--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are some characters in this world…" description: "\"“There are some characters in this world who are marked down for self-destruction, and to these no amount of rational argument can appeal. For my part ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/730/lawrence-durrell-2169_quote_there-are-some-characters-in-this-world_1395761.jpg" --- # There are some characters in this world who are marked… ![“There are some characters in this world who are marked down for self-destruction, and to these no amount of rational argument can appeal. For my part Justine always reminded me of a somnambulist discovered treading the perilous leads of a high tower; any attempt to wake her with a shout might lead…” quote by Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/730/lawrence-durrell-2169_quote_there-are-some-characters-in-this-world_1395761.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/730/lawrence-durrell-2169_quote_there-are-some-characters-in-this-world_1395761.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/730/lawrence-durrell-2169_quote_there-are-some-characters-in-this-world_1395761.jpg) > ““There are some characters in this world who are marked down for self-destruction, and to these no amount of rational argument can appeal. For my part Justine always reminded me of a somnambulist discovered treading the perilous leads of a high tower; any attempt to wake her with a shout might lead to disaster. One could only follow her silently in the hope of guiding her gradually away from the great shadowy drops which loomed up on every side. But by some curious paradox it was these”” [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some people are so entrenched in self-destructive paths that logic cannot reach them; they must be guided gently and patiently. **In simple terms:** Logic fails on self-destructive minds. Key Takeaway Approach with patience and subtle guidance. Themes psychology destruction communication Mood empathetic cautious Type advice reflective When to use this quote - counseling - addiction recovery - conflict mediation - mental health support Key Concepts self-sabotage paradox guidance Questions to Reflect On - What subtle signals can you use to help? - When is it appropriate to step back? A Different Perspective Even gentle guidance may not change deeply rooted behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Justine Reminded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justine-reminded-4877353/) [Reminded Somnambulist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reminded-somnambulist-4877354/) [Self destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-destruction/) [Somnambulist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somnambulist-174071/) [Somnambulist Discovered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somnambulist-discovered-4877355/) ## Related quotes > [The first cause worked automatically like a somnambulist, and not reflectively like a sage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-first-cause-worked-automatically-like-a-somnambulist-and-not/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“The awareness that I am not as independent in my dreams as I thought it was possible is phenomenal. That nightly, recent unmanageableness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanka-gjuri/the-awareness-that-i-am-not-as-independent-in-my-dreams-as-i-thought/) [Stanka Gjurić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanka-gjuri/) > [“It gave me no hope to see him doing these simple things with the sluggishness of a somnambulist. It proved nothing more than that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/it-gave-me-no-hope-to-see-him-doing-these-simple-things-with-the/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“I can see better when i close my eyes; don't make much ado, that's my latest style of view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/i-can-see-better-when-i-close-my-eyes-don-t-make-much-ado-that-s-my/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“By the time the Somnambulist had set her creaking bones to rest on their assigned landing pad, Holden had lost all patience with human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/by-the-time-the-somnambulist-had-set-her-creaking-bones-to-rest-on/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [“We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self destruction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/we-re-fickle-stupid-beings-with-poor-memories-and-a-great-gift-for/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [The naive is what is or appears to be natural, individual, or classical to the point of irony or to the point of continuous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/the-naive-is-what-is-or-appears-to-be-natural-individual-or-classical/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [If The World Does Not Change Course, We Risk Self-Destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/if-the-world-does-not-change-course-we-risk-self-destruction/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [Anger, envy, greed, arrogance, ego & false pride inside a person makes them warehouse of self destruction.To win over these depends on how one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anger-envy-greed-arrogance-ego-false-pride-inside-a-person-makes-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Ready for the cheap escape On the brink of self destruction Widespread panic Broken glass inside my head Bleeding down these thoughts ~”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-gambhir/ready-for-the-cheap-escape-on-the-brink-of-self-destruction/) [Tanya Gambhir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-gambhir/) > [To strive to be perfect is going down the road of self-destruction. To strive to be yourself is going down the road of greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/to-strive-to-be-perfect-is-going-down-the-road-of-self-destruction-to/) [Isaiah Harden (Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-harden-me/) > [In rock stardom there's an absolute economic upside to self-destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-love/in-rock-stardom-there-s-an-absolute-economic-upside-to-self/) [Courtney Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-love/) > [When you don't work together you can't emerge as a force. It becomes what some call a "lonely struggle" and individual self-destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gerima/when-you-don-t-work-together-you-can-t-emerge-as-a-force-it-becomes/) [Haile Gerima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gerima/) > [I feel a little more tired than usual, ... Ive had to recover from everything, my illnesses and things this summer. Its not perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/i-feel-a-little-more-tired-than-usual-ive-had-to-recover-from/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## More by Lawrence Durrell > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [“Suddenly at the end of the great couloir my vision is sharpened by a pale disjunctive shudder as a bar of buttercup-yellow thickening gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/suddenly-at-the-end-of-the-great-couloir-my-vision-is-sharpened-by-a/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [To be the equal of reality you must learn how to ignore it without danger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/to-be-the-equal-of-reality-you-must-learn-how-to-ignore-it-without/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [The cocktail party - as the name itself indicates - was originally invented by dogs. They are simply bottom-sniffings raised to the rank of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-cocktail-party-as-the-name-itself-indicates-was-originally/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [It