---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that life is incredibly violent…"
description: "\"I think that life is incredibly violent and that individual people are incredibly violent on one level or another. I don't try to change life to suit m..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg"
---

#  I think that life is incredibly violent and that…

![“I think that life is incredibly violent and that individual people are incredibly violent on one level or another. I don't try to change life to suit my writing; in a certain way I'm a naturalist of the nineteenth century school.” quote by Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg)

> “I think that life is incredibly violent and that individual people are incredibly violent on one level or another. I don't try to change life to suit my writing; in a certain way I'm a naturalist of the nineteenth century school.”

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker sees life and humanity as inherently violent, adopting a naturalist view without trying to reshape reality for art.

**In simple terms:** Life is violent; the writer accepts it.

Key Takeaway

Observe reality without forcing change.

Themes

philosophy violence artistic stance realism

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

philosophical reflective

When to use this quote

- writing about conflict
- philosophical reflection
- artistic authenticity

Key Concepts

naturalism nineteenth‑century perspective

Questions to Reflect On

- Do you see violence as universal?
- How does this view affect your writing?

A Different Perspective

Violence may be overgeneralized.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life changing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-changing/) [Naturalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturalist/) [Nineteenth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteenth-century/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [This whole society, up to now, has been very violent with the individual. It does not believe in the individual; it is against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/this-whole-society-up-to-now-has-been-very-violent-with-the/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [Any time there is a cultural breakthrough in which this culture transcends what it's supposed to be, there's a violent reaction. So we had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/any-time-there-is-a-cultural-breakthrough-in-which-this-culture/)

[George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/)

> [There's a lot of rage you have to express it somehow. If I didn't express it in song, I'd become incredibly violent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siobhan-fahey/there-s-a-lot-of-rage-you-have-to-express-it-somehow-if-i-didn-t/)

[Siobhan Fahey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siobhan-fahey/)

> [“That was very naughty,' Hawke chided, snatching the sword out of my hand as if I hadn't been holding onto it. 'You are so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/that-was-very-naughty-hawke-chided-snatching-the-sword-out-of-my-hand/)

[Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/)

> [Up until the middle of the nineteenth century, men of science were all believers. Most of the great early English naturalists were also ministers;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/up-until-the-middle-of-the-nineteenth-century-men-of-science-were-all/)

[Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/)

> [The nineteenth century was the last moment in history when a relatively educated layperson could follow what was going on in the world of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/the-nineteenth-century-was-the-last-moment-in-history-when-a/)

[Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/)

> [Because I know something that you don't know. I know that this is the worst experience of your life, but I also know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/because-i-know-something-that-you-don-t-know-i-know-that-this-is-the/)

[Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/)

> [Even with all of the things that are so awful, if you walk into your yard and stay there looking at almost anything for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/even-with-all-of-the-things-that-are-so-awful-if-you-walk-into-your/)

[Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/)

> [My early family life was incredibly happy but I was very, very protected and very much living in a bubble. I was born with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toyah-willcox/my-early-family-life-was-incredibly-happy-but-i-was-very-very/)

[Toyah Willcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toyah-willcox/)

> [This life can be incredibly difficult, especially if we're alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-radin/this-life-can-be-incredibly-difficult-especially-if-we-re-alone/)

[Joshua Radin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-radin/)

> [Having the choice at the end of my life has become incredibly important. It has given me a sense of peace during a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-maynard/having-the-choice-at-the-end-of-my-life-has-become-incredibly/)

[Brittany Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittany-maynard/)

> [It's often difficult to slough off all that we've acquired, all the comforts and safety nets modern life provides for us, and realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-jacobi/it-s-often-difficult-to-slough-off-all-that-we-ve-acquired-all-the/)

[Derek Jacobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-jacobi/)

> [You can't ever go back; life is incredibly short and fragile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arden/you-can-t-ever-go-back-life-is-incredibly-short-and-fragile/)

[Michael Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arden/)

> [I'm just living my life. I'm incredibly disciplined and I work incredibly hard. I show up for things on time, I do my homework,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-paquin/i-m-just-living-my-life-i-m-incredibly-disciplined-and-i-work/)

