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About this quote

What does it mean?
Bellow points out that some evils like war and money persist even after being identified. They survive because they are deeply embedded in society.
In plain terms
Problems like money and war keep going even when we know they are bad.
What can you take from it?
Identifying a problem does not always solve it.

Where it applies

  • social analysis
  • activism
  • policy

Putting it to work

  • Focus on structural causes not just symptoms
  • Prepare for long-term change

Questions to consider

  • What evils persist in your view?
  • Does knowing help change things?

Another view

Some problems do get solved after identification.

More from Saul Bellow

  1. A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

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  2. Psychoanalysis pretends to investigate the Unconscious. The Unconscious by definition is what you are not conscious of. But the Analysts already know what's in…

    Permalink to quote #17
  3. For the first time in history, the human species as a whole has gone into politics. Everyone is in the act, and there is no telling what may come of it.

    Permalink to quote #14

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