--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And he did see--that life was rotten…" description: "\"And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself.\" — Robert Cormier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a86/robert-cormier-6436_hero_and-he-did-see-that-life-was-rotten-that_1965748.png" --- # And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no… ![“And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself.” quote by Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a86/robert-cormier-6436_hero_and-he-did-see-that-life-was-rotten-that_1965748.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a86/robert-cormier-6436_hero_and-he-did-see-that-life-was-rotten-that_1965748.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a86/robert-cormier-6436_hero_and-he-did-see-that-life-was-rotten-that_1965748.png) > “And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself.” [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator sees a bleak world lacking heroes and trust, even in oneself. **In simple terms:** Life feels rotten, trust is absent, heroes are missing. Key Takeaway Recognize cynicism and seek authentic trust. Themes cynicism trust heroism self‑doubt existential Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - team dynamics - leadership - self‑reflection - creative writing Key Concepts literary realism psychological despair trust issues Questions to Reflect On - What can restore trust in a cynical world? - How do we find heroes within ourselves? A Different Perspective May be overly pessimistic, ignoring hope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm sick with life, I'm rotten with health.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-m-sick-with-life-i-m-rotten-with-health/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Life is a rotten lottery. I've had a pretty amazing life, a good life, and God knows I'm thankful, but I do believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/life-is-a-rotten-lottery-i-ve-had-a-pretty-amazing-life-a-good-life/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [Life is a rotten lottery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/life-is-a-rotten-lottery/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [“I had only myself to rely on. And that, I thought, was the most frightening aspect of my predicament. After all, how could I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-forrest/i-had-only-myself-to-rely-on-and-that-i-thought-was-the-most/) [Bella Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-forrest/) > [“Besides, how could I trust them, when I couldn't even trust myself?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-nichols/besides-how-could-i-trust-them-when-i-couldn-t-even-trust-myself/) [Lee Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-nichols/) > [I'm the child of immigrants, and there was always a garage filled with food, just in case, and you kept money under the mattress.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samin-nosrat/i-m-the-child-of-immigrants-and-there-was-always-a-garage-filled-with/) [Samin Nosrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samin-nosrat/) > [The truth was, it was myself I couldn't trust, my eyes from betraying my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-chandler/the-truth-was-it-was-myself-i-couldn-t-trust-my-eyes-from-betraying/) [Elizabeth Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-chandler/) > [“I trusted you," Evan bellowed, as the distance grew between us. 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They couldn't trust me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-kaufman/every-time-my-manager-approached-big-network-executives-or-even-cable/) [Andy Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-kaufman/) > [“Archie wasn't waiting for her at the attic. She didn't consider that. He was probably giving her time to set and collect a trap,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perie-wolford/archie-wasn-t-waiting-for-her-at-the-attic-she-didn-t-consider-that/) Perie Wolford ## More by Robert Cormier > [“Eric Poole began with cats. Or, to be more exact, kittens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/eric-poole-began-with-cats-or-to-be-more-exact-kittens/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [...pain reaches a certain point and does not get worse but remains in all its intensity and you can survive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/pain-reaches-a-certain-point-and-does-not-get-worse-but-remains-in/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [It came to me that hell would not be fire and smoke after all but arctic, everything white and frigid. Hell would be not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/it-came-to-me-that-hell-would-not-be-fire-and-smoke-after-all-but/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I don't like to think in terms of writing ten or twelve pages a day. Usually I'm writing a scene, and it's always with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-don-t-like-to-think-in-terms-of-writing-ten-or-twelve-pages-a-day/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“Mr. Sinclair once asked the class to make a list of the ten most beautiful words in the English language, and the only word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/mr-sinclair-once-asked-the-class-to-make-a-list-of-the-ten-most/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [The earliest influence on me was the movies of the thirties when I was growing up. Those were stories. If you look at them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/the-earliest-influence-on-me-was-the-movies-of-the-thirties-when-i/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“He was afraid that his body would come loose, all his bones spilling out like a building collapsing, like a picket fence clattering apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/he-was-afraid-that-his-body-would-come-loose-all-his-bones-spilling/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-have-always-had-a-sense-that-we-are-all-pretty-much-alone-in-life/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I don't mean to be insolent. I'm truthful. I tell the truth and the truth sometimes hurts. For instance, you have bad breath, Lieutenant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-don-t-mean-to-be-insolent-i-m-truthful-i-tell-the-truth-and-the/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/the-beautiful-part-of-writing-is-that-you-don-t-have-to-get-it-right/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [That's what Archie did - built a house nobody could anticipate a need for, except himself, a house that was invisible to everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/that-s-what-archie-did-built-a-house-nobody-could-anticipate-a-need/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“They tell you to do your own thing but they don't mean it. They don't want you to do your thing, not unless it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/they-tell-you-to-do-your-own-thing-but-they-don-t-mean-it-they-don-t/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I've had aunts and uncles who not only haven't read my books but could hardly believe that I was a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-ve-had-aunts-and-uncles-who-not-only-haven-t-read-my-books-but/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [You bring up your children to be self-reliant and independent and they double-cross you and become self-reliant and independent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/you-bring-up-your-children-to-be-self-reliant-and-independent-and/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“We just might make a quarterback out of you yet, you skinny little son of a bitch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/we-just-might-make-a-quarterback-out-of-you-yet-you-skinny-little-son/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) [Explore all 99 Robert Cormier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) ## More Hero quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. 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When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > ['Melanin Man' was inspired by the words of an Uber driver in L.A. Before I got out of the car he said, 'They're scared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masego/melanin-man-was-inspired-by-the-words-of-an-uber-driver-in-l-a-before/) [Masego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masego/) > [Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/once-the-state-has-been-founded-there-can-no-longer-be-any-heroes/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [You know, I often thought that the gangster and the artist are the same in the eyes of the masses. They're admired and hero-worshipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kubrick/you-know-i-often-thought-that-the-gangster-and-the-artist-are-the/) [Stanley Kubrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kubrick/) > [“A hero is not know by the number of battles he has won, but rather by the kind of battles he chooses to fight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonny-k-brown/a-hero-is-not-know-by-the-number-of-battles-he-has-won-but-rather-by/) [Tonny K. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tonny-k-brown/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Teachers are heroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-best/teachers-are-heroes/) [Charles Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-best/) > [“Forgotten hero was never the real hero, real hero can not be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/forgotten-hero-was-never-the-real-hero-real-hero-can-not-be-forgotten/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > ['Sex and The City' was made to correct the myth that if you were single at a certain age, you were a leper. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-patrick-king/sex-and-the-city-was-made-to-correct-the-myth-that-if-you-were-single/) [Michael Patrick King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-patrick-king/) > [I believe in a world where there are no heroes, and I've read and know humanity a lot. 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