Real hunger is when one man regards another man as something to eat.
Interpretation
The quote illustrates the extreme degradation of humanity in dire circumstances, where one person sees another merely as a source of sustenance.
This quote by Tadeusz Borowski reflects the harrowing experience of dehumanization that can occur during extreme situations such as famine or societal collapse. It suggests that in the face of real hunger, the moral and ethical boundaries can shift dramatically, leading individuals to see others not as fellow humans but as objects of survival, highlighting the dark aspects of human nature and survival instincts.
In practice
During a seminar on human rights, this quote can be used to illustrate the consequences of starvation and loss of dignity.
neither poems nor prose just a length of rope just the wet earth -- that's the way home. neither vodka nor bread just bursts of rage just more new graves -- that's youth and that's love. neither sleep nor waking neither joy nor laughter just tears in the night -- so the rope, paper, knife.
That which exists possesses identity; he could keep it out of existence by refusing to identify it.
My father was a man of great charity towards the poor, and compassion for the sick, and also for servants; so much so, that he never could be persuaded to keep slaves, for he pitied them so much: and a slave belonging to one of his brothers being once in his house, was treated by him with as much tenderness as his own children.
This moment - the one you're experiencing right now - is the culmination of all the moments you have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is because the entire universe is as it is.
Far more has been accomplished for the welfare and progress of mankind by preventing bad actions than by doing good ones.
We need to realize that poverty doesn't only consist of being hungry for bread, but rather it is a tremendous hunger for human dignity. We need to love and to be someone for someone else
Prejudice of any kind implies that you are identified with the thinking mind. It means you don't see the other human being anymore, but only your own concept of that human being. To reduce the aliveness of another human being to a concept is already a form of violence.
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