“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
Interesting. This sounds like Hannah Arendt’s theory of the Banality of Evil. Nonetheless, the banal, ordinary person still needs a monster to (mis)lead him and a little bit of monster in his own soul to be lead. The divide between good and evil goes within every person as well as between them.
Primo Levi was a survivor and here in Italy he’s the one who most and more effectively spoke about the Holocaust. I have never read him, but I will soon.
Birgit
Posted January 28, 2019 at 03:01
This quote is so true and scary because the common man thinks they don’t blindly follow…but they do plus they are the first to not want to get involved.
6 Comments
JOHN T. SHEA
Interesting. This sounds like Hannah Arendt’s theory of the Banality of Evil. Nonetheless, the banal, ordinary person still needs a monster to (mis)lead him and a little bit of monster in his own soul to be lead. The divide between good and evil goes within every person as well as between them.
jazzfeathers
I have never read The Banality of Evil, though I’ve planned to for a long time. But I suppose what you said but be the essence of it.
Margot Kinberg
This one offers so much to think about! Thanks, Sarah.
jazzfeathers
Primo Levi was a survivor and here in Italy he’s the one who most and more effectively spoke about the Holocaust. I have never read him, but I will soon.
Birgit
This quote is so true and scary because the common man thinks they don’t blindly follow…but they do plus they are the first to not want to get involved.
jazzfeathers
That’s very true.