--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To have that radical a mind in that…" description: "\"To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when my mother would want to have peop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg" --- # To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body… ![“To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when my mother would want to have people over she'd tell [my father], "Don't start with the gravity stuff." And then he would invariably do this and the guests would look at each other…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg) > “To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when my mother would want to have people over she'd tell \[my father\], "Don't start with the gravity stuff." And then he would invariably do this and the guests would look at each other and say, "Well, I think it's time to go now."” [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A radical mind in a conventional body can alienate others, especially when intellectual topics are avoided in social settings. **In simple terms:** Intellectuals may feel isolated when others shy away from deep conversation. Key Takeaway Embrace authenticity, even if it unsettles others. Themes identity social dynamics intellectualism Mood reflective isolated Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - family gatherings - academic conferences - creative workshops Key Concepts radical thought conformity communication Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance authenticity with social harmony? - Can you find spaces where deep conversation is welcomed? A Different Perspective Not everyone will appreciate or understand unconventional ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeois/) [Bourgeois Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeois-looking-5658702/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravity/) [Guests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guests/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-bourgeois-5658700/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Radical Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical-mind-5658701/) [Really Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-hard/) [Start Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start-gravity-5658703/) [Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuff/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [For what is the program of the bourgeois parties? A bad poem on springtime, filled to bursting with metaphors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/for-what-is-the-program-of-the-bourgeois-parties-a-bad-poem-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [In a higher phase of communist society... only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be fully left behind and society inscribe on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/in-a-higher-phase-of-communist-society-only-then-can-the-narrow/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [We can say farewell to 10 years of bourgeois rule... now we have the opportunity to change Denmark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helle-thorning-schmidt/we-can-say-farewell-to-10-years-of-bourgeois-rule-now-we-have-the/) [Helle Thorning-Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helle-thorning-schmidt/) > [Conformity may not always reign in the prosperous bourgeois suburb, but it ultimately always governs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/conformity-may-not-always-reign-in-the-prosperous-bourgeois-suburb/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [I think of myself as being a bit of a wimp deep down - a bourgeois wimp - and I'm fighting that. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-mirren/i-think-of-myself-as-being-a-bit-of-a-wimp-deep-down-a-bourgeois-wimp/) [Helen Mirren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-mirren/) > [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) [Patrice Pavis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-pavis/) > [Advancing bourgeois society liquidates memory, time, recollection as irrational leftovers of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/advancing-bourgeois-society-liquidates-memory-time-recollection-as/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [Where there is no danger of overt action there is rarely any interference with freedom. That is why there has so often been amazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/where-there-is-no-danger-of-overt-action-there-is-rarely-any/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [With almost no exceptions, art by men is much more expensive than art by women. Even great women artists, like Louise Bourgeois and Lee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/with-almost-no-exceptions-art-by-men-is-much-more-expensive-than-art/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [The enmity of such a party towards Socialism does not mean that the members are only prejudiced against it because they do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-radek/the-enmity-of-such-a-party-towards-socialism-does-not-mean-that-the/) [Karl Radek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-radek/) > [“Like symbolism, decadence puts forth the idea that the function of literature is to evoke impressions and 'correspondences', rather than to realistically depict the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asti-hustvedt/like-symbolism-decadence-puts-forth-the-idea-that-the-function-of/) [Asti Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asti-hustvedt/) > [What have we achieved since the end of the Second World War? We have allowed petty, bourgeois regimes in which everything is average, mediocre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahar-ben-jelloun/what-have-we-achieved-since-the-end-of-the-second-world-war-we-have/) [Tahar Ben Jelloun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahar-ben-jelloun/) ## More by Paul Laffoley > [ I first heard of \[Orfeo Angelucci\] from Giuseppe Conti who gave me some books by him. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/i-first-heard-of-orfeo-angelucci-from-giuseppe-conti-who-gave-me-some/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ The whole thing that Dante \[Alighieri\] did was summed up in the medieval world. It's like St. Thomas Aquinas, the Summa Theologica. He didn't… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/the-whole-thing-that-dante-alighieri-did-was-summed-up-in-the/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ You know, Mick Jagger's "Sympathy for the Devil." I think it was inspired by that \[H.P.Lovecraft stories\]. You don't know who's reading what, you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/you-know-mick-jagger-s-sympathy-for-the-devil-i-think-it-was-inspired/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ At 15 \[my father\] revolted against his father like any teenager, and said, "I'm out of here! What are you doing to me?" He… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/at-15-my-father-revolted-against-his-father-like-any-teenager-and/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [At one time in the mid-'70s I became the president of the Boston-Cambridge chapter of the World Future Society. Because I'd been in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/at-one-time-in-the-mid-70s-i-became-the-president-of-the-boston/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ The Babson Institute, which is now an actual university, was started by this guy \[my father\] who also had a problem with believing in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/the-babson-institute-which-is-now-an-actual-university-was-started-by/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [As a kid, I was getting information in areas that no one else was getting. I think that was one of the reasons my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/as-a-kid-i-was-getting-information-in-areas-that-no-one-else-was/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ Stephen Hawking won \[Babson Institute competition \] one year with his black hole stuff. It's keeping an open mind on whether gravity exists or… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/stephen-hawking-won-babson-institute-competition-one-year-with-his/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [I would say that it's probably impossible for a lot of people to even think what H.P. Lovecraft's theological state was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/i-would-say-that-it-s-probably-impossible-for-a-lot-of-people-to-even/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [My father was an extremely brilliant man. I consider him a genius, and so he probably could have joined Mensa. But why? I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/my-father-was-an-extremely-brilliant-man-i-consider-him-a-genius-and/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ \[My father\] was always saying I'd end up like my grandfather. Okay. My grandfather was an architect, I'm an architect. It's true, certain characteristics… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/my-father-was-always-saying-i-d-end-up-like-my-grandfather-okay-my/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ From the time of Dante \[Alighieri\], when you have the Ptolemaic universe, you had God on the outside like a hypersphere, and then in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/from-the-time-of-dante-alighieri-when-you-have-the-ptolemaic-universe/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ Walter C. Wright has a more cogent presentation than my father did about \[gravity\] being a push. But he had the same basic belief,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/walter-c-wright-has-a-more-cogent-presentation-than-my-father-did/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ I would say \[to my father\], "Why don't you actually take some courses in physics instead of saying \[you are not believing in gravity\]?"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/i-would-say-to-my-father-why-don-t-you-actually-take-some-courses-in/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [ I began to analyze the movie \[The Day the Earth Stood Still\] and said it was really made out of these two characters \[Nikola… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/i-began-to-analyze-the-movie-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-and-said/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) [Explore all 95 Paul Laffoley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) [Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/) > [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases are mostly psychosomatic.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/if-japa-is-maintained-no-useless-talk-during-work-will-be-possible/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) [Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when my mother would want to have people over she'd tell [my father], \"Don't start with the gravity stuff.\" And then he would invariably do this and the guests would look at each other and say, \"Well, I think it's time to go now.\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Laffoley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bourgeois-looking-body-was-really/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Body" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bourgeois-looking-body-was-really/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take…” — Paul Laffoley", "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": "Paul Laffoley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To have that radical a mind...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bourgeois-looking-body-was-really/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bourgeois-looking-body-was-really/#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 } } ] } ```