--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sense of a long last night over…" description: "\"The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.\" — Norman Mailer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png" --- # The sense of a long last night over civilization is back… ![“The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png) > “The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.” [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 quote reflects a feeling that civilization is experiencing a prolonged period of darkness or decline. **In simple terms:** Civilization feels like it’s in a long night. Key Takeaway Recognize the gloom but seek light. Themes civilization decline hope Mood melancholic reflective Type commentary philosophical When to use this quote - urban decay - political unrest - environmental crisis - social fragmentation Key Concepts existentialism cultural criticism Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of modern life feel darkest to you? - How can individuals foster renewal? A Different Perspective The statement may overgeneralize complex societal trends. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aspirin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirin/) [Back again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back-again/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Dance floor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance-floor/) [Last night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-night/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-night/) [Maggots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maggots/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Night Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-civilization-2707286/) [Sense Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-long-3651808/) ## Related quotes > [The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again; it has perhaps not been here so intensely in thirty years, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civilization-is-back-again-it-has/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/we-are-close-to-dead-there-are-faces-and-bodies-like-gorged-maggots/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [History does not usually make real sense until long afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/history-does-not-usually-make-real-sense-until-long-afterward/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [I am also about trusting maggot instincts. If I get played or taken advantage of? So be it. That's a life lesson. I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masi-oka/i-am-also-about-trusting-maggot-instincts-if-i-get-played-or-taken/) [Masi Oka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masi-oka/) > [Lo and behold! God made this starry wold, The maggot and the mold; lo and behold! He taught the grass contentment blade by blade,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalia-crane/lo-and-behold-god-made-this-starry-wold-the-maggot-and-the-mold-lo/) [Nathalia Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalia-crane/) > [Sportswriters are a rude and brainless subculture of fascist drunks, a gang of vicious monkeys jerking off in a zoo cage... more disgusting by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/sportswriters-are-a-rude-and-brainless-subculture-of-fascist-drunks-a/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Maggots squirming in your eyeholes...and your other orifices, might be carrying things a bit too far." "This is why I keep you around, Rixon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/maggots-squirming-in-your-eyeholes-and-your-other-orifices-might-be/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [“we fat all creatures else to 25 fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/we-fat-all-creatures-else-to-25-fat-us-and-we-fat-ourselves-for/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Add the hippie-rock-drugs atmosphere circa 1970, and you get Clinton's rechristened group Parliament, decked out in weird costumes, singing cosmic lyrics and laying down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-griffin/add-the-hippie-rock-drugs-atmosphere-circa-1970-and-you-get-clinton-s/) [Eddie Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-griffin/) > [ HAMLET \[...\] we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/hamlet-we-fat-all-creatures-else-to-fat-us-and-we-fat-ourselves-for/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The Knowledge Rule 2080: From maggots to men, the world is a corner bully. Better you knuckle up and go for yours than have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-knowledge-rule-2080-from-maggots-to-men-the-world-is-a-corner/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [Zombies smell worse than anything you can imagine if you haven’t been hunting things on the dark side of the world. It’s a ripe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilith-saintcrow/zombies-smell-worse-than-anything-you-can-imagine-if-you-haven-t-been/) [Lilith Saintcrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilith-saintcrow/) > [She's all over us like maggots on garbage, just because I interfered with one pickpocket yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/she-s-all-over-us-like-maggots-on-garbage-just-because-i-interfered/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [She would not shed a tear, she would not waste the rest of her years simmering in the maggot broth of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/she-would-not-shed-a-tear-she-would-not-waste-the-rest-of-her-years/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect, and sacrifice the greater to the less. They love the soil which makes their graves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/yet-some-can-be-patriotic-who-have-no-self-respect-and-sacrifice-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## 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 Aspirin quotes > [America is the country where you can buy a lifetime supply of aspirin For one dollar and use it up in two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrymore/america-is-the-country-where-you-can-buy-a-lifetime-supply-of-aspirin/) [John Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrymore/) > [We have had two chickens in every pot, two cars in every garage, and now we have two headaches for every aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiorello-h-la-guardia/we-have-had-two-chickens-in-every-pot-two-cars-in-every-garage-and/) [Fiorello H. La Guardia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiorello-h-la-guardia/) > [Professionalism in medicine has given us medial miracles for the affluent but hospitals that will charge $35 for aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-james/professionalism-in-medicine-has-given-us-medial-miracles-for-the/) [Bill James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-james/) > [“We are living in a cultural dark age of musical pollution. You put the radio on, and five minutes later you need an aspirin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vangelis/we-are-living-in-a-cultural-dark-age-of-musical-pollution-you-put-the/) [Vangelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vangelis/) > [I'm sick and tired of black and white people of good intent giving aspirin to a society that is dying of a cancerous disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-abernathy/i-m-sick-and-tired-of-black-and-white-people-of-good-intent-giving/) [Ralph Abernathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-abernathy/) > [I’ve tried that. I’ve tried aspirin, too. Rusty thinks I should smoke marijuana, and I did for a while, but it only makes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/i-ve-tried-that-i-ve-tried-aspirin-too-rusty-thinks-i-should-smoke/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [ Nancy \[Kassebaum\] and I worked on a women's health agenda when I first came. Women were not included in the protocols at NIH, the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-mikulski/nancy-kassebaum-and-i-worked-on-a-women-s-health-agenda-when-i-first/) [Barbara Mikulski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-mikulski/) > [We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/we-are-close-to-dead-there-are-faces-and-bodies-like-gorged-maggots/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: Take two aspirin and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/if-you-have-a-lot-of-tension-and-you-get-a-headache-do-what-it-says/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [The pressure gets worse the older you get. The hole starts to look the size of a Bayer aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-player/the-pressure-gets-worse-the-older-you-get-the-hole-starts-to-look-the/) [Gary Player](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-player/) > [You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foster-friess/you-know-back-in-my-days-they-used-bayer-aspirin-for-contraception/) [Foster Friess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foster-friess/) > [I don't even take aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-davis/i-don-t-even-take-aspirin/) [Eric Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-davis/) > [My head is pounding. I wish the mints were aspirin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/my-head-is-pounding-i-wish-the-mints-were-aspirin/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [A clown is like aspirin, only he works twice as fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/a-clown-is-like-aspirin-only-he-works-twice-as-fast/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Clowns work as well as aspirin, but twice as fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/clowns-work-as-well-as-aspirin-but-twice-as-fast/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) [Browse all 105 Aspirin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Mailer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civilization-is-back-again/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aspirin" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civilization-is-back-again/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8d/norman-mailer-839_aspirin_the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civi_409054.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.” — 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": "The sense of a long last...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civilization-is-back-again/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-sense-of-a-long-last-night-over-civilization-is-back-again/#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 } } ] } ```