---
title: "1 Political Reality Quotes By Payam Akhavan"
description: "1 Political Reality quotes by Payam Akhavan. Plus more from Payam Akhavan and more Political Reality sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/payam-akhavan-33674_cynicism_there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-de_2759477.jpg"
---

> [There are realities that one needs to deal with, but very often what we are told is political reality is merely cynicism. One could equally say that slavery is a reality, and misogyny too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-deal-with-but-very-often-what/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/payam-akhavan-33674_cynicism_there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-de_2759477.jpg)

## More by Payam Akhavan

> [I hate the tribal hatred thesis - in Yugoslavia and Rwanda and places like that they kill each other because that's just what people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/i-hate-the-tribal-hatred-thesis-in-yugoslavia-and-rwanda-and-places/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [We must sacrifice something in order to make the world better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/we-must-sacrifice-something-in-order-to-make-the-world-better/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [Helping survivors of residential schools in Canada is not the same as the UN sending in peacekeepers to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/helping-survivors-of-residential-schools-in-canada-is-not-the-same-as/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [We need to sacrifice something. And this is what I find lacking. We want to construct an image of ourselves as virtuous but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/we-need-to-sacrifice-something-and-this-is-what-i-find-lacking-we/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [Wounds simply won't heal if they are swept under the carpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/wounds-simply-won-t-heal-if-they-are-swept-under-the-carpet/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [The reason why the war ended in Bosnia was not because of amnesty but because a combined Croat-Bosnian offensive defeated the Serbs on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/the-reason-why-the-war-ended-in-bosnia-was-not-because-of-amnesty-but/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [Criminal trials are fundamentally about individual accountability whereas truth commissions are less about the guilt of the perpetrator and more about the suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/criminal-trials-are-fundamentally-about-individual-accountability/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [Storytelling is very important. It is through context and relations that we understand the importance of human dignity. The concept means nothing as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/storytelling-is-very-important-it-is-through-context-and-relations/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [“There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look down at the arena of anguish from thirty thousand feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we-choose-to-look-down-at-the/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [In Yugoslavia we were told we were not only naive idealists in wanting war criminals to be prosecuted but that we were actually standing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/in-yugoslavia-we-were-told-we-were-not-only-naive-idealists-in/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [There are realities that one needs to deal with, but very often what we are told is political reality is merely cynicism. One could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-deal-with-but-very-often-what/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [When we deconstruct how radical evil occurs we realize that it is anything but spontaneous combustion. You need pyromaniacs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/when-we-deconstruct-how-radical-evil-occurs-we-realize-that-it-is/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [When I joined the UN War Crimes Tribunal, it was a realization of the dream of justice, that finally after Nuremberg, the UN is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/when-i-joined-the-un-war-crimes-tribunal-it-was-a-realization-of-the/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [In many instances violence - which obviously inflicts tremendous trauma on victims - also inflicts trauma on the perpetrator. Radical evil takes a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/in-many-instances-violence-which-obviously-inflicts-tremendous-trauma/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

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