WIST Quotations

Butler, Octavia -- Essay (2000-05), “A Few Rules for Predicting the Future,” Essence Magazine

Dave — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:09:35 +0000

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

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 9. Letter to the Galatians 3:27ff (Gal 3:27–28) [JB (1966)]

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 16:54:33 +0000

All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

[ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε, Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε. οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἔνι δοῦλος οὐδὲ ἐλεύθερος, οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ· πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς εἷς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 9. Letter to the Galatians 3:27ff (Gal 3:27–28) [JB (1966)]

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
[KJV (1611)]

Every one of you that has been baptised has been clothed in Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freeman, there can be neither male nor female -- for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
[NJB (1985)]

You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself. So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]

All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
[CEB (2011)]

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Douglass, Frederick -- Speech (1886-04-16), “Strong to Suffer, and Yet Strong to Strive,” Israel Bethel Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.

Dave — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 22:59:03 +0000

The American people have this lesson to learn: That where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1886-04-16), “Strong to Suffer, and Yet Strong to Strive,” Israel Bethel Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1859-09-30), Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee

Dave — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 20:59:06 +0000

To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy, and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations, or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Speech (1859-09-30), Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee

Safa, Mohamad -- Facebook (2020-08-06)

Dave — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 15:27:21 +0000

Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, or religion.

Mohamad Safa (b. 1991) Lebanese diplomat, politician
Facebook (2020-08-06)

Frequently misattributed to Nelson Mandela.

Safa also posted it on Twitter the same day, and, as it went viral (and began being misattributed), reiterated his authorship on Facebook (2020-09-06).

More discussion:

Mandela, Nelson -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 15:25:11 +0000

Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, or religion.

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African revolutionary, politician, statesman
(Misattributed)

Widely attributed to Mandela, but not found in his works or news record. It appears to actually have been said by Lebanese diplomat Mohamad Safa.

That said, the sentiment and language aligns with other statements by Mandala, such as in a speech (1999-04-16) in Durban, South Africa:

But let us re-affirm this one thing here today; it is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.

Or a speech (1994-10-03) before the United Nations General Assembly:

We must ensure that color, race and gender become only a God-given gift to each one of us and not an indelible mark or attribute that accords a special status to any.

More discussion about this quotation:

Baldwin, James -- Speech (1965-02-17), Opening Comments, “The American Dream is at the Expense of the American Negro,” debate with William F. Buckley, Jr., Cambridge University, England

Dave — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 18:00:46 +0000

But what is happening in the poor [white] woman, the poor [white] man’s mind is this: they’ve been raised to believe, and by now they helplessly believe, that no matter how terrible their lives may be, and their lives have been quite terrible, and no matter how far they fall, no matter what disaster overtakes them, they have one enormous knowledge in consolation, which is like a heavenly revelation: at least, they are not Black.

James Baldwin (1924–1987) American novelist, playwright, activist
Speech (1965-02-17), Opening Comments, “The American Dream is at the Expense of the American Negro,” debate with William F. Buckley, Jr., Cambridge University, England

(Video)

See Johnson.

Johnson, Lyndon -- Speech (1965-01-20), Inaugural Address, Washington, D. C.

Dave — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 15:24:12 +0000

Justice requires us to remember that when any citizen denies his fellow, saying, “His color is not mine,” or “His beliefs are strange and different,” in that moment he betrays America, though his forebears created this Nation.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963–69)
Speech (1965-01-20), Inaugural Address, Washington, D. C.

This is in the formal text of the speech, delivered at the US Capitol building, but a review of the videos (1, 2, 3) shows this as part of a large section of the speech he skipped (from the end of the "AMERICAN COVENANT" section directly to the "AMERICAN BELIEF" section).

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

Dave — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 23:24:39 +0000

Of one man in especial, beyond any one else, the citizens of a republic should beware, and that is of the man who appeals to them to support him on the ground that he is hostile to other citizens of the republic, that he will secure for those who elect him, in one shape or another, profit at the expense of other citizens of the republic. It makes no difference whether he appeals to class hatred or class interest, to religious or anti-religious prejudice. The man who makes such an appeal should always be presumed to make it for the sake of furthering his own interest.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

Rogers, Will -- Radio broadcast (1930-06-08)

Dave — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:23:49 +0000

A fanatic is always the fellow that is on the opposite side.

Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist
Radio broadcast (1930-06-08)

Lewis, C.S. -- “Vivisection,” New England Anti-Vivisection Society pamphlet (1947)

Dave — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:53:48 +0000

If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons.

C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
“Vivisection,” New England Anti-Vivisection Society pamphlet (1947)

Collected in God in the Dock, Part 2, ch. 9 (1970) [ed. Hooper].

Dickinson, Lowes -- “The War and the Way Out: A Further Consideration,” sec. 3, Atlantic Monthly (1915-04)

Dave — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:58:49 +0000

Nationality is a Janus, facing both ways. So far as it stands for the right of a people to govern itself, it stands for freedom. So far as it stands for the ambition to govern other people, or to destroy them, or to shape them into an alien world, it stands for domination. Throughout history it has stood for both.

G. Lowes Dickinson (1862–1932) British political scientist and philosopher [Goldsworthy "Goldie" Lowes Dickinson]
“The War and the Way Out: A Further Consideration,” sec. 3, Atlantic Monthly (1915-04)

Russell, Bertrand -- Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)

Dave — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:28:33 +0000

Well, it is part of our emotional apparatus that we are liable to both love and hate, and we like to exercise them. We love our compatriots and we hate foreigners. Of course, we love our compatriots only when we’re thinking of foreigners. When we’ve forgotten foreigners, we don’t love them so much.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)

Collected in Bertrand Russell's BBC Interviews (1959) [UK] and Bertrand Russell Speaks His Mind (1960) [US]. Reprinted (abridged) in The Humanist (1982-11/12), and in Russell Society News, #37 (1983-02).

Baldwin, James -- Comment (1963)

Dave — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 19:39:36 +0000

From my point of view, no label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and indeed no religion is more important than the human being.

James Baldwin (1924–1987) American novelist, playwright, activist
Comment (1963)

Included in Karen Thorsen, et al., James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket, film (1989), a film biography of Baldwin using extensive archival film of the author (the project was started before Baldwin's death, and Baldwin intended to direct it).

I have found, without good citation, two broader contexts for the quotation. First:

The very dangerous effort one has got to make, according to me, is to deal with other people as though they were simply human beings. To remember that no matter what the details of their lives may be like, or how different they may seem to you superficially, or what the social pressures outside of what the psychological pressures are within, to deal with this other human being precisely as though he or she was here for the first and only time. To deal with them in some way that you’d like them to deal with you, no matter the price. From my point of view, no label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and indeed no religion, is more important than the human being. The human core in everybody, which liberates you and me, because when the chips are down this is all there is -- there isn’t anything else.

The second looks to be a paraphrase of the above:

We must all make the effort to deal with all people simply as human beings. From my point of view, no label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and indeed no religion is more important than the human being. When the chips are down, this is all that matters.

Without better documentation, I cannot confirm either version.

Serling, Rod -- “Serling in Creative Mainstream,” interview by Ellen Cameron May, Los Angeles Times (1967-06-25)

Dave — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:37:26 +0000

I happen to think the singular evil of our time is prejudice. It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I’ve written there is a thread of this: man’s seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself.

Rod Serling (1924–1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
“Serling in Creative Mainstream,” interview by Ellen Cameron May, Los Angeles Times (1967-06-25)

Quoted in Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling, ch. 8 (2013).

Stanley, Jason -- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 10 (2018)

Dave — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 15:43:56 +0000

The pull of fascist politics is powerful. It simplifies human existence, gives us an object, a “them” whose supposed laziness highlights our own virtue and discipline, encourages us to identify with a forceful leader who helps us make sense of the world, whose bluntness regarding the “undeserving” people in the world is refreshing. […] Fascist politics preys on the human frailty that makes our own suffering seem bearable if we know that those we look down upon are being made to suffer more.

