I wanted to understand the lies that people have to tell themselves when they either quietly or joyfully watch their neighbors ruined, spirited away, killed. Different versions of this horror have happened again and again in history. They’re still happening in places like Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor, wherever one group of people permits its leaders to convince them that for their own protection, for the safety of their families and the security of their country, they must get their enemies, those alien others who until now were their neighbors.
Octavia Butler (1947-2006) American writer
Essay (2000-05), “A Few Rules for Predicting the Future,” Essence Magazine
(Source)
Quotations about:
look the other way
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Nice people made the best Nazis.
Or so I have been told. My mother was born in Munich in 1934, and spent her childhood in Nazi Germany surrounded by nice people who refused to make waves. When things got ugly, the people my mother lived alongside chose not to focus on “politics,” instead busying themselves with happier things. They were lovely, kind people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away.Naomi Shulman (contemp.), American writer, essayist, editor
Essay (2016-11-17), “No Time To Be Nice: Now Is Not the Moment to Remain Silent,” WBUR, National Public Radio
(Source)
This is a revised version of the following, more commonly-seen quotation, which I have seen suggested was an earlier iteration of the above on her Facebook account (though it does not appear to be posted there any longer):Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics.” They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.
The earliest quotation I can find of this earlier version is from 2016-11-13 (followed by these two from 2016-11-22).
