--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sanity is a matter of consensus." description: "\"“Sanity is a matter of consensus.”\" — Robert Sheckley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png" --- # Sanity is a matter of consensus. ![“Sanity is a matter of consensus.” quote by Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png) > ““Sanity is a matter of consensus.”” [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sanity is defined by collective agreement, implying that what is “normal” depends on societal consensus. **In simple terms:** Normality is what people agree is normal. Key Takeaway Question societal standards of sanity. Themes society norms psychology philosophy Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical satirical When to use this quote - group decision making - cultural analysis - mental health policy - education Key Concepts social construction relativism mental health Questions to Reflect On - Who decides what is sane? - How do you support divergent perspectives? 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He is not his skills, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/you-must-realize-mr-blaine-that-a-man-is-not-his-body-for-he-receives/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [“But that's crazy, " George said. "How can I be the Average American Man? I'm only five foot eight and my name is Blaxter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/but-that-s-crazy-george-said-how-can-i-be-the-average-american-man-i/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [I knew I was doing something right because it was selling so I didn't want to interfere with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-knew-i-was-doing-something-right-because-it-was-selling-so-i-didn-t/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [“She was an extremely attractive woman if you liked the type, which could best be described as homicidal schizophrenic paranoiac with kittenish overtones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/she-was-an-extremely-attractive-woman-if-you-liked-the-type-which/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [I'm not too fond of the hard work and the constant battle with self-doubt that goes on when I write, but I figure that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-m-not-too-fond-of-the-hard-work-and-the-constant-battle-with-self/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [I sell well now in Russia. I remember one signing in Russia some years ago where the bookstore had two strongmen to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-sell-well-now-in-russia-i-remember-one-signing-in-russia-some-years/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [So I wrote what I hoped would be science fiction, I was not at all sure if what I wrote would be acceptable even.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/so-i-wrote-what-i-hoped-would-be-science-fiction-i-was-not-at-all/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [I was forever reading outside of the field as well as in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-was-forever-reading-outside-of-the-field-as-well-as-in-it/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [I'm quite influenced in this by one of my heroes, Montaigne, who thought a man's real task was to render as honest an account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-m-quite-influenced-in-this-by-one-of-my-heroes-montaigne-who/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [Ethical and questions of philosophy interest me a great deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/ethical-and-questions-of-philosophy-interest-me-a-great-deal/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [It is a truism throughout the civilized galaxy that when you go to the police, your troubles really begin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/it-is-a-truism-throughout-the-civilized-galaxy-that-when-you-go-to/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [“When you have a project, do it exactly as you see fit; then fit the facts around the event, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/when-you-have-a-project-do-it-exactly-as-you-see-fit-then-fit-the/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) [Explore all 47 Robert Sheckley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) ## More Consensus quotes > [There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-are-dangers-in-consensus-it-could-be-an-attempt-to-satisfy/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/the-family-has-clearly-emerged-anew-in-the-late-1970s-as-a-central/) [Sheila Kamerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-kamerman/) > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [The vision of extraordinary achievement is,by definition, a few steps beyond consensus and conventional logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-belsky/the-vision-of-extraordinary-achievement-is-by-definition-a-few-steps/) [Scott Belsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-belsky/) > [The scientific consensus is that climate change is real, urgent, and caused by humans. This science should be both supported and understood by anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-schatz/the-scientific-consensus-is-that-climate-change-is-real-urgent-and/) [Brian Schatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-schatz/) > [People of good character are not all going to come down on the same side of difficult political and social issues. Good people-people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bennett/people-of-good-character-are-not-all-going-to-come-down-on-the-same/) [William Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bennett/) > [Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation and consensus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mainwaring/effectively-change-is-almost-impossible-without-industry-wide/) [Simon Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mainwaring/) > [Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/those-who-know-that-the-consensus-of-many-centuries-has-sanctioned/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [The culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse population of Indian and Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir has been unable to reach a consensus on the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/the-culturally-linguistically-and-religiously-diverse-population-of/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [We are in a crisis today because the practical consensus between the left and the right, linking economic efficiency with social protection, has broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-glucksmann/we-are-in-a-crisis-today-because-the-practical-consensus-between-the/) [Andre Glucksmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-glucksmann/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Our normal expectations about reality are created by a social consensus. We are taught how to see and understand the world. The trick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/our-normal-expectations-about-reality-are-created-by-a-social/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [I always worked as an individual artist even when Group Material asked me to join the group. There are certain things that I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-gonzalez-torres/i-always-worked-as-an-individual-artist-even-when-group-material/) [Felix Gonzalez-Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-gonzalez-torres/) > [“But perhaps the greatest threat is that we lack the mechanism of consensus, a way of making up our collective minds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-k-greenleaf/but-perhaps-the-greatest-threat-is-that-we-lack-the-mechanism-of/) [Robert K. Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-k-greenleaf/) > [There's a growing consensus that the best way to defeat communism in Cuba is to get its citizens hooked on American goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/there-s-a-growing-consensus-that-the-best-way-to-defeat-communism-in/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) [Browse all 564 Consensus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sanity is a matter of consensus.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Sheckley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consensus" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/robert-sheckley-14086_consensus_sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus-1960987_1960987.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sanity is a matter of consensus.” — Robert Sheckley", "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": "Robert Sheckley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Sanity is a matter of consensus.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/sanity-is-a-matter-of-consensus/#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 } } ] } ```