--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After a moment of shrinking back, we…" description: "\"After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the grotesque.\" — Mason Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png" --- # After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the… ![“After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the grotesque.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png) > “After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the grotesque.” [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We tame frightening or unsettling things by confronting and integrating them into everyday life. **In simple terms:** Facing fears makes them manageable. Key Takeaway Embrace and domesticate the strange. Themes courage self‑acceptance transformation Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - social interaction - mental health Key Concepts psychology human nature Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn a fear into a familiar habit? - What does “grotesque” represent in your life? A Different Perspective Domesticating fear may not erase its impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Domesticate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/domesticate-1364519/) [Domesticate Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/domesticate-grotesque-4000226/) [Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grotesque/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Shrinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrinking/) [Shrinking Domesticate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrinking-domesticate-4000225/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [All laws are an attempt to domesticate the natural ferocity of the species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/all-laws-are-an-attempt-to-domesticate-the-natural-ferocity-of-the/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [When you tame and domesticate the divine it loses its danger and it's power to forgive you, make you happy, or its power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-donohue/when-you-tame-and-domesticate-the-divine-it-loses-its-danger-and-it-s/) [John O'Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-donohue/) > [We are so well trained that we are our own domesticator. We are an autodomesticated animal. We can now domesticate ourselves according to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-so-well-trained-that-we-are-our-own-domesticator-we-are-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Our cultures domesticate us for obscure purposes, nurturing and encouraging certain aspects of our behavior and tendencies while seeking to eliminate those that might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/our-cultures-domesticate-us-for-obscure-purposes-nurturing-and/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [Learning to domesticate the horse was a sort of energy revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/learning-to-domesticate-the-horse-was-a-sort-of-energy-revolution/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) > [“We didn’t domesticate cats. They domesticated themselves. But not totally, you know? You take a good look at any house cat, and you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/we-didn-t-domesticate-cats-they-domesticated-themselves-but-not/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [History is a big word... History is not the sort of animal you can domesticate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-tabucchi/history-is-a-big-word-history-is-not-the-sort-of-animal-you-can/) [Antonio Tabucchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-tabucchi/) > [Today the Western powers and media want to domesticate us like sheep, to keep us tame and domesticated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-bakar-bashir/today-the-western-powers-and-media-want-to-domesticate-us-like-sheep/) [Abu Bakar Bashir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abu-bakar-bashir/) > [You can domesticate your body, but you can't domesticate your face - even by having a lift or having your nose bobbed. A face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-giroud/you-can-domesticate-your-body-but-you-can-t-domesticate-your-face/) [Francoise Giroud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francoise-giroud/) > [We did not domesticate wheat; wheat domesticated us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/we-did-not-domesticate-wheat-wheat-domesticated-us/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I don't know if street art ever really works indoors. If you domesticate an animal, it goes from being wild and free to sterile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banksy/i-don-t-know-if-street-art-ever-really-works-indoors-if-you/) [Banksy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banksy/) > [An artist must smash down the systems that domesticate the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-giraud/an-artist-must-smash-down-the-systems-that-domesticate-the-mind/) [Jean Giraud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-giraud/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [True humanity consists not in a squeamish ear; it consists not in starting or shrinking at tales of misery, but in a disposition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-james/true-humanity-consists-not-in-a-squeamish-ear-it-consists-not-in/) [Charles James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-james/) > [Why is it so hard to see that when America had high savings, low taxes and minimal government, the economy grew like a week,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/why-is-it-so-hard-to-see-that-when-america-had-high-savings-low-taxes/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) ## More by Mason Cooley > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Money comes to life as it is spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/money-comes-to-life-as-it-is-spent/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/experience-teaches-us-but-we-scarcely-know-what/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The body has a mind of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-body-has-a-mind-of-its-own/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/in-retirement-i-look-for-days-off-from-my-days-off-mason-cooley/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More Grotesque quotes > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I have to be careful to get out before I become the grotesque caricature of a hatchet-faced woman with big knockers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/i-have-to-be-careful-to-get-out-before-i-become-the-grotesque/) [Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/) > [“I was grotesque to the theatrical pitch, a stage miser, but I was certainly not a physical impossibility”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/i-was-grotesque-to-the-theatrical-pitch-a-stage-miser-but-i-was/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I think that, honestly, people's censorship issues are personal but I disagree with most of those personal choices that I see others make. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-think-that-honestly-people-s-censorship-issues-are-personal-but-i/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [In a way Australia is like Catholicism. The company is sometimes questionable and the landscape is grotesque. But you always come back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/in-a-way-australia-is-like-catholicism-the-company-is-sometimes/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-statesmen-will-invent-cheap-lies-putting-the-blame-upon-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Salvador Dali has been called kitsch, but, although some of this work may be grotesque, its brazenly self-conscious bad taste saves it from being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/salvador-dali-has-been-called-kitsch-but-although-some-of-this-work/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/to-the-hard-of-hearing-you-shout-and-for-the-almost-blind-you-draw/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Size without shape is grotesque.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-gironda/size-without-shape-is-grotesque/) [Vince Gironda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-gironda/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [Our tolerance of the intolerable found a low threshold as early as the late 1950s with the grotesque excesses of McCarthyism, which destroyed so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/our-tolerance-of-the-intolerable-found-a-low-threshold-as-early-as/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [George theThird Ought never to have occurred. One can only wonder At so grotesque a blunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-c-bentley/george-thethird-ought-never-to-have-occurred-one-can-only-wonder-at/) [E. C. Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-c-bentley/) > [There is the life of the plankton in almost endless variety; there are the many kinds of fish, both surface and bottom living; there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alister-hardy/there-is-the-life-of-the-plankton-in-almost-endless-variety-there-are/) [Alister Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alister-hardy/) > [At six I lived in a graveyard full of dolls, avoiding myself, my body, the suspect in its grotesque house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/at-six-i-lived-in-a-graveyard-full-of-dolls-avoiding-myself-my-body/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Browse all 241 Grotesque quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grotesque/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the grotesque.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mason Cooley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-domesticate-the-grotesque/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grotesque" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-domesticate-the-grotesque/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/mason-cooley-92_grotesque_after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-dome_460412.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the grotesque.” — Mason Cooley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mason Cooley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "After a moment of shrinking back,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-domesticate-the-grotesque/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/after-a-moment-of-shrinking-back-we-domesticate-the-grotesque/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```