What right had I to value her less than the bodies in the square? Suffering is not increased by numbers; one body can contain all the suffering the world can feel. I had judged like a journalist, in terms of quantity, and I had betrayed my own principles; I had become as engage as Pyle, and it seemed to me that no decision would ever be simple again.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Suffering is individual; reducing it to numbers dehumanizes victims and betrays principles.
- In plain terms
- Each person's pain matters equally; counting them does not make it less.
- What can you take from it?
- Suffering cannot be quantified without losing empathy.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we quantify pain without losing empathy?
- What is the cost of abstraction?
Another view
Statistics help mobilize aid and resources.
More from Graham Greene
Sooner or later...one has to take sides - if one is to remain human.
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