only takes one match to ignite a haystack, or one remark to fire a mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/it-only-takes-one-match-to-ignite-a-haystack-or-one-remark-to-fire-a/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [“He felt that his mind had become a battle-ground for the forces of good and evil and that his task was to strain every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/he-felt-that-his-mind-had-become-a-battle-ground-for-the-forces-of/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [Science is the poetry of the intellect and poetry the science of the heart's affections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/science-is-the-poetry-of-the-intellect-and-poetry-the-science-of-the/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/travel-can-be-one-of-the-most-rewarding-forms-of-introspection/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [We live" writes Pursewarden somewhere, "lives based upon selected fictions. Our view of reality is conditioned by our position in space and time -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/we-live-writes-pursewarden-somewhere-lives-based-upon-selected/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [It's unthinkable not to love -you'd have a severe nervous breakdown. Or you'd have to be Philip Larkin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/it-s-unthinkable-not-to-love-you-d-have-a-severe-nervous-breakdown-or/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [“...man is only an extension of the spirit of place.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/man-is-only-an-extension-of-the-spirit-of-place/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [“God did not create us, nor did He wish us to be created. We are the work of a lesser deity, a demiurge, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/god-did-not-create-us-nor-did-he-wish-us-to-be-created-we-are-the/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [The steward, according to custom, had stopped all the clocks. This, in the language of Narouz, said "Your stay with us is so brief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-steward-according-to-custom-had-stopped-all-the-clocks-this-in/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [Everyone loathes his own country and countrymen if he is any sort of artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/everyone-loathes-his-own-country-and-countrymen-if-he-is-any-sort-of/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [“The slither of tyres across the waves of the desert under a sky blue and frost-bound in winter; or in summer a fearful lunar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-slither-of-tyres-across-the-waves-of-the-desert-under-a-sky-blue/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) [Explore all 179 Lawrence Durrell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) ## More Self destruction quotes > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [I feel a little more tired than usual, ... Ive had to recover from everything, my illnesses and things this summer. Its not perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/i-feel-a-little-more-tired-than-usual-ive-had-to-recover-from/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [When you don't work together you can't emerge as a force. It becomes what some call a "lonely struggle" and individual self-destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gerima/when-you-don-t-work-together-you-can-t-emerge-as-a-force-it-becomes/) [Haile Gerima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gerima/) > [In rock stardom there's an absolute economic upside to self-destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-love/in-rock-stardom-there-s-an-absolute-economic-upside-to-self/) [Courtney Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-love/) > [To strive to be perfect is going down the road of self-destruction. To strive to be yourself is going down the road of greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/to-strive-to-be-perfect-is-going-down-the-road-of-self-destruction-to/) [Isaiah Harden (Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-harden-me/) > [“Ready for the cheap escape On the brink of self destruction Widespread panic Broken glass inside my head Bleeding down these thoughts ~”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-gambhir/ready-for-the-cheap-escape-on-the-brink-of-self-destruction/) [Tanya Gambhir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-gambhir/) > [Anger, envy, greed, arrogance, ego & false pride inside a person makes them warehouse of self destruction.To win over these depends on how one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anger-envy-greed-arrogance-ego-false-pride-inside-a-person-makes-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If The World Does Not Change Course, We Risk Self-Destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/if-the-world-does-not-change-course-we-risk-self-destruction/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [The naive is what is or appears to be natural, individual, or classical to the point of irony or to the point of continuous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/the-naive-is-what-is-or-appears-to-be-natural-individual-or-classical/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [“We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self destruction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/we-re-fickle-stupid-beings-with-poor-memories-and-a-great-gift-for/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“Drug cartels have taken the driver’s seat, training our young men and women on how best to self destruct, while the larger community watches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oche-otorkpa/drug-cartels-have-taken-the-driver-s-seat-training-our-young-men-and/) [Oche Otorkpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oche-otorkpa/) > [Luckily, even as a young man not yet become himself, John Bridgens had two things besides indecision that kept him from self-destruction - books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/luckily-even-as-a-young-man-not-yet-become-himself-john-bridgens-had/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“I have never seen battles quite as terrifyingly beautiful as the ones I fight when my mind splinters and races, to swallow me into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-lyons/i-have-never-seen-battles-quite-as-terrifyingly-beautiful-as-the-ones/) [Nicole Lyons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-lyons/) > [Even within the context of the alternative scene I was a part of, within punk and hardcore and the alt scene, there was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davey-havok/even-within-the-context-of-the-alternative-scene-i-was-a-part-of/) [Davey Havok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davey-havok/) > [. . . Without love the acquisition of knowledge only increases confusion and leads to self-destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/without-love-the-acquisition-of-knowledge-only-increases-confusion/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) [Browse all 255 Self destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There are some characters in this world who are marked down for self-destruction, and to these no amount of rational argument can appeal. For my part Justine always reminded me of a somnambulist discovered treading the perilous leads of a high tower; any attempt to wake her with a shout might lead to disaster. One could only follow her silently in the hope of guiding her gradually away from the great shadowy drops which loomed up on every side. 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