--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my…" description: "\"Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. Pain is near that will be like no pain fe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/902/norman-mailer-839_crude_crude-thoughts-and-fierce-forces-are-my_1347475.jpg" --- # Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not… ![“Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. Pain is near that will be like no pain felt before.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/902/norman-mailer-839_crude_crude-thoughts-and-fierce-forces-are-my_1347475.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/902/norman-mailer-839_crude_crude-thoughts-and-fierce-forces-are-my_1347475.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/902/norman-mailer-839_crude_crude-thoughts-and-fierce-forces-are-my_1347475.jpg) > “Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. Pain is near that will be like no pain felt before.” [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels lost, disconnected, and anticipates an overwhelming, unprecedented pain. **In simple terms:** Feeling lost and expecting intense pain. Key Takeaway Acknowledge inner turmoil before it erupts. Themes identity pain existential crisis confusion Mood anxious reflective somber Type literary existential psychological When to use this quote - combat stress - personal crisis - mental health - trauma recovery Key Concepts psychology nihilism anticipation Questions to Reflect On - What does this loss of identity reveal about your current challenges? - How might confronting inner pain change your perception? A Different Perspective The intensity of pain may be amplified by denial of self. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Who i am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-i-am/) ## Related quotes > [“XXX THE QUALITY OF MERCY The sound of your pain begins like fingernails on glass (my heart the glass). 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Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/) > [We may faint and we may sink Feel the pain and near the brink But the dark begins to shrink When you find the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-camp/we-may-faint-and-we-may-sink-feel-the-pain-and-near-the-brink-but-the/) [Jeremy Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-camp/) > [That moment she was mine, mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good: I found A thing to do, and all her hair In one long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-moment-she-was-mine-mine-fair-perfectly-pure-and-good-i-found-a/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [There is no pain like the pain of knowing you love someone but cannot live with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ndor-m-rai/there-is-no-pain-like-the-pain-of-knowing-you-love-someone-but-cannot/) [Sándor Márai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ndor-m-rai/) > [I like ice cream, I don't like pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-griffin/i-like-ice-cream-i-don-t-like-pain/) [Forrest Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-griffin/) > [And sometimes it happened, for a time. That kind of love comes and goes and is hard to remember afterwards, like pain. You would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-sometimes-it-happened-for-a-time-that-kind-of-love-comes-and-goes/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The secret, it turned out, had not been to harden himself to the point of breaking. It had not been to become numb. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/the-secret-it-turned-out-had-not-been-to-harden-himself-to-the-point/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [I feel like pain is the quickest way to relate to someone because everybody has been through that and everybody has had a heartbreak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-marcel/i-feel-like-pain-is-the-quickest-way-to-relate-to-someone-because/) [Adrian Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-marcel/) > [“You won’t try to kiss me again?” “Given your method for handling that problem? No. I don’t particularly like pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-jeffries/you-won-t-try-to-kiss-me-again-given-your-method-for-handling-that/) [Sabrina Jeffries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-jeffries/) > [Seems like PAIN and REGRET are best FRIENDS.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-qoutes/seems-like-pain-and-regret-are-best-friends/) \#AaroN QouTes > [“He was flooded with power - power like pain. When it rises beyond any possible point of pleasure - like victory. Like defeat, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-cameron/he-was-flooded-with-power-power-like-pain-when-it-rises-beyond-any/) [Miles Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-cameron/) > [“Work. Like pain, I sensed that this was an experience I would want to avoid as often as possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/work-like-pain-i-sensed-that-this-was-an-experience-i-would-want-to/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [“You know personally, I think nothing instills discipline like pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hajime-isayama/you-know-personally-i-think-nothing-instills-discipline-like-pain/) [Hajime Isayama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hajime-isayama/) > [I know it's a film and all of that, and it's a Hollywood film, but it kind of feels like this sometimes, when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-marber/i-know-it-s-a-film-and-all-of-that-and-it-s-a-hollywood-film-but-it/) [Patrick Marber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-marber/) ## More by Norman Mailer > [Conservatives are people who look at a tree and feel instinctively that it is more beautiful than anything they can name. But when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/conservatives-are-people-who-look-at-a-tree-and-feel-instinctively/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [So the blind will lead the blind, and the deaf shout warnings to one another until their voices are lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/so-the-blind-will-lead-the-blind-and-the-deaf-shout-warnings-to-one/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running-a-revolutionary-war-you-go-to/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I would introduce myself if it were not useless. The name I had last night will not be the same as the name