a knife at their throats. The instant you remove it, they fall back into animality. 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