--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sanity today appears to rest very largely…" description: "\"“Sanity today appears to rest very largely on a capacity to adapt to the external world—the interpersonal world, and the realm of human collectivities...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/r-d-laing-2-35450_alienation_sanity-today-appears-to-rest-very-largel_755498.png" --- # Sanity today appears to rest very largely on a capacity to… ![“Sanity today appears to rest very largely on a capacity to adapt to the external world—the interpersonal world, and the realm of human collectivities. As this external human world is almost completely and totally estranged from the inner, any personal direct awareness of the inner world already…” quote by R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/r-d-laing-2-35450_alienation_sanity-today-appears-to-rest-very-largel_755498.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/r-d-laing-2-35450_alienation_sanity-today-appears-to-rest-very-largel_755498.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/r-d-laing-2-35450_alienation_sanity-today-appears-to-rest-very-largel_755498.png) > ““Sanity today appears to rest very largely on a capacity to adapt to the external world—the interpersonal world, and the realm of human collectivities. As this external human world is almost completely and totally estranged from the inner, any personal direct awareness of the inner world already has grave risks. But since society, without knowing it, is starving for the inner, the demands on people to evoke it in a "safe" way, in a way that need not be taken seriously, etc., is tremendous—while the ambivalence is equally intense. Small wonder that the list of artists, in say the last 150 years, who have become shipwrecked on these reefs is so long...”” [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sanity depends on adapting to external social worlds, while inner awareness is risky and society secretly craves it, leading many artists to distress. **In simple terms:** Being sane means fitting into society, but inner life is dangerous and desired, causing artist suffering. Key Takeaway Balance external adaptation with safe inner exploration. Themes mental health society creativity alienation Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - artistic creation - social media interaction - education curricula Key Concepts psychology existential risk collective yearning Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals safely nurture inner awareness? - What societal changes support inner expression? A Different Perspective Inner exploration can be suppressed by social pressures, risking authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alienation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alienation/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Inner world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-world/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Sanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanity/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [“Where was the threshold, between the inner world and the outer one? 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The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-human-world-is-made-of-stories-not-people-the-people-the-stories/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“The world, the human world, is bound together not by protons and electrons, but by stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/the-world-the-human-world-is-bound-together-not-by-protons-and/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [In the course of our eternal existence, we spend infinitely more time in the spirit world on the other side than we spend in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-browne/in-the-course-of-our-eternal-existence-we-spend-infinitely-more-time/) [Sylvia Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-browne/) ## More by R.D. Laing > [“What we call ‘normal’ is a product of repression, denial, splitting, projection, introjection and other forms of destructive action on experience. It is radically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/what-we-call-normal-is-a-product-of-repression-denial-splitting/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“We have all been processed on Procrustean beds. At least some of us have managed to hate what they have made of us. Inevitably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/we-have-all-been-processed-on-procrustean-beds-at-least-some-of-us/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“The Lotus opens. Movement from earth, through water, from fire to air. Out and in beyond life and death now, beyond inner and outer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/the-lotus-opens-movement-from-earth-through-water-from-fire-to-air/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“What an interesting finger let me suck it. It's not an interesting finger take it away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/what-an-interesting-finger-let-me-suck-it-it-s-not-an-interesting/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“The group, whether We or You or Them, is not a new individual or organism or hyperorganism on the social scene; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/the-group-whether-we-or-you-or-them-is-not-a-new-individual-or/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“If I could turn you on, if I could drive you out of your wretched mind, if I could tell you I would let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/if-i-could-turn-you-on-if-i-could-drive-you-out-of-your-wretched-mind/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“This writing is not exempt. It remains like all writing an absurd and revolting effort to make an impression on a world that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/this-writing-is-not-exempt-it-remains-like-all-writing-an-absurd-and/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“I am not fond of the word psychological. There is no such thing as the psychological. Let us say that one can improve the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/i-am-not-fond-of-the-word-psychological-there-is-no-such-thing-as-the/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“Under the heading of "defense mechanisms,” psychoanalysis describes a number of ways in which a person becomes alienated from himself. For example, repression, denial,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/under-the-heading-of-defense-mechanisms-psychoanalysis-describes-a/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“What we call 'normal' is a product of repression, denial, splitting, projection, introjection and other forms of destructive action on experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/what-we-call-normal-is-a-product-of-repression-denial-splitting-3/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“The greatest psychopathologist has been Freud. Freud was a hero. He descended to the “Underworld” and met there stark terrors. He carried with him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/the-greatest-psychopathologist-has-been-freud-freud-was-a-hero-he/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) > [“Since the self, in maintaining its isolation and detachment does not commit itself to a creative relationship with the other and is preoccupied with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing-2/since-the-self-in-maintaining-its-isolation-and-detachment-does-not/) [R.D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) [Explore all 13 R.D. Laing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing-2/) ## More Alienation quotes > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Everyone who lived in high-up, magical places must feel the same way. 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Productive activity becomes ‘activity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/a-consequence-of-this-alienation-of-humans-from-their-own-nature-is/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [I feel what they feel: man-hating, that volatile admixture of pity, contempt, disgust, envy, alienation, fear, and rage at men. It is hatred not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-levine/i-feel-what-they-feel-man-hating-that-volatile-admixture-of-pity/) Judith Levine > [Part of the gestation of 'The Wall' was this business of alienation from the audience, and so the interesting thing was, what 'The Wall'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-mason/part-of-the-gestation-of-the-wall-was-this-business-of-alienation/) [Nick Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-mason/) > [“Most of her friends owned laptops and seemed to spend more time with their phones than anything else. 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Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance-2/) [Browse all 392 Alienation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alienation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sanity today appears to rest very largely on a capacity to adapt to the external world—the interpersonal world, and the realm of human collectivities. As this external human world is almost completely and totally estranged from the inner, any personal direct awareness of the inner world already has grave risks. But since society, without knowing it, is starving for the inner, the demands on people to evoke it in a \"safe\" way, in a way that need not be taken seriously, etc., is tremendous—while the ambivalence is equally intense. Small wonder that the list of artists, in say the last 150 years, who have become shipwrecked on these reefs is so long...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R.D. 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