--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've even come to a conclusion that would…" description: "\"“I've even come to a conclusion that would get me blackballed from ever setting foot in liberal education circles again. That is this: colonialism wasn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/a-j-jacobs-11588_colonialism_i-ve-even-come-to-a-conclusion-that-woul_1315131.jpg" --- # I've even come to a conclusion that would get me… ![“I've even come to a conclusion that would get me blackballed from ever setting foot in liberal education circles again. That is this: colonialism wasn't 100 percent evil. More like 96 percent evil. Sometimes the colonizing culture actually made moral improvements in the native culture. I came to…” quote by A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/a-j-jacobs-11588_colonialism_i-ve-even-come-to-a-conclusion-that-woul_1315131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/a-j-jacobs-11588_colonialism_i-ve-even-come-to-a-conclusion-that-woul_1315131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/a-j-jacobs-11588_colonialism_i-ve-even-come-to-a-conclusion-that-woul_1315131.jpg) > ““I've even come to a conclusion that would get me blackballed from ever setting foot in liberal education circles again. That is this: colonialism wasn't 100 percent evil. More like 96 percent evil. Sometimes the colonizing culture actually made moral improvements in the native culture. I came to this conclusion while reading about the abolition of the Indian custom of widow burning. In pre-British India, a man's widow was burned alongside his corpse. The British colonialists put a stop to that. So yes, they criminally oppressed an entire people. But like a robber who fills up the ice trays while he steals the TV, they did a smidgeon of good.”” [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author argues that colonialism had some positive effects, like ending widow burning, despite its overall oppression. **In simple terms:** Colonialism was mostly harmful but sometimes brought reforms. Key Takeaway Recognize nuanced histories, not just black‑and‑white judgments. Themes history colonialism ethics reform complexity Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - academic debate - policy making - education curricula - public discourse - media commentary Key Concepts Moral relativism historical analysis cultural impact Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance acknowledging benefits with condemning oppression? - Can reforms be justified if they arise from harmful regimes? A Different Perspective Good actions can be entangled with oppressive systems, making moral judgments difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British Colonialists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-colonialists-4364968/) [Colonialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonialism/) [Colonialism Wasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonialism-wasn-4364966/) [Colonialists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonialists-3371667/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Evil Colonizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-colonizing-4364967/) [Liberal education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal-education/) ## Related quotes > [“There are neither good or bad colonialist: there are colonialists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sarte-2/there-are-neither-good-or-bad-colonialist-there-are-colonialists/) [Jean Paul Sarte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sarte-2/) > [“Isn't it amazing that, historically, the "Prince of Peace" has most often been introduced to new cultures through extreme violence? 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I feel the mist of ignorance to surround me - Nathanael Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/i-lament-the-want-of-a-liberal-education-i-feel-the-mist-of-ignorance/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [I feel a reassuring oneness with other people when I find that even my most intimate, anguished, socially inadmissible emotions and desires are known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yi-fu-tuan/i-feel-a-reassuring-oneness-with-other-people-when-i-find-that-even/) [Yi-Fu Tuan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yi-fu-tuan/) > [Where philosophy ends, poetry must commence. There should not be a common point of view, a natural manner of thinking which standsin contrast to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/where-philosophy-ends-poetry-must-commence-there-should-not-be-a/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Women ought to feel a peculiar sympathy in the colored man's wrong, for, like him, she has been accused of mental inferiority, and denied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-grimke/women-ought-to-feel-a-peculiar-sympathy-in-the-colored-man-s-wrong/) [Angelina Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-grimke/) > [Read properly, fewer books than a hundred would suffice for a liberal education. Read superficially, the British Museum Library might still leave the student…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/read-properly-fewer-books-than-a-hundred-would-suffice-for-a-liberal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “\[Professor Greene's\] reaction to GAMAY, as published in the Yale Daily News, fairly took one's breath away. He fondled the word "fascist" as though… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-buckley-jr-2/professor-greene-s-reaction-to-gamay-as-published-in-the-yale-daily/) [William F. Buckley Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-f-buckley-jr-2/) > [A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberal education is the act of teaching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/a-liberal-education-is-at-the-heart-of-a-civil-society-and-at-the/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [To teach is to learn twice. About all some parents accomplish in life is to send a child to Harvard. The purpose of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/to-teach-is-to-learn-twice-about-all-some-parents-accomplish-in-life/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [“There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. Surely these should never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-truslow-adams/there-are-obviously-two-educations-one-should-teach-us-how-to-make-a/) [James Truslow Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-truslow-adams/) ## More by A.J. Jacobs > [“To properly engage in magical thinking, I find you have to think of every possible ghastly scenario. That's the only way you outsmart fate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/to-properly-engage-in-magical-thinking-i-find-you-have-to-think-of/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“There is no better time in history to be an idiot than right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/there-is-no-better-time-in-history-to-be-an-idiot-than-right-now/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“I was smart enough to know that I shouldn't tell anyone the reason I needed that icy air. No need to spill the secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/i-was-smart-enough-to-know-that-i-shouldn-t-tell-anyone-the-reason-i/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“I'm hungry enough that I started to salivate at the sight of lettuce. I repeat: lettuce.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/i-m-hungry-enough-that-i-started-to-salivate-at-the-sight-of-lettuce/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“When I get it home and start to read it, the first thing I notice is that Warren has copyrighted the phrase “Purpose-driven.