Skip to content
quotesby

I am not a judge. I don't want to express my opinion. Before I came to Mondorf, I wouldn't shake hands with Goring, I didn't like him. I never saw Streicher before Mondorf, and in the beginning I wouldn't talk with him. Now I do. We all have the same destiny, at least for the present, and I see no reason for not being on friendly terms with each other.

Karl Donitz#13

FatePrejudiceReconciliationRelationshipsSocial

WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)X (opens in a new tab)

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker explains he initially avoided certain figures but later interacted due to shared circumstances at Mondorf.
In plain terms
I did not like some men at first but we ended up in the same place so I talked to them.
What can you take from it?
Shared circumstances can override personal prejudices.

Where it applies

  • imprisonment
  • political conflict
  • group settings

Putting it to work

  • find common ground with rivals
  • adjust social boundaries based on context

Questions to consider

  • Do shared hardships justify reconciling with adversaries?
  • Is social flexibility a virtue or compromise?

Another view

Friendship in captivity may not reflect genuine moral alignment.

More from Karl Donitz

  1. I accept responsibility for U-boat warfare from 1933 onward, and of the entire navy from 1943 on, but to make me responsible for what happened to Jews in Germa…

    Permalink to quote #12

  2. Certainly inside my heart I know degrees of difference. But I can't blame any of these men who share a common fate with me. The big folly of this trial is that…

    Permalink to quote #14

  3. With the new weapons like the atom bomb, Russia would have it, too, and use it first. It is a very difficult world. But that trouble is imminent is obvious.

    Permalink to quote #11

Related quotes

  1. Archie Goodwin, after Carolyn Pratt tells him Lily Rowan will ruin her brother, chapter 3: No man was ever taken to hell by a woman unless he already had a tic…

    Rex StoutRex Stout quote #1

  2. At every party there are two kinds of people, those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.

    Ann LandersAnn Landers quote #2

  3. Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first.

    Peter UstinovPeter Ustinov quote #3