--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On the other hand, I am not a liberal…" description: "\"“On the other hand, I am not a liberal. The notion that man is a rational creature who arrives at reasonable solutions to knotty problems is much in do..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb0/norman-mailer-839_europe_on-the-other-hand-i-am-not-a-liberal-the_2328693.png" --- # On the other hand, I am not a liberal. The notion that man… ![“On the other hand, I am not a liberal. The notion that man is a rational creature who arrives at reasonable solutions to knotty problems is much in doubt as far as I’m concerned. Liberalism depends all too much on having an optimistic view of human nature. But the history of the 20th century has…” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb0/norman-mailer-839_europe_on-the-other-hand-i-am-not-a-liberal-the_2328693.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb0/norman-mailer-839_europe_on-the-other-hand-i-am-not-a-liberal-the_2328693.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb0/norman-mailer-839_europe_on-the-other-hand-i-am-not-a-liberal-the_2328693.png) > ““On the other hand, I am not a liberal. The notion that man is a rational creature who arrives at reasonable solutions to knotty problems is much in doubt as far as I’m concerned. Liberalism depends all too much on having an optimistic view of human nature. But the history of the 20th century has not exactly fortified that notion. Moreover, liberalism also depends too much upon reason rather than any appreciation of mystery. If you start to talk about God with the average good liberal, he looks at you as if you are more than a little off. In that sense, since I happen to be—I hate to use the word religious, there are so many heavy dull connotations, so many pious self-seeking aspects—but I do believe there is a Creator who is active in human affairs and is endangered. I also believe there is a Devil who is equally active in our existence (and is all too often successful). So, I can hardly be a liberal. God is bad enough for them, but talk about the devil, and the liberal’s mind is blown. He is consorting with a fellow who is irrational if not insane. That is the end of real conversation.”” [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 author rejects liberalism, seeing human nature as irrational and mysterious, believing in both a Creator and a Devil influencing humanity. **In simple terms:** Rejects liberal optimism about rationality. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about human rationality. Themes philosophy religion politics Mood critical contemplative Type philosophical theological When to use this quote - political debate - theological discussion - ethical decision making - personal belief formation Key Concepts human nature optimism mystery spirituality Questions to Reflect On - Do you see value in liberal ideas? - How do you reconcile belief in both good and evil forces? A Different Perspective May generalize about liberals and overlook nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Liberal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal/) [Liberalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism/) ## Related quotes > [I felt strange in my own family, because I had a very liberal mind, and I would ask myself, "Why is there this discrimination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malina-suliman/i-felt-strange-in-my-own-family-because-i-had-a-very-liberal-mind-and/) [Malina Suliman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malina-suliman/) > [A liberal mind is a mind that is able to imagine itself believing anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-eastman/a-liberal-mind-is-a-mind-that-is-able-to-imagine-itself-believing/) [Max Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-eastman/) > [I looked at the world with the humaneness, I think, which is one of the hallmarks of being liberal in my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/i-looked-at-the-world-with-the-humaneness-i-think-which-is-one-of-the/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [The idea that you earn things - that you earn respect, that you earn income, responsibility. the vote, punishment... these ideas are anathema to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/the-idea-that-you-earn-things-that-you-earn-respect-that-you-earn/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [The vote, punishment... these ideas are anathema to the liberal mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/the-vote-punishment-these-ideas-are-anathema-to-the-liberal-mind/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [“Give me a scholar, therefore, who is able to think and to write, to look with an eye of discernment into things, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian-of-samosata/give-me-a-scholar-therefore-who-is-able-to-think-and-to-write-to-look/) [Lucian of Samosata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian-of-samosata/) > [When I'm asked who my audience is, I say someone with an open mind, which is not a vacant one and sometimes a liberal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-solondz/when-i-m-asked-who-my-audience-is-i-say-someone-with-an-open-mind/) [Todd Solondz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-solondz/) > [Liberalism isn't quite as liberal as it pretends to be. 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The question is…why?...Conservatives generally want policy discussions because we disagree with liberals. Liberals need gutter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-golub/the-left-wants-needs-loves-and-exacerbates-violent-conflict-the/) Eric Golub > [As a reformer the liberal is dissatisfied with things as they are because they violate his exceptionally tender conscience… Liberalism does not advocate change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-barton-perry/as-a-reformer-the-liberal-is-dissatisfied-with-things-as-they-are/) [Ralph Barton Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-barton-perry/) > [“If you are in favour of global liberal hegemony, you are the enemy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-dugin/if-you-are-in-favour-of-global-liberal-hegemony-you-are-the-enemy/) Alexander Dugin > [Liberalism is fundamentally an ideology of liberation that has throughout history risen in protest against the totalitarian and anti-human movements of various kinds, such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-i-hagen/liberalism-is-fundamentally-an-ideology-of-liberation-that-has/) [Carl I. 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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 Europe quotes > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [Few political debates have been as divisive as the European one. I fought as hard as I could on the Remain side, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-green/few-political-debates-have-been-as-divisive-as-the-european-one-i/) [Damian Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-green/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) > [Perhaps our own opposition to even the level of European integration we have now, let alone any more, is well known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-farage/perhaps-our-own-opposition-to-even-the-level-of-european-integration/) [Nigel Farage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-farage/) > [Liberalism is the philosophy for our time, because it does not try to conserve every tradition of the past, because it does not apply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-trudeau/liberalism-is-the-philosophy-for-our-time-because-it-does-not-try-to/) [Pierre Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-trudeau/) > [Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. Conservatism is about empowering people to catch up, to give them the tools at their disposable that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/conservatism-is-not-about-leaving-people-behind-conservatism-is-about/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [“Conservatism aims to maintain in working order the loyalties of the community to perceived truths and also to those truths which in their judgment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-buckley-jr-2/conservatism-aims-to-maintain-in-working-order-the-loyalties-of-the/) [William F. 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The wall cannot withstand freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/yes-across-europe-this-wall-will-fall-for-it-cannot-withstand-faith/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [I became an MP in 2017 and have been around to watch Liberal Democrat party membership soar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layla-moran/i-became-an-mp-in-2017-and-have-been-around-to-watch-liberal-democrat/) [Layla Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/layla-moran/) [Browse all 7,565 Europe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“On the other hand, I am not a liberal. The notion that man is a rational creature who arrives at reasonable solutions to knotty problems is much in doubt as far as I’m concerned. Liberalism depends all too much on having an optimistic view of human nature. But the history of the 20th century has not exactly fortified that notion. Moreover, liberalism also depends too much upon reason rather than any appreciation of mystery. If you start to talk about God with the average good liberal, he looks at you as if you are more than a little off. In that sense, since I happen to be—I hate to use the word religious, there are so many heavy dull connotations, so many pious self-seeking aspects—but I do believe there is a Creator who is active in human affairs and is endangered. I also believe there is a Devil who is equally active in our existence (and is all too often successful). So, I can hardly be a liberal. God is bad enough for them, but talk about the devil, and the liberal’s mind is blown. He is consorting with a fellow who is irrational if not insane. 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