--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want to think about something…" description: "\"“If you want to think about something really funny, kiddo, consider the fact that our favorite modern bad guys became villains by serving as heroes fir..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/william-h-gass-4166_bad-guy_if-you-want-to-think-about-something-rea_2658007.png" --- # If you want to think about something really funny, kiddo… ![“If you want to think about something really funny, kiddo, consider the fact that our favorite modern bad guys became villains by serving as heroes first--to millions. It is now a necessary apprenticeship.” quote by William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/william-h-gass-4166_bad-guy_if-you-want-to-think-about-something-rea_2658007.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/william-h-gass-4166_bad-guy_if-you-want-to-think-about-something-rea_2658007.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/william-h-gass-4166_bad-guy_if-you-want-to-think-about-something-rea_2658007.png) > ““If you want to think about something really funny, kiddo, consider the fact that our favorite modern bad guys became villains by serving as heroes first--to millions. It is now a necessary apprenticeship.”” [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage argues that modern antagonists often start as heroes, suggesting that heroism can be a training ground for villainy. **In simple terms:** Villains often begin as heroes, learning through service. Key Takeaway Question the hero‑villain transition. Themes ethics storytelling culture identity Mood thought‑provoking analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - politics - media - personal development - education Key Concepts heroic archetype moral ambiguity Questions to Reflect On - What factors turn a hero into a villain? - How does society reward early heroism? A Different Perspective Not all heroes become villains; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-guy/) [Bad guys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-guys/) [Villains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/villains/) ## Related quotes > [I always tried to play the bad guys as guys who didn't know they were bad guys. There are villains we run into all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-landau/i-always-tried-to-play-the-bad-guys-as-guys-who-didn-t-know-they-were/) [Martin Landau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-landau/) > [I've kind of had to make a career of playing villains. In order to stay employed, I had to figure out how to play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pierce/i-ve-kind-of-had-to-make-a-career-of-playing-villains-in-order-to/) [Jeffrey Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pierce/) > [“One of history's most dangerous games begins with dividing the world into the good guys and the bad guys and ends with using any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-prothero/one-of-history-s-most-dangerous-games-begins-with-dividing-the-world/) [Stephen Prothero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-prothero/) > [ Nikolaj \[Coster-Waldau\] plays one of the ugliest villains. We had to create such a horrible guy, because he is the bad guy in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-upton/nikolaj-coster-waldau-plays-one-of-the-ugliest-villains-we-had-to/) [Kate Upton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-upton/) > [In movies, we've run out of ideas for bad guys. We end up with politically incorrect villains, like Arab terrorists or Latin drug dealers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-devlin/in-movies-we-ve-run-out-of-ideas-for-bad-guys-we-end-up-with/) [Dean Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-devlin/) > [I have a lot of fun playing quote unquote villains because I think the bad guys get to have more fun, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yahya-abdul-mateen-ii/i-have-a-lot-of-fun-playing-quote-unquote-villains-because-i-think/) [Yahya Abdul-Mateen II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yahya-abdul-mateen-ii/) > [I love playing villains. When you're a bad guy, you get to do many real nasty things. It's a lot of fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurtwood-smith/i-love-playing-villains-when-you-re-a-bad-guy-you-get-to-do-many-real/) [Kurtwood Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurtwood-smith/) > [I did a lot of research on villains, and guys who start behaving nefariously didn't start out as bad people. My research indicates that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-hatosy/i-did-a-lot-of-research-on-villains-and-guys-who-start-behaving/) [Shawn Hatosy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-hatosy/) > [You need to try to find a way to humanize your villains. Genuine villains, in real life, still have mothers and daughters and sisters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strong/you-need-to-try-to-find-a-way-to-humanize-your-villains-genuine/) [Mark Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strong/) > [“No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/no-one-just-starts-giggling-and-wearing-black-and-signs-up-to-become/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“It was never a good thing when a bad guy started quoting Nietzsche.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kroese/it-was-never-a-good-thing-when-a-bad-guy-started-quoting-nietzsche/) [Robert Kroese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kroese/) > [To us, being the bad guys is cool, because we always root for the bad guys in the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hanneman/to-us-being-the-bad-guys-is-cool-because-we-always-root-for-the-bad/) [Jeff Hanneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hanneman/) > [“Here you can shoot the bad guys,' a mercenary says in Baghdad. 'In America we give them corporate bonuses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/here-you-can-shoot-the-bad-guys-a-mercenary-says-in-baghdad-in/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [“This is what is called "honor among thieves," for the really dangerous people are those who do not recognize that they are thieves— the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/this-is-what-is-called-honor-among-thieves-for-the-really-dangerous/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) ## More by William H. Gass > [“Try to remember that artists in these catastrophic times, along with the serious scientists, are the only salvation for us, if there is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/try-to-remember-that-artists-in-these-catastrophic-times-along-with/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“If someone asks me, “Why do you write?” I can reply by pointing out that it is a very dumb question. Nevertheless, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/if-someone-asks-me-why-do-you-write-i-can-reply-by-pointing-out-that/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [The things that stayed were things that didn't matter except they stayed, night and day, all seasons the same, and were peaceful to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/the-things-that-stayed-were-things-that-didn-t-matter-except-they/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [When book and reader's furrowed brow meet, it isn't always the book that's stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/when-book-and-reader-s-furrowed-brow-meet-it-isn-t-always-the-book/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [Getting even is one reason for writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/getting-even-is-one-reason-for-writing/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“It's a simple world for her. A curtain fluttering - that's how she is - lives, moves - obediently, yet with every appearnace of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/it-s-a-simple-world-for-her-a-curtain-fluttering-that-s-how-she-is/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“I dreamed my lips would drift down your back like a skiff on a river. I'd follow a vein with the point of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/i-dreamed-my-lips-would-drift-down-your-back-like-a-skiff-on-a-river/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Yes, we call it recursive, the act of reading, of looping the loop, of continually returning to an earlier group of words, behaving like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/yes-we-call-it-recursive-the-act-of-reading-of-looping-the-loop-of/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Then let us have a language worthy of our world, a democratic style where rich and well-born nouns can roister with some sluttish verb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/then-let-us-have-a-language-worthy-of-our-world-a-democratic-style/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Excellence is inconveniently difficult.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/excellence-is-inconveniently-difficult/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [We must take our sentences seriously, which means we must understand them philosophically, and the odd thing is that the few who do, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/we-must-take-our-sentences-seriously-which-means-we-must-understand/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [We converse as we live by repeating, by combining and recombining a few elements over and over again just as nature does when of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/we-converse-as-we-live-by-repeating-by-combining-and-recombining-a/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Why were they whining then?...whining, damn them, whining… Because they’d have to give up their hope of living like an animal and return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/why-were-they-whining-then-whining-damn-them-whining-because-they-d/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [Sports, politics, and religion are the three passions of the badly educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/sports-politics-and-religion-are-the-three-passions-of-the-badly/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Then Jethro Furber wondered whether Omensetter wasn't an actor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/then-jethro-furber-wondered-whether-omensetter-wasn-t-an-actor/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) [Explore all 115 William H. Gass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) ## More Bad guy quotes > [“This is what is called "honor among thieves," for the really dangerous people are those who do not recognize that they are thieves— the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/this-is-what-is-called-honor-among-thieves-for-the-really-dangerous/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [Obviously I'm very grateful 'Bad Guy' is doing so well - it's shocking and surprising and gratifying - but I do think it's important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finneas/obviously-i-m-very-grateful-bad-guy-is-doing-so-well-it-s-shocking/) [Finneas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finneas/) > [“Here you can shoot the bad guys,' a mercenary says in Baghdad. 'In America we give them corporate bonuses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/here-you-can-shoot-the-bad-guys-a-mercenary-says-in-baghdad-in/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) > [To us, being the bad guys is cool, because we always root for the bad guys in the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hanneman/to-us-being-the-bad-guys-is-cool-because-we-always-root-for-the-bad/) [Jeff Hanneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hanneman/) > [In 'Gran Torino,' Eastwood moves towards the climax of the movie not by staging a shoot-out, but by putting his weapons to one side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/in-gran-torino-eastwood-moves-towards-the-climax-of-the-movie-not-by/) [Michael Korda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-korda/) > [In order to have your best good guy, you have to be that bad guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/in-order-to-have-your-best-good-guy-you-have-to-be-that-bad-guy/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [After I did 'Brooklyn,' I did about five or six violent films in one way or another, and not always with me being the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emory-cohen/after-i-did-brooklyn-i-did-about-five-or-six-violent-films-in-one-way/) [Emory Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emory-cohen/) > [The first act is the easiest to plot. The second act is always the hardest to plot. Generally a good, you know, sometimes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-j-cannell/the-first-act-is-the-easiest-to-plot-the-second-act-is-always-the/) [Stephen J. Cannell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-j-cannell/) > [“We fall into the fallacy of believing we can litigate the complicated story before us into a black-and-white binary of good guys and bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-lowery/we-fall-into-the-fallacy-of-believing-we-can-litigate-the-complicated/) [Wesley Lowery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesley-lowery/) > [“If there was a bad guy we could appeal to the people because, like it or not, we, the huddled masses, want our public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-carter/if-there-was-a-bad-guy-we-could-appeal-to-the-people-because-like-it/) [Bill Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-carter/) > [But the thing about bad guys is that they have the biggest bosomed blond, they have great clothes and cars, and get great death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-roberts/but-the-thing-about-bad-guys-is-that-they-have-the-biggest-bosomed/) [Eric Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-roberts/) > [I don't know what it is that I do, but when I play a really bad guy, I'm able to bring some level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ferrer/i-don-t-know-what-it-is-that-i-do-but-when-i-play-a-really-bad-guy-i/) [Miguel Ferrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ferrer/) > [In my career, I've been lucky to do the bad guys that are more interesting, where the audience wants to spend more time with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-stormare/in-my-career-i-ve-been-lucky-to-do-the-bad-guys-that-are-more/) [Peter Stormare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-stormare/) > [Playing a bad guy is always more fun than playing the good guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-robbie/playing-a-bad-guy-is-always-more-fun-than-playing-the-good-guy/) [Margot Robbie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-robbie/) [Browse all 1,228 Bad guy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-guy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you want to think about something really funny, kiddo, consider the fact that our favorite modern bad guys became villains by serving as heroes first--to millions. 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