To suffer is one thing; another thing is living with the photographed images of suffering, which does not necessarily strengthen conscience and the ability to be compassionate. It can also corrupt them. Once one has seen such images, one has started down the road of seeing more - and more. Images transfix. Images anesthetize. Susan Sontag
About This Quote

Images of suffering can really strip away your humanity. They can make you numb to the reality of what is happening in the world. Images can also corrupt your conscience and weaken your capacity to be compassionate. Seeing images can make you numb to the pain of others.

It can make you start to think that there are no consequences for the bad actions of others, that people are just animals who are incapable of feeling pain or terror or grief or anything that makes us human. And, when people see images of suffering it becomes easier for them to justify inhumane practices.

Source: On Photography

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More Quotes By Susan Sontag
  1. The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is.
  2. That's the source of the meditation on death I've carried in my heart all my life.
  3. A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.", Frankfurt Book Fair, October 12, 2003]
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  5. Writing is a mysterious activity.
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