"The cruelty of most people is lack of imagination, their brutality is ignorance."?

Question

Do you agree? Tell me what you think!

This was my MSN homepage 'quote of the day'; quote's author is Kurt Tucholsky.

Sorry, Puppy, have not seen that movie.
I wouldn't be surprised if Gandhi did say it- my source attributed it to Tucholsky. The thing I'm after, though, is what do you think??

Answer 1

The quote is usually attributed to Kurt Tucholsky, the German philosopher and journalist. Tucholsky was Jewish and moved to France about ten years before he died (in 1935). He never saw the horrors of WWII.

Cruelty is a learned behavior. In this sense, it associated with a lack of imagination because it is a Monkey see, Monkey do event. It is also associated with a very low empathy for others, especially if one does not see the other group as fully human. Empathy does require enough imagination to see the world through another's senses.

A current activity with a high component of Cruelty is the actions of Terrorists in many Middle Eastern countries. Suicide bombers do indeed lack imagination. They can only see the world through the eyes of their limited local culture.

Brutality, on the other-hand, is much more than ignorance. Brutality is unrelenting cruelty. It is associated not only with ignorance, but with an arrogance toward that ignorance. This is a My Way Right or Wrong (But I Know I'm Right) event.

When a single human tends toward cruelty and brutality, the person can be removed from contact with the general population. When a culture, political party, nation or religious group tends toward cruelty and brutality, the best the rest of humanity can do is allow that group to vanish into the past to which the members seem to cling.

Answer 2

I disagree about lack of imagination, but I agree that most brutality is ignorance. They would not be brutal if they could get what they want by better methods, except for those who have a sexual thing about causing pain.

Still, I think the quote is a bit off. It's like one of those where you fill in the blanks, putting words together more or less at random, and then meditate on some way in which it might be true.

Still, I have very little imagination myself, but I'm not cruel. And again, how does any of this account for those with a kink for seeing others suffer?

Answer 3

Yes, sure, I kind of agree.
We often are so "stuck" in our own limited perception or tunnel vision, that we narrow other people into something, as we cannot imagine any other choice. Lack of imagination indeed can be very cruel, just look on politics or what is happening in many countries. Ignorance makes totally blind for better solutions.

Answer 4

No, I am a firm believer that both cruelty and brutality are a direct result of faulty brain function and faulty hormone reactions. These two factors control our behavior to a greater degree than anyone currently understands, but studies are showing surprising results.

Answer 5

In this bitter world , bliss is the realization that you are cruel and brutal , the way you put it .

My idea of life is simple - Self - Educate yourself enough to know the difference on such issues . If you are capable of as much , the others will try to match up to you.That is the only way we can collectively end such cruelty and brutality

Answer 6

no one knows nor can understand people until they walk in those others shoes,thus to a greater degree yes it is the not knowing that allows for brutality.
but then what of those who understand and still do nothing,it is certainly a lack of compassion,empathy,and intellect.
the actions of brutal people are very often imaginative within the realm of only hurt/pain/amgusih/harm to another,thus without the creative intellectual imagination all that is left is the animal.

Answer 7

Yes I can see that. Someone with imagination & wisdom would never need to be cruel to others. People who hate themselves & the world, people who are small-minded can find no creative solutions to problems so they rely on brute force. If you see others as the enemy and you can't conquer them mentally, might as well beat them physically...tear them down so you can feel superior. Cruelty is an act of insecurity and ignorance.

Answer 8

"The cruelty of most people is lack of imagination."

For this I would have to say no. While imagination can bring upon good. It can also bring horrible acts. I would change it to, "The cruelty of most people is an imagination without a moral filter."

"Their brutality is ignorance."

No problems with this one.

My version: "The cruelty of most people is an imagination without a moral filter, their brutality is ignorance."


Just my opinion.

Answer 9

Hi, Not necessarily from what I have seen and heard in my life I reckon some people just do not know any better or they do know better but the choose to be the way they are because they believe their way to be good, right, comfortable for them.

Answer 10

Have you seen Saw (the movie not the tool...) Cruelty can be very imaginative.