--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How we all love extreme cases and…" description: "\"“How we all love extreme cases and apocalypses, fires, drownings, stranglings, and the rest of it. The bigger our mild, basically ethical, safe middle ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7e/saul-bellow-558_apocalypses_how-we-all-love-extreme-cases-and-apocal_1685868.png" --- # How we all love extreme cases and apocalypses, fires… ![“How we all love extreme cases and apocalypses, fires, drownings, stranglings, and the rest of it. The bigger our mild, basically ethical, safe middle classes grow the more radical excitement is in demand. Mild or moderate truthfulness or accuracy seems to have no pull at all.” quote by Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7e/saul-bellow-558_apocalypses_how-we-all-love-extreme-cases-and-apocal_1685868.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7e/saul-bellow-558_apocalypses_how-we-all-love-extreme-cases-and-apocal_1685868.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7e/saul-bellow-558_apocalypses_how-we-all-love-extreme-cases-and-apocal_1685868.png) > ““How we all love extreme cases and apocalypses, fires, drownings, stranglings, and the rest of it. The bigger our mild, basically ethical, safe middle classes grow the more radical excitement is in demand. Mild or moderate truthfulness or accuracy seems to have no pull at all.”” [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. Society craves sensational, extreme events while safe, moderate realities become dull, driving a demand for radical excitement. **In simple terms:** People prefer drama over ordinary truth. Key Takeaway Seek balance between excitement and truth. Themes culture media psychology Mood critical reflective Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - news consumption - political discourse - entertainment - social media - public policy Key Concepts sensationalism ethical complacency Questions to Reflect On - How does sensationalism affect public decision making? - What drives the appetite for drama? A Different Perspective Extreme narratives can distort perception of real issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apocalypses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apocalypses/) [Apocalypses Fires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apocalypses-fires-1004933/) [Basically Ethical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basically-ethical-1004934/) [Extreme Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extreme-cases-1004935/) [Moderate Truthfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderate-truthfulness-1004932/) [Truthfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truthfulness/) ## Related quotes > [“The goal of venture capitalists is to call the extreme cases correctly, even at the cost of overestimating the prospects of many other ventures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/the-goal-of-venture-capitalists-is-to-call-the-extreme-cases/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [Perhaps anti-depressants should be best reserved for the very extreme cases and, more importantly, for those who do not respond to alternative forms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kirsch/perhaps-anti-depressants-should-be-best-reserved-for-the-very-extreme/) [Irving Kirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kirsch/) > [“I am willing without further exercise in pain to open my heart. And this needs no doctrine or theology of suffering. We love apocalypses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-am-willing-without-further-exercise-in-pain-to-open-my-heart-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Thus apocalypses set an audience’s space within the context of a larger, invisible world, and they set the audience’s time in the context of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-desilva/thus-apocalypses-set-an-audience-s-space-within-the-context-of-a/) [David A. Desilva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-desilva/) > [The Apocalypse to end all Apocalypses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/the-apocalypse-to-end-all-apocalypses/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [“This view of the next valley is a view, at one remove, of your own mind, of everybody's mind as it exists above and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/this-view-of-the-next-valley-is-a-view-at-one-remove-of-your-own-mind/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [As a Protestant minister's son I am partial to apocalypses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ruff/as-a-protestant-minister-s-son-i-am-partial-to-apocalypses/) [Matt Ruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ruff/) > [“Big contrast: While the foreign media are obsessed with Apocalypses, the Japanese people are already talking of rebuilding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/big-contrast-while-the-foreign-media-are-obsessed-with-apocalypses/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Of all the apocalypses in all the world - she had walked into his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mari-mancusi/of-all-the-apocalypses-in-all-the-world-she-had-walked-into-his/) [Mari Mancusi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mari-mancusi/) > [“Life, as I know it, is cataclysms and apocalypses. With each passing day I feel that much more incompetent even to trace gestures or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/life-as-i-know-it-is-cataclysms-and-apocalypses-with-each-passing-day/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“The great majority of interpretations of Apocalypse assume that the End is pretty near. Consequently the historical allegory is always having to be revised;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-great-majority-of-interpretations-of-apocalypse-assume-that-the/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [“Erm.. dear, do I ride out for Apocalypses?' Mrs War took the lid off the saucepan and prodded viciously at something inside. 'No, dear,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/erm-dear-do-i-ride-out-for-apocalypses-mrs-war-took-the-lid-off-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Apocalypses don't happen very often. They tend to be separated by tens or even hundreds of millions of years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/apocalypses-don-t-happen-very-often-they-tend-to-be-separated-by-tens/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [There were a lot of apocalypses that didn't make it into this assemblage because they didn't suit the world. And defining that world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-corin/there-were-a-lot-of-apocalypses-that-didn-t-make-it-into-this/) [Lucy Corin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-corin/) > [The inability to lie is far from the love of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-inability-to-lie-is-far-from-the-love-of-truth/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## 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 Apocalypses quotes > [There were a lot of apocalypses that didn't make it into this assemblage because they didn't suit the world. And defining that world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-corin/there-were-a-lot-of-apocalypses-that-didn-t-make-it-into-this/) [Lucy Corin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-corin/) > [Apocalypses don't happen very often. They tend to be separated by tens or even hundreds of millions of years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/apocalypses-don-t-happen-very-often-they-tend-to-be-separated-by-tens/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [“Erm.. dear, do I ride out for Apocalypses?' Mrs War took the lid off the saucepan and prodded viciously at something inside. 'No, dear,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/erm-dear-do-i-ride-out-for-apocalypses-mrs-war-took-the-lid-off-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The great majority of interpretations of Apocalypse assume that the End is pretty near. Consequently the historical allegory is always having to be revised;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-great-majority-of-interpretations-of-apocalypse-assume-that-the/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [“Life, as I know it, is cataclysms and apocalypses. With each passing day I feel that much more incompetent even to trace gestures or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/life-as-i-know-it-is-cataclysms-and-apocalypses-with-each-passing-day/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Of all the apocalypses in all the world - she had walked into his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mari-mancusi/of-all-the-apocalypses-in-all-the-world-she-had-walked-into-his/) [Mari Mancusi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mari-mancusi/) > [“Big contrast: While the foreign media are obsessed with Apocalypses, the Japanese people are already talking of rebuilding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/big-contrast-while-the-foreign-media-are-obsessed-with-apocalypses/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“I am willing without further exercise in pain to open my heart. And this needs no doctrine or theology of suffering. We love apocalypses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-am-willing-without-further-exercise-in-pain-to-open-my-heart-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [As a Protestant minister's son I am partial to apocalypses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ruff/as-a-protestant-minister-s-son-i-am-partial-to-apocalypses/) [Matt Ruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ruff/) > [“This view of the next valley is a view, at one remove, of your own mind, of everybody's mind as it exists above and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/this-view-of-the-next-valley-is-a-view-at-one-remove-of-your-own-mind/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The Apocalypse to end all Apocalypses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/the-apocalypse-to-end-all-apocalypses/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [“Thus apocalypses set an audience’s space within the context of a larger, invisible world, and they set the audience’s time in the context of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-desilva/thus-apocalypses-set-an-audience-s-space-within-the-context-of-a/) [David A. Desilva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-desilva/) [Browse all 13 Apocalypses quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apocalypses/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“How we all love extreme cases and apocalypses, fires, drownings, stranglings, and the rest of it. The bigger our mild, basically ethical, safe middle classes grow the more radical excitement is in demand. 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