--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Normal men have killed perhaps…" description: "\"Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.\" — R. D. Laing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg" --- # Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow… ![“Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.” quote by R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg) > “Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.” [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mass violence among ordinary people shows humanity’s capacity for cruelty. **In simple terms:** Ordinary people can commit huge atrocities. Key Takeaway Reflect on the roots of collective violence. Themes violence human nature society Mood grave critical Type analysis reflection When to use this quote - political conflict - war - social unrest Key Concepts psychology of aggression mass behavior Questions to Reflect On - What prevents ordinary people from harming others? - How can societies curb collective violence? A Different Perspective Context matters for interpreting statistics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Normality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normality/) ## Related quotes > [Someone's killed 100,000 people. We're almost going, "Well done! You killed 100,000 people? You must get up very early in the morning! I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/someone-s-killed-100-000-people-we-re-almost-going-well-done-you/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) > [“Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/men-killed-and-died-because-they-were-embarrassed-not-to-it-was-what/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [“We'd be the safest country in the world if the world knew we didn't have a gun. Men are not killed because they get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-rankin/we-d-be-the-safest-country-in-the-world-if-the-world-knew-we-didn-t/) [Jeannette Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-rankin/) > [Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/men-killed-and-died-because-they-were-embarrassed-not-to/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [According to the reports we have gathered, mostly from the refugees, it appears that around 10,000 people have been killed in more than 100…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-hoon/according-to-the-reports-we-have-gathered-mostly-from-the-refugees-it/) [Geoff Hoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-hoon/) > [“During the twentieth century, communist governments killed some 100 million of their own people in peacetime, either by repression or by famine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wheelan/during-the-twentieth-century-communist-governments-killed-some-100/) [Charles Wheelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wheelan/) > [“The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-condition-of-alienation-of-being-asleep-of-being-unconscious-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [ “If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. \[It is\] the dubious luxury of normal men and women.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/if-we-were-to-live-we-had-to-be-free-of-anger-it-is-the-dubious/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I'm a simple man. All I want is enough sleep for two normal men, enough whiskey for three, and enough women for four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-rosenberg/i-m-a-simple-man-all-i-want-is-enough-sleep-for-two-normal-men-enough/) [Joel Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-rosenberg/) > [And otherwise normal men become monsters, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/and-otherwise-normal-men-become-monsters-too/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [Normal men retain their childish longing for a woman to mother them. At adolescence a new desire is added. They want a girl to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-moulton-marston/normal-men-retain-their-childish-longing-for-a-woman-to-mother-them/) [William Moulton Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-moulton-marston/) > [The favor of God will make normal men seem like something special.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-favor-of-god-will-make-normal-men-seem-like-something-special/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-condition-of-alienation-of-being-asleep-of-being-unconscious-of-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are men who bloom in chaos. You call them heroes or villains, depending on which side wins the war, but until the battle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/there-are-men-who-bloom-in-chaos-you-call-them-heroes-or-villains/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [In the context of our present pervasive madness that we call normality, sanity, freedom, all our frames of reference are ambiguous and equivocal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-the-context-of-our-present-pervasive-madness-that-we-call/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## More by R. D. Laing > [To live in the past or in the future may be less satisfying than to live in the present, but it can never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/to-live-in-the-past-or-in-the-future-may-be-less-satisfying-than-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [We must remember that we are living in an age in which the ground is shifting and the foundations are shaking. I cannot answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/we-must-remember-that-we-are-living-in-an-age-in-which-the-ground-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/we-live-in-a-moment-of-history-where-change-is-so-speeded-up-that-we/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Our behavior is a function of our experience. We act according to the way we see things. If our experience is destroyed, our behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/our-behavior-is-a-function-of-our-experience-we-act-according-to-the/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [How do we define, how do we describe, how do we explain and/or understand ourselves? What sort of creatures do we take ourselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/how-do-we-define-how-do-we-describe-how-do-we-explain-and-or/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/there-is-a-great-deal-of-pain-in-life-and-perhaps-the-only-pain-that/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-range-of-what-we-think-and-do-is-limited-by-what-we-fail-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-range-of-what-we-think-and-do-is-limited-by-what-we-fail-to-notice/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [In the society of men the truth resides now less in what things are than in what they are not. Our social realities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-the-society-of-men-the-truth-resides-now-less-in-what-things-are/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The schizophrenic may indeed be mad. He is mad. He is not ill. I have been told by people who have been through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-schizophrenic-may-indeed-be-mad-he-is-mad-he-is-not-ill-i-have/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [What is to be done? We who are still half alive, living in the often fibrillating heartland of a senescent capitalism -- can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/what-is-to-be-done-we-who-are-still-half-alive-living-in-the-often/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [From the alienated starting point of our pseudo-sanity, everything is equivocal. Our sanity is not "true" sanity. Their madness is not "true" madness. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/from-the-alienated-starting-point-of-our-pseudo-sanity-everything-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [In describing one way of going mad, I shall try to show that there is a comprehensible transition from the sane schizoid way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-describing-one-way-of-going-mad-i-shall-try-to-show-that-there-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Doctors have throughout time made fortunes on killing their patients with their cures. The difference in psychiatry is that it is the death of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/doctors-have-throughout-time-made-fortunes-on-killing-their-patients/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [A psychiatrist who professes to be a healer of souls, but who keeps people asleep, treats them for waking up, and drugs them asleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/a-psychiatrist-who-professes-to-be-a-healer-of-souls-but-who-keeps/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) [Explore all 105 R. D. Laing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## More Fellows quotes > [You know, by the time you reach my age, you've made plenty of mistakes if you've lived your life properly. So you learn. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/you-know-by-the-time-you-reach-my-age-you-ve-made-plenty-of-mistakes/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one's fellow man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/there-is-no-sweeter-sound-than-the-crumbling-of-one-s-fellow-man/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I have thoroughly tried school-keeping, and found that my expenses were in proportion, or rather out of proportion, to my income,for I was obliged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-have-thoroughly-tried-school-keeping-and-found-that-my-expenses/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [There is only one good substitute for the endearments of a sister, and that is the endearments of some other fellow's sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/there-is-only-one-good-substitute-for-the-endearments-of-a-sister-and/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [If you take the the insults of your fellow human beings personally, you will be offended for the rest of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/if-you-take-the-the-insults-of-your-fellow-human-beings-personally/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/when-indeed-shall-we-learn-that-we-are-all-related-one-to-the-other/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I am by nature the most intolerant and insular Englishman... If you happen to be a person like that and you learn from evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-dowding-1st-baron-dowding/i-am-by-nature-the-most-intolerant-and-insular-englishman-if-you/) [Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-dowding-1st-baron-dowding/) > [True, the fragile bodies of his fellows do not weigh down his plane; true, the fretful minds of weaker men are missing from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/true-the-fragile-bodies-of-his-fellows-do-not-weigh-down-his-plane/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [The shortest way to change a radical into a conservative, a liberal into a tyrant, a man into a beast, is to give him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-shortest-way-to-change-a-radical-into-a-conservative-a-liberal/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [ \[T\]he appropriate form of address between man and man ought to be, not monsieur, sir, but fellow sufferer, compagnon de miseres. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/t-he-appropriate-form-of-address-between-man-and-man-ought-to-be-not/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) Browse all 1,897 Fellows quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R. D. Laing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-000-of-their-fellow-normal-men/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fellows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-000-of-their-fellow-normal-men/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/r-d-laing-4861_fellows_normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-0_2965484.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.” — R. D. Laing", "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": "R. D. Laing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-000-of-their-fellow-normal-men/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/normal-men-have-killed-perhaps-100-000-000-of-their-fellow-normal-men/#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 } } ] } ```