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Meaning
The quote suggests that people often understand wrongdoing only to the extent that they can imagine themselves doing it. It implies a limit to empathy and moral understanding based on one’s own capacity for harm.
When It Was Said
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Who It Was Said To
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Historical Context
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Source
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
No source found on Wikiquote; the quote is listed as attributed to Joseph Brodsky.
Did You Know?
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About Joseph Brodsky
Russian and American poet and essayist
Joseph Brodsky was a Russian and American poet and essayist. He is known for poetry and prose that moved between Russian and English, and for an essayistic voice that made him a major literary figure in both cultures. Brodsky wrote as a poet and essayist across two languages, and his work is often associated with reflection, exile, and the life of the mind. He is credited on this site with 153 quotes.
More from Joseph Brodsky (153 quotes) →Other sayings from Joseph Brodsky
- “I do not believe in political movements. I believe in personal movement, that movement of the soul when a man…”Joseph Brodsky
- “Whenever one pulls the trigger in order to rectify history's mistake, one lies. For history makes no mistakes…”Joseph Brodsky
- “Bad politics make for bad morals.”Joseph Brodsky
- “...in the business of writing what one accumulates is not expertise but uncertainties. Which is but another n…”Joseph Brodsky
Explore Reflections
- “When looking at trends I always ask myself basic and timeless questions about business, and the one I seem to…”Daymond John
- “I'd like to just work - steadily work - and do parts that I enjoy doing.”Ethan Suplee
- “There is only so much abuse a man can take until he reaches breaking point.”Emmanuel Adebayor
READ THE SOURCE
Books by Joseph Brodsky
Selected Poems, 1968-1996
2020
Less Than One
2020