We haven't the power to change men's hearts. We're not responsible. It isn't our fault. Your hands are clean aren't they? Out here where the sun keeps everything pure. But you're not pure! Because if you could stop the suffering and dying, and didn't stop it, the you are guilty. It is your fault. We kill no one. We do not let them kill us. We have nothing to do with them
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker argues that inaction in the face of suffering makes one guilty.
- In plain terms
- If you could stop suffering and do not, it is your fault.
- What can you take from it?
- Failing to act against known suffering is moral guilt.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When are you responsible for others' pain?
- Does inaction equal action?
Another view
The quote does not specify if stopping suffering is possible.
More from Orson Scott Card
Unfree as the world was. They didn't really know it, and they were at peace. Who was I to think that this peace was worse than war?
Permalink to quote #906 How would we be different from them, killing those whose actions we don't like? I don't know! Maybe there's a measuring rod somewhere in the universe where men…
Permalink to quote #908 Faithfulness had taken me by surprise. I wondered how long the phase would last.
Permalink to quote #905
Related quotes
The ethic of Reverence for Life prompts us to keep each other alert to what troubles us and to speak and act dauntlessly together in discharging the responsibi…
Albert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer quote #25 There's just ae thing I cannae bear, An' that's my conscience.
Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Stevenson quote #59 Let no one regard as light the burden of his responsibility. While so much ill-treatment of animals goes on, while the moans of thirsty animals in railway truc…
Albert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer quote #94