--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can indulge your righteous rage but…" description: "\"You can indulge your righteous rage but the things it comes out of are pretty cheap. The trick is to make yourself an instrument of your own policy. Wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png" --- # You can indulge your righteous rage but the things it… ![“You can indulge your righteous rage but the things it comes out of are pretty cheap. The trick is to make yourself an instrument of your own policy. Whether you like it or not, that's the highest effectiveness man has achieved.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png) > “You can indulge your righteous rage but the things it comes out of are pretty cheap. The trick is to make yourself an instrument of your own policy. Whether you like it or not, that's the highest effectiveness man has achieved.” [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. Effective action requires aligning personal drive with clear policy, not just raw anger. **In simple terms:** Channel anger into purposeful policy. Key Takeaway Use anger as a tool, not a distraction. Themes power policy self‑control Mood determined critical Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - political activism - leadership - personal development - conflict resolution Key Concepts strategic alignment ethical agency Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn frustration into constructive action? - What policies reflect your core values? A Different Perspective Raw rage can backfire without disciplined direction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) [Effectiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effectiveness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Rage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rage/) [Righteous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/righteous/) ## Related quotes > [I have a lot of rage about things that didn't happen to me, tied up with watching an immigrant, working-class father struggle to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/i-have-a-lot-of-rage-about-things-that-didn-t-happen-to-me-tied-up/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“But Curtis had come to the table with something they’d never expected, something they would have thought outmoded and out-lived in the modern age:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/but-curtis-had-come-to-the-table-with-something-they-d-never-expected/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“Danny would have thought it comical if it had come from any other source, on any other day, in any other country. But Curtis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/danny-would-have-thought-it-comical-if-it-had-come-from-any-other/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage. I found that just surviving was a noble fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/i-ve-passed-the-age-of-consciousness-and-righteous-rage-i-found-that/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [The neglected legacy of the Sixties is just this: unabashed moral certitude, and the purity -- the incredibly outgoing energy -- of righteous rage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/the-neglected-legacy-of-the-sixties-is-just-this-unabashed-moral/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [It is as easy to count atomies as to resolve the propositions of a lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/it-is-as-easy-to-count-atomies-as-to-resolve-the-propositions-of-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [My war brought me many things; let yours bring you as much. Life is not to be told, call it as loud as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/my-war-brought-me-many-things-let-yours-bring-you-as-much-life-is-not/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/freedom-is-not-the-permission-to-do-what-you-like-it-s-the-power-to/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Men are April when they woo, December when they wed...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/men-are-april-when-they-woo-december-when-they-wed/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you hate something, you hate it, and if you like something or somebody, you like it, but tell the truth. And most celebrities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/if-you-hate-something-you-hate-it-and-if-you-like-something-or/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, the habits you are developing now will be with you for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/whether-you-know-it-or-not-whether-you-like-it-or-not-the-habits-you/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [If thou remeber'st not the slightest folly that ever love did make thee run into, thou hast not lov'd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-thou-remeber-st-not-the-slightest-folly-that-ever-love-did-make/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/if-you-don-t-like-us-don-t-accept-our-invitations-and-don-t-invite-us/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [If you walk by something that I've done and you like it then I don't think I did what I was supposed to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-shawn-alexander/if-you-walk-by-something-that-i-ve-done-and-you-like-it-then-i-don-t/) [Jason Shawn Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-shawn-alexander/) > [I am falser than vows made in wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-am-falser-than-vows-made-in-wine/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## 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 Anger quotes > [“If I let myself think of it the pain and anger were still fresh, adrenalin racing down my limbs to pool, hot and itchy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-ladd/if-i-let-myself-think-of-it-the-pain-and-anger-were-still-fresh/) [Kylie Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-ladd/) > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [My care will be in the heart n not in words My anger will be in Words n not in the Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/my-care-will-be-in-the-heart-n-not-in-words-my-anger-will-be-in-words/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-a-negro-in-this-country-and-to-be-relatively-conscious-is-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/the-present-contains-nothing-more-than-the-past-and-what-is-found-in/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/depression-is-merely-anger-without-enthusiasm/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I always fight better when my opponent's angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-haye/i-always-fight-better-when-my-opponent-s-angry/) [David Haye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-haye/) > [ “Where there are kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed), there is worldly life. As long as anger-pride-deceit-greed exist; one is a sansaari \[living a worldly life\] regardless of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-there-are-kashays-anger-pride-deceit-greed-there-is-worldly/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) [Browse all 7,469 Anger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can indulge your righteous rage but the things it comes out of are pretty cheap. The trick is to make yourself an instrument of your own policy. Whether you like it or not, that's the highest effectiveness man has achieved.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Mailer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but-the-things-it-comes-out-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anger" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but-the-things-it-comes-out-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/norman-mailer-839_anger_you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but_1628160.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can indulge your righteous rage but the things it comes out of are pretty cheap. The trick is to make…” — 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": "You can indulge your righteous rage...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but-the-things-it-comes-out-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/you-can-indulge-your-righteous-rage-but-the-things-it-comes-out-of/#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 } } ] } ```