Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing.

Quote by Hannah Arendt

Topics: Hannah Arendt Quotes

Our tradition of political thought had its definite beginning in the teachings of Plato and...

Our tradition of political thought had its definite beginning in the teachings of Plato and...

The point, as Marx saw it, is that dreams never come true.

The point, as Marx saw it, is that dreams never come true.

To be free in an age like ours, one must be in a position of...

To be free in an age like ours, one must be in a position of...

Love, in distinction from friendship, is killed, or rather extinguished, the moment it is displayed...

Love, in distinction from friendship, is killed, or rather extinguished, the moment it is displayed...

Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity,...

Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity,...

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

Poets are the only people to whom love is not only a crucial, but an...

Poets are the only people to whom love is not only a crucial, but an...

Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which...

Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which...

Wherever the relevance of speech is at stake, matters become political by definition, for speech...

Wherever the relevance of speech is at stake, matters become political by definition, for speech...

Action without a name, a who attached to it, is meaningless.

Action without a name, a who attached to it, is meaningless.

The Third World is not a reality but an ideology.

The Third World is not a reality but an ideology.

It is quite gratifying to feel guilty if you haven't done anything wrong: how noble!...

It is quite gratifying to feel guilty if you haven't done anything wrong: how noble!...

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.

In order to go on living one must try to escape the death involved in...

In order to go on living one must try to escape the death involved in...

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.

The ceaseless, senseless demand for original scholarship in a number of fields, where only erudition...

The ceaseless, senseless demand for original scholarship in a number of fields, where only erudition...

To think and to be fully alive are the same.

To think and to be fully alive are the same.

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up...

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up...

I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is...

I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is...

The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the...

The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the...