Everyone knows the experience of encountering other persons only under the aspect of how they intersect with our projects, and of noticing them only insofar as we have to notice them in order to interact with them as we pursue our goals. But from time to time we realize more keenly that the other with whom we are dealing is a person, and then we feel the irreverence and the arrogance of our attitude. We become aware of a certain violence with which we have been treating other persons; we realize that we have to draw back and grant them a space in which to be themselves as persons, and that we have to cease seeing them exclusively in relation to our projects. John F. Crosby
About This Quote

This quote from Frantz Fanon is one of the most insightful of our time. In it, Fanon challenges us to stop treating people as things to be used for our own benefit. In fact, he goes so far as to say that we have been using other people as instruments of our own oppression. The quote continues, the reason we have the experience of encountering other people only under the aspect of how they intersect with our projects is because we don’t want to see them as separate from us.

We want them to be invisible and to exist solely within a context that is useful to us. We treat others as objects first instead of as persons. But from time to time we realize more keenly that the other with whom we are dealing is a person, and then we feel the irreverence and arrogance of our attitude.

We become aware of a certain violence with which we have been treating other persons; we realize that we have to draw back and grant them a space in which to be themselves as persons, and that we have to cease seeing them exclusively in relation to our projects

Source: The Selfhood Of The Human Person

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. - Marilyn Monroe
  2. You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, Love like you'll never be hurt, Sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth. - William W. Purkey
  3. You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss
  4. A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. - Elbert Hubbard
  5. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. - Unknown
More Quotes By John F. Crosby
  1. Woman is sacred the woman one loves is holy.
  2. True love always makes a man better, no matter what woman inspires it.
  3. Love is the most selfish of all the passions.
  4. Moral wounds have this peculiarity - they may be hidden, but they never close; always painful, always ready to bleed when touched, they remain fresh and open in the heart.
  5. When you compare the sorrows of real life to the pleasures of the imaginary one, you will never want to live again, only to dream forever.
Related Topics