Jason Stanley (b. 1969) American philosopher, epistemologist, academic
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 10 (2018)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Address, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)

Dave — Tue, 17 May 2022 13:47:24 +0000

Are you tough enough to face one of the uglier stains upon the fabric of our democracy, prejudice? It’s the basic root of most evil. It’s a part of the sickness of man. And it’s a part of man’s admission, his constant sick admission, that to exist he must find a scapegoat. To explain away his own deficiencies, he must try to find someone who he believes more deficient. If you find yourself thinking words like “Nigger”, or “Kike”, or “Pollock”, or “Wop”, or “Bohunk”, or “Sheenie”, or “Dago”, consign them to the lexicon of race-haters who aren’t fit to breathe the same air as you are. Make your judgment of your fellow-man on what he says and what he believes and the way he acts. Be tough enough, please, to live with prejudice and give battle to it. It warps, it poisons, it distorts and it is self-destructive. It has fallout worse than a bomb … and worst of all it cheapens and demeans anyone who permits himself the luxury of hating.

Rod Serling (1924–1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Address, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)

Commager, Henry Steele -- Interview (1970-02) by John A. Garraty, “American Nationalism,” Interpreting American History: Conversations with Historians, Part 1, ch. 4 (1970).

Dave — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 15:07:33 +0000

If modern technology and all the tendencies of modern society make nationalism illogical, why does it persist?

You might as well ask why racism flourishes in the face of scientific evidence that there are no real differences between the races, or why Protestantism and Catholicism remain separate when the differences between them can be detected only by theologians. Such things are deeply rooted in the psychology of man. When you’re raised to believe in the superiority of your own country, it’s very difficult to rid yourself of the belief. There are, of course, practical advantages to national organization, and out of these loyalties develop. There’s no reason in and of itself why other institutions should not attract comparable loyalties, but so far they have not. I’m not at all sure they’d be any better.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Interview (1970-02) by John A. Garraty, “American Nationalism,” Interpreting American History: Conversations with Historians, Part 1, ch. 4 (1970).

Excepted in "Conversations with Historians," American Heritage magazine (1970-02).

Frye, Northrop -- The Educated Imagination, Talk 6 “The Vocation of Eloquence” (1963)

Dave — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 17:18:40 +0000

There’s something in all of us that wants to drift toward a mob, where we can all say the same thing without having to think about it, because everybody is all alike except people that we can hate or persecute. Every time we use words, we’re either fighting against this tendency or giving in to it. When we fight against it, we’re taking the side of genuine and permanent human civilization.

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
The Educated Imagination, Talk 6 “The Vocation of Eloquence” (1963)

Butcher, Jim -- White Night (2007)

Dave — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 15:54:39 +0000

Life’s easier when you can write off others as monsters, as demons, as horrible threats that must be hated and feared. The thing is, you can’t do that without becoming them, just a little.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
White Night (2007)

Stanley, Jason -- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 7 (2018)

Dave — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 17:29:12 +0000

To describe someone as a “criminal” is both to mark that person with a terrifying permanent character trait and simultaneously to place the person outside the circle of “us.” They are criminals. We make mistakes.

Jason Stanley (b. 1969) American philosopher, epistemologist, academic
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 7 (2018)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 23, Carpe Jugulum [Granny Weatherwax, Rev. Mightily Oats] (1998)

Dave — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:58:08 +0000

“And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”
“It’s a lot more complicated than that –”
“No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”
“Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes –”
“But they starts with thinking about people as things …”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 23, Carpe Jugulum [Granny Weatherwax, Rev. Mightily Oats] (1998)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 21, Jingo (1997)

Dave — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:03:39 +0000

It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I’m one of Us. I must be. I’ve certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 21, Jingo (1997)

Vimes pondering.

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 15, § 65 (1951)

Dave — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:58:09 +0000

Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 15, § 65 (1951)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 73 (3.14.73) (1951)

Dave — Fri, 28 May 2010 21:16:32 +0000

The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American’s hatred for a fellow American (for Hoover or Roosevelt) is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners. […] Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 73 (3.14.73) (1951)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 71 (3.14.71) (1951)

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:09:42 +0000

The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 71 (3.14.71) (1951)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 13, Small Gods [Simony] (1992)

Dave — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:51:48 +0000

“You’re not one of us.”
“I don’t think I’m one of them, either,” said Brutha. “I’m one of mine.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 13, Small Gods [Simony] (1992)