I believe that in intense conflict, far from becoming sharper, differences melt away.
Rene GirardRead
Why is our own participation in scapegoating so difficult to perceive and the participation of others so easy? To us, our fears and prejudices never appear as such because they determine our vision of people we despise, we fear, and against whom we discriminate.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights our blind spots in recognizing our own biases while easily noticing them in others.
Rene Girard's quote speaks to the complexities of human psychology and social behavior, particularly regarding scapegoating. It suggests that individuals often fail to see their own fears and prejudices because these emotions shape their perception of others negatively, making it easier to project blame and discrimination onto those they target, rather than confront their own biases.
Themes
ScapegoatingPrejudiceSelf-AwarenessBiasDiscrimination
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about social justice to emphasize the importance of self-reflection.
More from Rene Girard
All quotes →We don't even know what our desire is. We ask other people to tell us our desires. We would like our desires to come from our deepest selves, our personal depths - but if it did, it would not be desire. Desire is always for something we feel we lack.
Rene GirardRead
The protective system of scapegoats is finally destroyed by the Crucifixion narratives as they reveal Jesus' innocence and, little by little, that of all analogous victims.
Rene GirardRead
Instead of blaming victimization on the victims, the Gospels blame it on the victimizers. What the myths systematically hide, the Bible reveals.
Rene GirardRead
What I call a mimetic crisis is a situation of conflict so intense that on both sides people act the same way and talk the same way even though, or because, they are more and more hostile to each other.
Rene GirardRead
Salvation lies in imitating Christ, in other words, in imitating the 'withdrawal relationship' that links him with his Father... To listen to the Father's silence is to abandon oneself to his withdrawal, to conform to it.
Rene GirardRead
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