--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: His decision had been made in the valley…" description: "\"“His decision had been made in the valley, and it lay as an iron warp in his mind. He could have turned back no more easily than he could have killed h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png" --- # His decision had been made in the valley, and it lay as an… ![“His decision had been made in the valley, and it lay as an iron warp in his mind. He could have turned back no more easily than he could have killed himself.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png) > ““His decision had been made in the valley, and it lay as an iron warp in his mind. He could have turned back no more easily than he could have killed himself.”” [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. A man feels trapped by a decision made in a valley, unable to retreat or end his life, suggesting an inescapable mental burden. **In simple terms:** A decision leaves him feeling trapped with no easy escape. Key Takeaway Accept that some choices create lasting mental constraints. Themes psychology destiny conflict determination Mood somber introspective Type philosophical narrative When to use this quote - career crossroads - personal crises - military service - legal judgments Key Concepts existentialism mental imprisonment Questions to Reflect On - What mental patterns keep you feeling trapped? - Can you reframe the 'iron warp' as a catalyst? A Different Perspective It may romanticize fatalism over agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Love is easily killed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/love-is-easily-killed/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“A first-rate story is easily killed by second-rate design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-first-rate-story-is-easily-killed-by-second-rate-design/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wings/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Yea though I walk through the Valley of Death, I shall fear no evil, for I am the baddest M-F in the valley.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherise-sinclair/yea-though-i-walk-through-the-valley-of-death-i-shall-fear-no-evil/) [Cherise Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherise-sinclair/) > [It started at 49 with 'Tango in Halifax' and then 'Happy Valley.' I can't complain at a time when most actors are disappearing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lancashire/it-started-at-49-with-tango-in-halifax-and-then-happy-valley-i-can-t/) [Sarah Lancashire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lancashire/) > [“My mind is like the valley—this vast barren waste. Car lots. Malls. Tract homes. I know there are other worlds beyond it—of canyons full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/my-mind-is-like-the-valley-this-vast-barren-waste-car-lots-malls/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“...experience was static in the valley; it was older than time itself, for time was a thing of but two generations, dated by moons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/experience-was-static-in-the-valley-it-was-older-than-time-itself-for/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [Silicon Valley is like Wall Street in that it will fill and pursue market opportunities to their logical extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-yang/silicon-valley-is-like-wall-street-in-that-it-will-fill-and-pursue/) [Andrew Yang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-yang/) > [Silicon Valley does not breed great technology. Instead, the smartest people from around the world tend to move to Silicon Valley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-collison/silicon-valley-does-not-breed-great-technology-instead-the-smartest/) [Patrick Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-collison/) > [I grew up on the West Coast during the '80s. But I wasn't a 'valley girl,' since I grew up in Norwalk, which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-darwish/i-grew-up-on-the-west-coast-during-the-80s-but-i-wasn-t-a-valley-girl/) [Tiffany Darwish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-darwish/) > [However, I met with a horrible accident while riding my bike in Sangla Valley. The accident was a wakeup call for me stop getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhinav-shukla/however-i-met-with-a-horrible-accident-while-riding-my-bike-in-sangla/) [Abhinav Shukla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhinav-shukla/) > [“The Valley might not actually make much in the way of tangible goods, but like industrial centers before it, it’s the place where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gideon-lewis-kraus/the-valley-might-not-actually-make-much-in-the-way-of-tangible-goods/) [Gideon Lewis-Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gideon-lewis-kraus/) > [Poetry makes nothing happen. It survives in the valley of its saying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/poetry-makes-nothing-happen-it-survives-in-the-valley-of-its-saying/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [Sometimes it feels hard to remember that Silicon Valley is an actual place, a collage of parched suburbs, and not just the collective noun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/sometimes-it-feels-hard-to-remember-that-silicon-valley-is-an-actual/) [Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) ## 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 Mind quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [“William didn't look like he'd be difficult about anything - he was thin and sandy-haired and already wore eyeglasses like his father. Most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-c-wrede/william-didn-t-look-like-he-d-be-difficult-about-anything-he-was-thin/) [Patricia C. Wrede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-c-wrede/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [“He blinked. His eyes fell as he processed her response. Then he lifted his chin and attempted a grin that was almost painfully dejected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/he-blinked-his-eyes-fell-as-he-processed-her-response-then-he-lifted/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [Once ye made up yer mind to do somethin', 'tis better t'stumble o'er the small hillock of jump-ahead than t'bash yer head on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/once-ye-made-up-yer-mind-to-do-somethin-tis-better-t-stumble-o-er-the/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [“Picking locks was not a skill he had ever cultivated, but he persisted day after day, turning the tip of his talon into different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/picking-locks-was-not-a-skill-he-had-ever-cultivated-but-he-persisted/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Do you think that God would separate me from my husband if I killed myself? I feel as though I am going out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-think-that-god-would-separate-me-from-my-husband-if-i-killed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not here trying to convince anybody to vote for Donald Trump. I think every Christian needs to make up his own mind about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jeffress/i-m-not-here-trying-to-convince-anybody-to-vote-for-donald-trump-i/) [Robert Jeffress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jeffress/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [This is a proof of a well-trained mind, to rejoice in what is good and to grieve at the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/this-is-a-proof-of-a-well-trained-mind-to-rejoice-in-what-is-good-and/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. So, when I first got the script and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/since-i-worked-with-danny-boyle-before-on-slumdog-millionaire-we-have/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) [Browse all 43,542 Mind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“His decision had been made in the valley, and it lay as an iron warp in his mind. He could have turned back no more easily than he could have killed himself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Mailer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley-and-it-lay-as-an-iron-warp/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mind" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley-and-it-lay-as-an-iron-warp/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/607/norman-mailer-839_mind_his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley_2207386.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“His decision had been made in the valley, and it lay as an iron warp in his mind. He could have turned back…” — Norman Mailer", "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": "Norman Mailer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“His decision had been made in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley-and-it-lay-as-an-iron-warp/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/his-decision-had-been-made-in-the-valley-and-it-lay-as-an-iron-warp/#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 } } ] } ```