To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
Scenes of blood and cruelty are shocking to our ear and heart. What man has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the disconnect between human capacity for violence and the discomfort we feel when confronted with it.
Harriet Beecher Stowe's quote reflects on the paradox of human nature, suggesting that while people are capable of committing acts of extreme violence and cruelty, they often shy away from hearing about or witnessing these acts. It points out a moral inconsistency where individuals may perform heinous acts but are emotionally unable to withstand the reality of those actions when presented to them.
Themes
ViolenceCrueltyHuman NatureDisconnectMorality
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the impact of war on society, this quote can illustrate the moral dilemmas surrounding violence.
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Once, in an age, God sends to some of us a friend who loves in us, not a false imagining, an unreal character, but, looking through all the rubbish of our imperfections, loves in us the divine ideal of our nature, β loves, not the man that we are, but the angel that we may be.
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