--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And this is what mere humanity always…" description: "\"“And this is what mere humanity always does. It's made up of these inventors or artists, millions and millions of them, each in his own way trying to r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/saul-bellow-558_actuality_and-this-is-what-mere-humanity-always-do_1199474.jpg" --- # And this is what mere humanity always does. It's made up… ![“And this is what mere humanity always does. It's made up of these inventors or artists, millions and millions of them, each in his own way trying to recruit other people to play a supporting role and sustain him in his make-believe. The great chiefs and leaders recruit the greatest number, and…” quote by Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/saul-bellow-558_actuality_and-this-is-what-mere-humanity-always-do_1199474.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/saul-bellow-558_actuality_and-this-is-what-mere-humanity-always-do_1199474.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/saul-bellow-558_actuality_and-this-is-what-mere-humanity-always-do_1199474.jpg) > ““And this is what mere humanity always does. It's made up of these inventors or artists, millions and millions of them, each in his own way trying to recruit other people to play a supporting role and sustain him in his make-believe. The great chiefs and leaders recruit the greatest number, and that's what their power is. There's one image that gets out in front to lead the rest and can impose its claim to being genuine with more force than others, or one voice enlarged to thunder is heard above the others. Then a huge invention, which is the invention maybe of the world itself, and of nature, becomes the actual world - with cities, factories, public buildings, railroads, armies, dams, prisons, and movies - becomes the actuality. That’s the struggle of humanity, to recruit others to your version of what’s real. Then even the flowers and the moss on the stones become the moss and the flowers of a version.”” [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People create narratives and recruit others to share their version of reality, shaping society through collective belief. **In simple terms:** People persuade others to adopt their view of reality. Key Takeaway Be aware of how narratives influence perception. Themes power influence culture storytelling Mood critical contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - political campaigns - brand marketing - social movements - artistic collaborations - education curricula Key Concepts social construction collective belief leadership Questions to Reflect On - What narratives shape your worldview? - How can you critically evaluate dominant stories? A Different Perspective Narratives can manipulate or marginalize alternative perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actuality/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humanity Recruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity-recruit-3590922/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mere Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere-humanity-3590921/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Struggle Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle-humanity-1230343/) [World view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-view/) ## Related quotes > [“External life being so mighty, the instruments so huge and terrible, the performances so great, the thoughts so great and threatening, you produce a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/external-life-being-so-mighty-the-instruments-so-huge-and-terrible/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [History is a record of the incessant struggle of humanity against ignorance and oppression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/history-is-a-record-of-the-incessant-struggle-of-humanity-against/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [The only struggle which religions can justify, the only struggle worthy of humans, is the moral struggle against humanity's own disordered passions, against every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-only-struggle-which-religions-can-justify-the-only-struggle/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [We're all different; we all have our ways of understanding ourselves and the way we live our lives and struggle with our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blase-j-cupich/we-re-all-different-we-all-have-our-ways-of-understanding-ourselves/) [Blase J. Cupich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blase-j-cupich/) > [History records no more gallant struggle than that of humanity against the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/history-records-no-more-gallant-struggle-than-that-of-humanity/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-hero-sees-values-beyond-what-s-possible-that-s-the-nature-of-a/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [Everyone tries to create a world he can live in, and what he can't use he often can't see. But the real world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/everyone-tries-to-create-a-world-he-can-live-in-and-what-he-can-t-use/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Behavior must also be adequately assessed under appropriate circumstances. Ill-defined global measures of perceived self-efficacy or defective assessments of performance will yield discordances. Disparities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bandura/behavior-must-also-be-adequately-assessed-under-appropriate/) [Albert Bandura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bandura/) > [Each mental act opens up a new dimension of actuality. In a manner of speaking, your slightest thought gives birth to worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-roberts/each-mental-act-opens-up-a-new-dimension-of-actuality-in-a-manner-of/) [Jane Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-roberts/) > [The question of historicity and actuality with regard to gods and unicorns is a relatively trifling matter which may be left to antiquarians and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odell-shepard/the-question-of-historicity-and-actuality-with-regard-to-gods-and/) [Odell Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odell-shepard/) > [It may look as though two chess players are sitting at the board peacefully calculating possibilities, but in actuality they are seething with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shankarananda/it-may-look-as-though-two-chess-players-are-sitting-at-the-board/) [Shankarananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shankarananda/) > [Man is the "ethical animal" ethical in potentiality even if, unfortunately, not in actuality. His capacity for ethical judgment like freedom, reason and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/man-is-the-ethical-animal-ethical-in-potentiality-even-if/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [The superhero shows and movies are always having the spotlight on the superheroes themselves. It's never about the people who are living in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-hudgens/the-superhero-shows-and-movies-are-always-having-the-spotlight-on-the/) [Vanessa Hudgens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-hudgens/) > [If the theme is simple, you can include a hundred details that create the illusion of actuality better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satyajit-ray/if-the-theme-is-simple-you-can-include-a-hundred-details-that-create/) [Satyajit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satyajit-ray/) > [When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/when-indeed-shall-we-learn-that-we-are-all-related-one-to-the-other/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) ## More by Saul Bellow > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/if-i-m-out-of-my-mind-it-s-all-right-with-me-thought-moses-herzog/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I have begun in old age to understand just how oddly we are all put together. We are so proud of our autonomy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-have-begun-in-old-age-to-understand-just-how-oddly-we-are-all-put/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“On Broadway it was still bright afternoon and the gassy air was almost motionless under the leaden spokes of sunlight, and sawdust footprints lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/on-broadway-it-was-still-bright-afternoon-and-the-gassy-air-was/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-evils-that-have-the-ability-to-survive-identification-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Myself is thus and so, and will continue thus and so. And why fight it? My balance comes from instability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/myself-is-thus-and-so-and-will-continue-thus-and-so-and-why-fight-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“A strange heart. I myself can't account for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-strange-heart-i-myself-can-t-account-for-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [The late philosopher Morris R. Cohen of CCNY was asked by a student in the metaphysics course, Professor Cohen, how do I know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-late-philosopher-morris-r-cohen-of-ccny-was-asked-by-a-student-in/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Therefore we didn't talk of genuine things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/therefore-we-didn-t-talk-of-genuine-things/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Is our species crazy? Plenty of evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/is-our-species-crazy-plenty-of-evidence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“But now the emphasis has shifted to making it. People have surrendered their personal moral objectives to government or schools or psychologists. It’s a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/but-now-the-emphasis-has-shifted-to-making-it-people-have-surrendered/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There's a kind of emptiness at the center of life ... nothing to form your life on, or by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-s-a-kind-of-emptiness-at-the-center-of-life-nothing-to-form/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“I don't know how it all at once came to me to talk a lot, tell jokes, kick up, and suddenly have views. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-don-t-know-how-it-all-at-once-came-to-me-to-talk-a-lot-tell-jokes/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-times-when-the-most-practical-thing-is-to-lie-down/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“For knowledge of death makes us wish to extend our lives at the expense of others. And this is the root of the struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/for-knowledge-of-death-makes-us-wish-to-extend-our-lives-at-the/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) [Explore all 464 Saul Bellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## More Actuality quotes > [When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/when-indeed-shall-we-learn-that-we-are-all-related-one-to-the-other/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [If the theme is simple, you can include a hundred details that create the illusion of actuality better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satyajit-ray/if-the-theme-is-simple-you-can-include-a-hundred-details-that-create/) [Satyajit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satyajit-ray/) > [The superhero shows and movies are always having the spotlight on the superheroes themselves. It's never about the people who are living in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-hudgens/the-superhero-shows-and-movies-are-always-having-the-spotlight-on-the/) [Vanessa Hudgens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-hudgens/) > [Man is the "ethical animal" ethical in potentiality even if, unfortunately, not in actuality. His capacity for ethical judgment like freedom, reason and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/man-is-the-ethical-animal-ethical-in-potentiality-even-if/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [It may look as though two chess players are sitting at the board peacefully calculating possibilities, but in actuality they are seething with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shankarananda/it-may-look-as-though-two-chess-players-are-sitting-at-the-board/) [Shankarananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shankarananda/) > [The question of historicity and actuality with regard to gods and unicorns is a relatively trifling matter which may be left to antiquarians and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odell-shepard/the-question-of-historicity-and-actuality-with-regard-to-gods-and/) [Odell Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odell-shepard/) > [Each mental act opens up a new dimension of actuality. In a manner of speaking, your slightest thought gives birth to worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-roberts/each-mental-act-opens-up-a-new-dimension-of-actuality-in-a-manner-of/) [Jane Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-roberts/) > [Behavior must also be adequately assessed under appropriate circumstances. Ill-defined global measures of perceived self-efficacy or defective assessments of performance will yield discordances. Disparities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bandura/behavior-must-also-be-adequately-assessed-under-appropriate/) [Albert Bandura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bandura/) > [I don't want to manipulate actuality; I want to record it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/i-don-t-want-to-manipulate-actuality-i-want-to-record-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [During the reign of Rameses III (the Twentieth Dynasty) Egypt saw a flowering of its civilization and the harp became the royal instrument of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-heline/during-the-reign-of-rameses-iii-the-twentieth-dynasty-egypt-saw-a/) [Corinne Heline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-heline/) > [The problems of philosophy and the systems designed to solve them are formulated in terms which tend to refer, not to the realm of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-problems-of-philosophy-and-the-systems-designed-to-solve-them-are/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [I am not especially good at remembering the actualities of the world I inhabit, but I have pretty strong associative memories of how it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-bradfield/i-am-not-especially-good-at-remembering-the-actualities-of-the-world/) [Scott Bradfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-bradfield/) > [If only the sense of actuality can be lulled-and it sleeps for ever in most historians-there is no passion that cannot be gratified in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/if-only-the-sense-of-actuality-can-be-lulled-and-it-sleeps-for-ever/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [I recognise a distinction between dream life and real life, between appearances and actualities. I confess to an over-powering desire to know whether I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/i-recognise-a-distinction-between-dream-life-and-real-life-between/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [If tone is granted to be subjected to control, why not line also, which has equal emotional significance? And if line, why not shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mortensen/if-tone-is-granted-to-be-subjected-to-control-why-not-line-also-which/) [William Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mortensen/) [Browse all 142 Actuality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actuality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And this is what mere humanity always does. It's made up of these inventors or artists, millions and millions of them, each in his own way trying to recruit other people to play a supporting role and sustain him in his make-believe. The great chiefs and leaders recruit the greatest number, and that's what their power is. There's one image that gets out in front to lead the rest and can impose its claim to being genuine with more force than others, or one voice enlarged to thunder is heard above the others. Then a huge invention, which is the invention maybe of the world itself, and of nature, becomes the actual world - with cities, factories, public buildings, railroads, armies, dams, prisons, and movies - becomes the actuality. That’s the struggle of humanity, to recruit others to your version of what’s real. 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