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/when-i-get-it-home-and-start-to-read-it-the-first-thing-i-notice-is/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“How do you gag the voice in your head that says, 'You don't have to go to the gym today. There's always tomorrow. C'mon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/how-do-you-gag-the-voice-in-your-head-that-says-you-don-t-have-to-go/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“Back to the books. The world’s largest bell was built in 1733 in Moscow, and weighed in at more than four hundred thousand pounds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/back-to-the-books-the-world-s-largest-bell-was-built-in-1733-in/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“If the Britannica has taught me anything, it's to be more careful. I don't want to turn into an unseemly noun or verb or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/if-the-britannica-has-taught-me-anything-it-s-to-be-more-careful-i/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“That's what I've noticed in my experiments: almost everything in life is a self-fulfilling prophecy .Probably even believing in self-fulfilling prophecies is a self-fulfilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/that-s-what-i-ve-noticed-in-my-experiments-almost-everything-in-life/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“Mr. Berkowitz clicks open his black American Tourister rolling suitcase. Inside, his tools: a microscope, an old canister with the faded label “vegetable flakes,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/mr-berkowitz-clicks-open-his-black-american-tourister-rolling/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“What seems terrible at first may turn out to be a great thing. You can't predict.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/what-seems-terrible-at-first-may-turn-out-to-be-a-great-thing-you-can/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“Maybe taming my tongue will be good for me in the end. But it's pretty hard when you've got a world filled with idiots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/maybe-taming-my-tongue-will-be-good-for-me-in-the-end-but-it-s-pretty/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“I don't think I'm in the position to bestow legitimacy on anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/i-don-t-think-i-m-in-the-position-to-bestow-legitimacy-on-anyone/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“The literal Greek translation is “school for naked exercise.” Which made toweling off the stationary bike even more important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/the-literal-greek-translation-is-school-for-naked-exercise-which-made/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“The Bible is right: A deluge of images does encourage idolatry. Look at the cults of personality in America today. Look at Hollywood. Look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/the-bible-is-right-a-deluge-of-images-does-encourage-idolatry-look-at/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) [Explore all 58 A.J. Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) ## More Colonialism quotes > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [“All cultures have, furthermore, an economic, social, and political base, and no culture can continue to live if its political destiny is not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/all-cultures-have-furthermore-an-economic-social-and-political-base/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [It's with them that we have constituted a liberation front and brought our logistic support to armies to help their countries come out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-ben-bella/it-s-with-them-that-we-have-constituted-a-liberation-front-and/) [Ahmed Ben Bella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-ben-bella/) > [“European emigrants and their descendants are all over the place, which requires explanation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-w-crosby/european-emigrants-and-their-descendants-are-all-over-the-place-which/) [Alfred W. 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They are subjects from which to learn how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-badiou/the-oppressed-peoples-of-the-earth-are-not-objects-for-the-exquisite/) [Alain Badiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-badiou/) > [In order for the second scenario to win, the world would have to return where the struggle for independence and against Western colonialism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/in-order-for-the-second-scenario-to-win-the-world-would-have-to/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [“Holocaust Theatre (Naskaristana 2799) Most social issues are rooted in religion, most religious issues are rooted in politics, most political issues are vestiges of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/holocaust-theatre-naskaristana-2799-most-social-issues-are-rooted-in/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We here in Egypt are fed up with U.S. colonialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/we-here-in-egypt-are-fed-up-with-u-s-colonialism/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [“The claim to a national culture in the past does not only rehabilitate that nation and serve as a justification for the hope of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-claim-to-a-national-culture-in-the-past-does-not-only/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“To be sure, the church has greatly assisted the colonialist; backing his ventures, helping his conscience, contributing to the acceptance of colonization even by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-memmi/to-be-sure-the-church-has-greatly-assisted-the-colonialist-backing/) [Albert Memmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-memmi/) > [“A warrior confronts colonialism with the truth in order to regenerate authenticity and recreate a life worth living and principles worth dying for. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiaiake-alfred/a-warrior-confronts-colonialism-with-the-truth-in-order-to-regenerate/) [Taiaiake Alfred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiaiake-alfred/) > [“Europeans would like to escape from their history, a "great" history written in letters of blood. But others, by the hundreds of millions, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-aron/europeans-would-like-to-escape-from-their-history-a-great-history/) [Raymond Aron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-aron/) > [“To speak pidgin to a Negro makes him angry, because he himself is a pidgin-nigger-talker. But, I will be told, there is no wish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/to-speak-pidgin-to-a-negro-makes-him-angry-because-he-himself-is-a/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) [Browse all 349 Colonialism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonialism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I've even come to a conclusion that would get me blackballed from ever setting foot in liberal education circles again. That is this: colonialism wasn't 100 percent evil. More like 96 percent evil. Sometimes the colonizing culture actually made moral improvements in the native culture. I came to this conclusion while reading about the abolition of the Indian custom of widow burning. In pre-British India, a man's widow was burned alongside his corpse. The British colonialists put a stop to that. So yes, they criminally oppressed an entire people. 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