The almost insoluble task is to let neither the power of others, nor our own powerlessness, stupefy us.
—Theodor Adorno, 1951Quotes
The less intelligent the white man is, the more stupid he thinks the black.
—André Gide, 1927No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.
—Woodrow Wilson, 1915When you name yourself, you always name another.
—Bertolt Brecht, 1926At the bottom of enmity between strangers lies indifference.
—Søren Kierkegaard, 1850The misfortune of the man of color is having been enslaved. The misfortune and inhumanity of the white man are having killed man somewhere.
—Frantz Fanon, 1952It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for a while their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.
—Maya Angelou, 2011Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.
—Denis Diderot, 1774The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
—L.P. Hartley, 1953Strangers are an endangered species.
—Adrienne Rich, 1980A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him.
—George Mikes, 1946Once any group in society stands in a relatively deprived position in relation to other groups, it is genuinely deprived.
—Margaret Mead, 1972There are chance meetings with strangers that interest us from the first moment, before a word is spoken.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1866