The paternalist is a sentimentalist at heart, and the sentimentalist is always potentially cruel.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The quote argues that paternalism, rooted in sentimentality, often leads to cruelty because it imposes care without consent.
- In plain terms
- Those who act out of love can still be cruel if they control others.
- What can you take from it?
- Benevolent control can hide cruel intentions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can love justify controlling others?
- When does care become cruelty?
Another view
Not all paternal acts lead to cruelty despite good intentions.
More from Christopher Isherwood
California is a tragic country - like Palestine, like every Promised Land. Its short history is a fever-chart of migrations - the land rush, the gold rush, the…
Permalink to quote #4 To live sanely in Los Angeles (or, I suppose, in any other large American city) you have to cultivate the art of staying awake. You must learn to resist (firml…
Permalink to quote #6 Horror is always aware of its cause; terror never is. That is precisely what makes terror terrifying.
Permalink to quote #3
Related quotes
[Alan Cranston] understood power not as a reflection of status but as a tool with a purpose.' - Sen. Joseph Biden December 31, 2000 on Meet the Press
Alan CranstonAlan Cranston quote #1 If a test of civilization be sought, none can be so sure as the condition of that half of society over which the other half has power.
Harriet MartineauHarriet Martineau quote #1 WITH GREAT POWER THERE MUST ALSO COME - - GREAT RESPONSIBILITY!
Stan LeeStan Lee quote #1