I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-would-introduce-myself-if-it-were-not-useless-the-name-i-had-last/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [“City Point is so beautiful, she says. In the night they cannot see the garbage that litters the beach, the seaweed and driftwood, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/city-point-is-so-beautiful-she-says-in-the-night-they-cannot-see-the/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [“I find it’s more fun to write about something that you don’t know completely and that you will discover on route. A dear friend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-find-it-s-more-fun-to-write-about-something-that-you-don-t-know/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Short-term amnesia is not the worst affliction if you have an Irish flair for the sauce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/short-term-amnesia-is-not-the-worst-affliction-if-you-have-an-irish/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Part of the oncoming demise (of New York during its terrible fiscal crisis) is that none of us can simply believe it. We were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/part-of-the-oncoming-demise-of-new-york-during-its-terrible-fiscal/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I have always had this very strong, call it a feeling, call it a prejudice, call it a conviction ... that the mysteries are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-have-always-had-this-very-strong-call-it-a-feeling-call-it-a/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I do believe that America's deepest political sickness is that it is a self-righteous nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-do-believe-that-america-s-deepest-political-sickness-is-that-it-is/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/america-is-a-hurricane-and-the-only-people-who-do-not-hear-the-sound/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Armstrong, sitting in the commander's seat, spacesuit on, helmet on, plugged into electrical and environmental umbilical's, is a man who is not only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/armstrong-sitting-in-the-commander-s-seat-spacesuit-on-helmet-on/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I was thinking that surgeons had to be the happiest people on earth. To cut people up and get paid for it-that's happiness, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-was-thinking-that-surgeons-had-to-be-the-happiest-people-on-earth/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Movies are more likely than literature to reach deep feelings in people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/movies-are-more-likely-than-literature-to-reach-deep-feelings-in/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) [Explore all 355 Norman Mailer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## More Crude quotes > [In some sort of crude sense, which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatement can quite extinguish, the physicists have known sin; and this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/in-some-sort-of-crude-sense-which-no-vulgarity-no-humor-no/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [The Twenty20 is itself a banal game, a crude game, but it works, so I hope Twenty20 commentary works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-agnew/the-twenty20-is-itself-a-banal-game-a-crude-game-but-it-works-so-i/) [Jonathan Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-agnew/) > [I've definitely become smuttier. When I first started out, I had these aspirations: 'I'm not going to do jokes about anything crude because I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-whitehall/i-ve-definitely-become-smuttier-when-i-first-started-out-i-had-these/) [Jack Whitehall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-whitehall/) > [for the obvious reason that nature - unadulterated and unimproved by man - is simply chaos. In fact, the camera proves that nature is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/for-the-obvious-reason-that-nature-unadulterated-and-unimproved-by/) [Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/) > [To this day I over prepare. I draw storyboards for every scene - chicken scratches so crude that they amuse and horrify the crew.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-stoltz/to-this-day-i-over-prepare-i-draw-storyboards-for-every-scene-chicken/) [Eric Stoltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-stoltz/) > [Gold is not less but more rational than paper money. Money holds value so long as it is in limited supply; gold will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-e-rees/gold-is-not-less-but-more-rational-than-paper-money-money-holds-value/) [William E. Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-e-rees/) > [There was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/there-was-no-point-in-seeking-to-convert-the-intellectuals-for/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [No one knows what the right algorithm is, but it gives us hope that if we can discover some crude approximation of whatever this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-ng/no-one-knows-what-the-right-algorithm-is-but-it-gives-us-hope-that-if/) [Andrew Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-ng/) > [Thomas Chong is a bad influence on children because of his drug use and crude humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/thomas-chong-is-a-bad-influence-on-children-because-of-his-drug-use/) Unkown > [In Bach there is still too much crude Christianity, crude Germanism, crude scholasticism; he stands on the threshold of European (modern) music, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-bach-there-is-still-too-much-crude-christianity-crude-germanism/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [With film, you have very limited tools to convey subjectivity - voiceover, the camera's point of view, good acting - but even the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/with-film-you-have-very-limited-tools-to-convey-subjectivity/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [Who knows what Yale thought it was getting when it hired Richard Rodriguez? 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Not always neat. People in your circle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/maybe-your-life-resembles-a-bethlehem-stable-crude-in-some-spots/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) Browse all 324 Crude quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. 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