We fatuously hoped that we might pluck from the human tragedy itself a consciousness of a common destiny which should bring its own healing, that we might extract from life's very misfortunes a power of cooperation which should be effective against them.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- We hoped that shared suffering would make us realize we are all in it together and help us heal.
- In plain terms
- We thought tragedy would make us see we share a fate and work together.
- What can you take from it?
- Shared suffering can create bonds but does not always guarantee healing.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does shared pain always bring people together?
- How do you turn tragedy into cooperation?
Another view
Tragedy sometimes divides rather than unites people.
More from Jane Addams
We all bear traces of the starvation struggle which for so long made up the life of the race. Our very organism holds memories and glimpses of that long life o…
Permalink to quote #5 ... this dream that men shall cease to waste strength in competition and shall come to pool their powers of production is coming to pass all over the earth.
Permalink to quote #7 [The Settlement House] must be grounded in a philosophy whose foundation is on the solidarity of the human race, a philosophy which will not waver when the rac…
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
It is time to move forward together. Stronger for the bitter experiences we have shared, wiser for the suffering inflicted on us and more compassionate for hav…
Ratu Joni MadraiwiwiRatu Joni Madraiwiwi quote #5 When we are in partnership and have stopped clutching each other's throats, when we have stopped enslaving each other, we will stand together, hands clasped, a…
Eugene V. DebsEugene V. Debs quote #39 The youth of humanity all around our planet are intuitively revolting from all sovereignties and political ideologies. The youth of Earth are moving intuitivel…
Buckminster FullerBuckminster Fuller quote #49