Kapuściński Quotes on Values, Good and Evil
Ryszard Kapuściński's quotes on values, good and evil, morality and barbarism — from the Lapidarium notebooks and Imperium.
Translation note: Unless a published English translator is named, the wording on this page is an editorial translation from Polish and may differ from the authorised English-language edition.
A selection of Ryszard Kapuściński’s quotes on values, good and evil — on morality, sensitivity and barbarism. Thoughts from the Lapidarium notebooks and Imperium.
📖 See also: all quotes by Kapuściński · Lapidarium — analysis
On good and evil
“Evil acts quickly, violently, with a sudden, crushing force, whereas good as a rule acts more slowly; it needs time to reveal itself and bear witness — and so good is often late, and loses.” — Lapidarium
“I fear a world without values, without sensitivity, without thought. A world in which everything is possible. Because then evil is the most possible thing of all.” — Lapidarium II
“Boorishness is a carrier of contempt and violence, of meanness and the will to destroy.” — Lapidarium
On values and barbarism
“The degrees of barbarism: first those who create values are destroyed. Then those who still know what values are. Real barbarism is when nobody can judge any more, when nobody knows that what he is doing is barbarism.” — Lapidarium
“The higher the level at which a crime is committed, the greater the likelihood that it will be regarded not as a crime but as a necessary political move.” — Lapidarium
“No Louvre is worth two zlotys in Vorkuta.” — Imperium
On the human being and thought
“Fools know that they are in the majority, that they have the advantage, that they rule.” — Lapidarium
“Where superstition lives, there is no place for independent thought.” — Imperium
“Suspecting everyone is exhausting; you have to trust someone, because you need to rest beside someone.” — The Emperor
See also
source: kapuscinski.info