--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a fight almost anything goes. It…" description: "\"In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt.\" — Saul Alinsky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/saul-alinsky-3048_anything-goes_in-a-fight-almost-anything-goes-it-almos_2776641.png" --- # In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the… ![“In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt.” quote by Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/saul-alinsky-3048_anything-goes_in-a-fight-almost-anything-goes-it-almos_2776641.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/saul-alinsky-3048_anything-goes_in-a-fight-almost-anything-goes-it-almos_2776641.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/saul-alinsky-3048_anything-goes_in-a-fight-almost-anything-goes-it-almos_2776641.png) > “In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt.” [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. In conflict, norms break down, and apologies become rare as aggression dominates. **In simple terms:** Conflict erodes civility. Key Takeaway Seek de‑escalation before aggression escalates. Themes conflict aggression apology Mood cautious critical Type social strategic When to use this quote - negotiations - team disputes - public safety Key Concepts social dynamics power violence Questions to Reflect On - What strategies reduce aggression? - When is apology appropriate? A Different Perspective Escalation can cause lasting harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anything goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anything-goes/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight/) [Rules for radicals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-for-radicals/) [Wrestling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrestling/) ## Related quotes > [Dont take life for granted, apologize when you have the chance & appreciate the people you love everyday!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-take-life-for-granted-apologize-when-you-have-the-chance-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is through many lifetimes of shifting the aggregate of the self that one finally reaches a point of maximum velocity whereby one can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-through-many-lifetimes-of-shifting-the-aggregate-of-the-self/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Life reaches a point where you no longer wish to dig about in the earth of the past to find what might have made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-rose-maccoll/life-reaches-a-point-where-you-no-longer-wish-to-dig-about-in-the/) [Mary-Rose MacColl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-rose-maccoll/) > [But everyone I know reaches a point where they throw out their arms and go beserk for a while; otherwise you never know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-smith/but-everyone-i-know-reaches-a-point-where-they-throw-out-their-arms/) [Robert Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-smith/) > [You get to the middle of a take that's going really well and the camera will run out of film. They have to stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-morse/you-get-to-the-middle-of-a-take-that-s-going-really-well-and-the/) [David Morse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-morse/) > [“It isn't the bloody weather!" I've shocked them into silence. I should stop. Apologize for my outburst. Make amends. Blame the climate. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/it-isn-t-the-bloody-weather-i-ve-shocked-them-into-silence-i-should/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“I'm sorry Penelope." "Don't waste my time with sorries,Simon.If we stop to apologize and forgive each other every time we step on each other's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/i-m-sorry-penelope-don-t-waste-my-time-with-sorries-simon-if-we-stop/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [If we stop to apologize and forgive each other every time we step on each other’s toes, we’ll never have time to be friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/if-we-stop-to-apologize-and-forgive-each-other-every-time-we-step-on/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [“Don't waste my time with sorries, Simon. 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Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/pick-the-target-freeze-it-personalize-it-and-polarize-it-cut-off-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The very first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-very-first-radical-known-to-man-who-rebelled-against-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) ## More by Saul Alinsky > [The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-threat-is-usually-more-terrifying-than-the-thing-itself/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The very first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-very-first-radical-known-to-man-who-rebelled-against-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [I've never joined any organization - not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/i-ve-never-joined-any-organization-not-even-the-ones-i-ve-organized/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Everybody owned stock in the Capone mob; in a way, he was a public benefactor. I remember one time when he arrived at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/everybody-owned-stock-in-the-capone-mob-in-a-way-he-was-a-public/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [First rule of change is controversy. You can't get away from it for the simple reason all issues are controversial. Change means movement, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/first-rule-of-change-is-controversy-you-can-t-get-away-from-it-for/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Radicals, on the other hand, want to advance from the jungle of laissez-faire capitalism to a world worthy of the name of human civilization.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/radicals-on-the-other-hand-want-to-advance-from-the-jungle-of-laissez/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/pick-the-target-freeze-it-personalize-it-and-polarize-it-cut-off-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The first step in community organization is community disorganization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-first-step-in-community-organization-is-community-disorganization/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Power just goes to two poles — to those who've got money, and those who've got people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/power-just-goes-to-two-poles-to-those-who-ve-got-money-and-those-who/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The establishment can accept being screwed, but not being laughed at](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-establishment-can-accept-being-screwed-but-not-being-laughed-at/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [To the organizer, compromise is a key and beautiful word. It is always present in the pragmatics of operation... If you start with nothing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/to-the-organizer-compromise-is-a-key-and-beautiful-word-it-is-always/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/power-is-not-only-what-you-have-but-what-the-enemy-thinks-you-have/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted-in-the-whys-and-wherefores/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Organized business has assumed that greater profits would be pretty much of a cure-all, and it has to a major extent ignored the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/organized-business-has-assumed-that-greater-profits-would-be-pretty/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/one-acts-decisively-only-in-the-conviction-that-all-the-angels-are-on/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) [Explore all 141 Saul Alinsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) ## More Anything goes quotes > [Every woman's innate ability to let anything go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-macfarlane/every-woman-s-innate-ability-to-let-anything-go/) [Seth MacFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-macfarlane/) > [There aren't any looks or customs I wish would come back. Today almost anything goes. Culture constantly devours the past so there's not much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/there-aren-t-any-looks-or-customs-i-wish-would-come-back-today-almost/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [We are a culture that relies on technology over community, a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/we-are-a-culture-that-relies-on-technology-over-community-a-society/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [If you want the answer to anything, go sit in Nature for awhile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/if-you-want-the-answer-to-anything-go-sit-in-nature-for-awhile/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Because the problems are objective features of the human situation - social animals without the capacities for making social life come easily - ethics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/because-the-problems-are-objective-features-of-the-human-situation/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-principle-that-does-not-inhibit-progress-is-anything-goes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not very much an open book, I do really express myself only through my music and when I'm in that safe environment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-henderson/i-m-not-very-much-an-open-book-i-do-really-express-myself-only/) [Ella Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-henderson/) > [There are a lot of parallels between doing a sequel and doing low budget movies, which is they give creative parameters. As a creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-blum/there-are-a-lot-of-parallels-between-doing-a-sequel-and-doing-low/) [Jason Blum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-blum/) > [I think it's one of those things about live performance - anything goes, anything can happen, and you have to just be ready and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-bareilles/i-think-it-s-one-of-those-things-about-live-performance-anything-goes/) [Sara Bareilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-bareilles/) > [Public lives are lived out on the job and in the marketplace, where certain rules, conventions, laws, and social customs keep most of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/public-lives-are-lived-out-on-the-job-and-in-the-marketplace-where/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [In the world of the imagination, anything goes that's imaginatively possible, but nothing really happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/in-the-world-of-the-imagination-anything-goes-that-s-imaginatively/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [So now the floodgates are open to the delight of pure form, whatever its origin. Anything goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-johnson/so-now-the-floodgates-are-open-to-the-delight-of-pure-form-whatever/) [Philip Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-johnson/) > [What was wrong with train toilet doors that just locked, instead of this multiple choice system? If anything goes wrong, you'll be sitting there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-boyle/what-was-wrong-with-train-toilet-doors-that-just-locked-instead-of/) [Frankie Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-boyle/) > [If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/if-a-window-is-broken-and-left-unrepaired-people-walking-by-will/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [I believe that you should put the right people around you, people that will not let anything go wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmelo-anthony/i-believe-that-you-should-put-the-right-people-around-you-people-that/) [Carmelo Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmelo-anthony/) [Browse all 69 Anything goes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anything-goes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a fight almost anything goes. 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