[Anna Paquin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-paquin/)

> [Death is always a reality, and life is incredibly short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-hanson/death-is-always-a-reality-and-life-is-incredibly-short/)

[Isaac Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-hanson/)

## More by Richard Grossman

> [I have a strong spiritual commitment, and I try to express that in my work. Salvation cannot be worked out in human terms. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-have-a-strong-spiritual-commitment-and-i-try-to-express-that-in-my/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [The problem with American democracy is the American corporation, which is a slave holder construct, pure and simple. It's totally invasive, and people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/the-problem-with-american-democracy-is-the-american-corporation-which/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [When you're reading my book, you're not in a four dimensional continuum, you're in my continuum, the Grossman continuum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/when-you-re-reading-my-book-you-re-not-in-a-four-dimensional/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I write about life as it exists within houses and on the streets. And there's nothing, hopefully, in any of my characterizations or in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-write-about-life-as-it-exists-within-houses-and-on-the-streets-and/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I've been in the art world for many years. But the sad fact is that most writers are visually prepubescent. Generally speaking, the literary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-ve-been-in-the-art-world-for-many-years-but-the-sad-fact-is-that/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I love grand scale. One of the things that everybody mentions is that my novels are beautiful objects in the sense that the elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-love-grand-scale-one-of-the-things-that-everybody-mentions-is-that/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I'm truly an outsider in the poetry world. When I started writing, I was trying to move my poems away from modernist lines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-m-truly-an-outsider-in-the-poetry-world-when-i-started-writing-i/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [My books are not about different components that fit together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, it's about creating the space around the components,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/my-books-are-not-about-different-components-that-fit-together-like/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I'm a staunch civil libertarian; I really believe that the individual is more important than any societal value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-m-a-staunch-civil-libertarian-i-really-believe-that-the-individual/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I think of myself as a jazz player, and my music as a natural extension of the jazz tradition. What I'm doing is completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-think-of-myself-as-a-jazz-player-and-my-music-as-a-natural/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [Salvation is an individual relationship with God. I've always considered myself to be a devotional poet, and I consider myself to be a devotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/salvation-is-an-individual-relationship-with-god-i-ve-always/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [If there is anything unique about my writing it is the way that I combine poetry and prose, not just on the level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/if-there-is-anything-unique-about-my-writing-it-is-the-way-that-i/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I don't think that brutality and idealism are mutually exclusive. It's a common denominator in my work - rabid idealism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-don-t-think-that-brutality-and-idealism-are-mutually-exclusive-it-s/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I'm a centrist. There is a lot going on socially that I don't like, but I feel that in a democracy you work from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-m-a-centrist-there-is-a-lot-going-on-socially-that-i-don-t-like-but/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

> [I think not in two or three dimensional terms but in five dimensional terms when I consider a novel. There's height, width, and depth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-think-not-in-two-or-three-dimensional-terms-but-in-five-dimensional/)

[Richard Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

[Explore all 17 Richard Grossman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/)

## More Century quotes

> [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/)

[Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/)

> [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/)

[David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/)

> [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/)

[Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/)

> [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/)

[James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/)

> [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/)

[Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/)

> [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/)

[Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/)

> [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/)

[Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/)

> [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/)

[Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/)

> [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/)

[Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/)

> [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/)

[William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/)

> [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

Browse all 5,406 Century quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I think that life is incredibly violent and that individual people are incredibly violent on one level or another. I don't try to change life to suit my writing; in a certain way I'm a naturalist of the nineteenth century school.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Richard Grossman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent-and-that-individual-people/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Century"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent-and-that-individual-people/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cc/richard-grossman-30272_century_i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent_2022968.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I think that life is incredibly violent and that individual people are incredibly violent on one level or…” — Richard Grossman",
                "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": "Richard Grossman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grossman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I think that life is incredibly...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent-and-that-individual-people/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grossman/i-think-that-life-is-incredibly-violent-and-that-individual-people/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
