People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Those who dehumanize others should expect retaliation in a twisted form.
- In plain terms
- If you treat people badly, bad things will happen to you too.
- What can you take from it?
- Dehumanization invites revenge.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How have you treated others?
- What backlash have you faced?
Another view
Not all harm comes from the victims themselves.
More from James Baldwin
Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.
Permalink to quote #47 Rage cannot be hidden, it can only be dissembled. This dissembling deludes the thoughtless, and strengthens rage and adds, to rage, contempt.
Permalink to quote #49 Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is battle, love is a war; love is growing up.
Permalink to quote #46
Related quotes
He falls in the pit he digs for others.
James HowellJames Howell quote #13 Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.
Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter quote #2 He will be immediately avenged!
Alessandro PavoliniAlessandro Pavolini quote #2