--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One must conform to the baseness of an…" description: "\"One must conform to the baseness of an age or become neurotic.\" — Robert Musil" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/robert-musil-2009_age_one-must-conform-to-the-baseness-of-an-a_2511216.jpg" --- # One must conform to the baseness of an age or become… ![“One must conform to the baseness of an age or become neurotic.” quote by Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/robert-musil-2009_age_one-must-conform-to-the-baseness-of-an-a_2511216.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/robert-musil-2009_age_one-must-conform-to-the-baseness-of-an-a_2511216.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/robert-musil-2009_age_one-must-conform-to-the-baseness-of-an-a_2511216.jpg) > “One must conform to the baseness of an age or become neurotic.” [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Conforming to a shallow era can cause mental strain; individuality resists that pressure. **In simple terms:** Fit in or go crazy. Key Takeaway Preserve your uniqueness. Themes conformity individuality mental health Mood reflective serious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - career choices - creative work - social media - political activism Key Concepts existentialism social pressure Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel pressure to conform? - How can you stay authentic? A Different Perspective The quote may overstate the binary; many find balance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Baseness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness/) [Neurotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neurotic/) ## Related quotes > [O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold Are but a cheat contrived by men of old Who lusted after wealth and gained their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ma-arri/o-fools-awake-the-rites-ye-sacred-hold-are-but-a-cheat-contrived-by/) [Al-Maʿarri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ma-arri/) > [To think is to take a cunning revenge in which we camouflage our baseness and conceal our lower instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/to-think-is-to-take-a-cunning-revenge-in-which-we-camouflage-our/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Advertizing, television and film all wield mighty powers to visually seduce us, while much fine art leaves us indifferent, confused or, at worst, repulsed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walford/advertizing-television-and-film-all-wield-mighty-powers-to-visually/) [John Walford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walford/) > [When the scale of sensuality bears down that of reason, the baseness of our nature conducts us to most preposterous conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-chamberlain/when-the-scale-of-sensuality-bears-down-that-of-reason-the-baseness/) [Roger Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-chamberlain/) > [ There is no more evil thing in this world than race prejudice, none at all. \[...\] It justifies and holds together more baseness, cruelty,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/there-is-no-more-evil-thing-in-this-world-than-race-prejudice-none-at/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The motions of men must be such as suggest their dignity or their baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-motions-of-men-must-be-such-as-suggest-their-dignity-or-their/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/how-many-a-father-have-i-seen-a-sober-man-among-his-boys-whose-youth/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [It (the heart) is supposed in popular language, to be the seat sometimes, of courage, sometimes of affection, sometimes of honesty, or baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/it-the-heart-is-supposed-in-popular-language-to-be-the-seat-sometimes/) [Lyndon B. 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An enemy at the gates is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/a-nation-can-survive-its-fools-and-even-the-ambitious-but-it-cannot/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I once did hold it, as our statists do, A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much How to forget that learning; but, sir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-once-did-hold-it-as-our-statists-do-a-baseness-to-write-fair-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [No, no, there must be a limit to the baseness even of publishers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/no-no-there-must-be-a-limit-to-the-baseness-even-of-publishers/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Nothing is more repugnant to me than brotherly feelings grounded in the common baseness people see in one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nothing-is-more-repugnant-to-me-than-brotherly-feelings-grounded-in/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [There are only two great currents in the history of mankind: the baseness which makes conservatives and the envy which makes revolutionaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-de-goncourt/there-are-only-two-great-currents-in-the-history-of-mankind-the/) [Edmond de Goncourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-de-goncourt/) > [The tyrant, who in order to hold his power, suppresses every superiority, does away with good men, forbids education and light, controls every movement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-tyrant-who-in-order-to-hold-his-power-suppresses-every/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Robert Musil > [“Everything we feel and do is somehow oriented "lifeward," and the least deviation away from this direction toward something beyond is difficult or alarming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/everything-we-feel-and-do-is-somehow-oriented-lifeward-and-the-least/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“He was in that familiar state - not that the occasion mattered to seriously to him -- of incoherent ideas spreading outward without a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-was-in-that-familiar-state-not-that-the-occasion-mattered-to/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [It is life that does the thinking all around us, forming with playful ease the connections our reason can only laboriously patch together piecemeal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/it-is-life-that-does-the-thinking-all-around-us-forming-with-playful/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“What is it you do, then? 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We seldom really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-the-use-of-good-painting-we-want-a-spell-cast-upon-the/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [That the will of the people can be established by voting for democrats is, of course, a delusion. 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Consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/his-appearance-gives-no-clue-to-what-his-profession-might-be-and-yet/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [Philosophers are people who do violence, but have no army at their disposal, and so subjugate the world by locking it into a system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-people-who-do-violence-but-have-no-army-at-their/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“The drive of his own nature to keep developing prevents him from believing that anything is final and complete, yet everything he encounters behaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-drive-of-his-own-nature-to-keep-developing-prevents-him-from/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“And so the mind or spirit is the great opportunist, itself impossible to pin down, take hold of, anywhere; one is tempted to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-so-the-mind-or-spirit-is-the-great-opportunist-itself-impossible/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Explore all 139 Robert Musil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. 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