--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Confident that cast-iron walls separate…" description: "\"“Confident that cast-iron walls separate our nature and situation from theirs, comfortable in the well-broken-in saddle of our high horse, we have exch..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/alain-de-botton-221_high-horse_confident-that-cast-iron-walls-separate_2999173.jpg" --- # Confident that cast-iron walls separate our nature and… ![“Confident that cast-iron walls separate our nature and situation from theirs, comfortable in the well-broken-in saddle of our high horse, we have exchanged our capacity to be tolerant for detachment and derision. It is the tragedian's task, then, to force us to confront an almost unbearable truth…” quote by Alain De Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/alain-de-botton-221_high-horse_confident-that-cast-iron-walls-separate_2999173.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/alain-de-botton-221_high-horse_confident-that-cast-iron-walls-separate_2999173.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/alain-de-botton-221_high-horse_confident-that-cast-iron-walls-separate_2999173.jpg) > ““Confident that cast-iron walls separate our nature and situation from theirs, comfortable in the well-broken-in saddle of our high horse, we have exchanged our capacity to be tolerant for detachment and derision. It is the tragedian's task, then, to force us to confront an almost unbearable truth: every folly or myopia of which any human being in history has been guilty may be traced back to some aspect of our collective nature. Because we each bear within ourselves the whole of the human condition, in its worst and best aspects, any one of us might be capable of doing anything at all, or nothing, under the right—or rather the most horribly wrong—conditions.”” [Alain De Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature contains both noble and base capacities; recognizing this shared potential forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about our actions and societal flaws. **In simple terms:** We all hold the full range of human potential, good and bad. Key Takeaway Accept personal and collective responsibility for actions. Themes human nature responsibility collective guilt ethical reflection Mood introspective empathetic serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - leadership decisions - policy making - personal relationships - community building Key Concepts moral psychology existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - What role do institutions play in shaping behavior? - How can we foster empathy without excusing wrongdoing? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on individual blame can ignore systemic factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collective Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collective-nature-4602301/) [Derision Tragedian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/derision-tragedian-4752823/) [High horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-horse/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Tolerant Detachment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerant-detachment-4752822/) [Tragedian Task](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedian-task-4752824/) ## Related quotes > [“Just as the migratory and nest-building instincts of birds were never learnt or acquired individually, man brings with him at birth the ground-plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-stein/just-as-the-migratory-and-nest-building-instincts-of-birds-were-never/) [Murray Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-stein/) > [Be careful on that high horse sweetie... it's a long way down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-careful-on-that-high-horse-sweetie-it-s-a-long-way-down/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There the Bush Administration has offered only a merry go-round policy. They got up on their high horse, whooped and hollered, rode around in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-the-bush-administration-has-offered-only-a-merry-go-round/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's about communication, no matter how impossibly hard your art is to understand and how much of an ivory tower or high horse you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-white/it-s-about-communication-no-matter-how-impossibly-hard-your-art-is-to/) [Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-white/) > [Hate stuck up people with a passion, get off your fucking high horse will you your no better than anyone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hate-stuck-up-people-with-a-passion-get-off-your-fucking-high-horse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you've just made the most complete fool of yourself, you feel the need of a specially high horse to ride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-wentworth/when-you-ve-just-made-the-most-complete-fool-of-yourself-you-feel-the/) [Patricia Wentworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-wentworth/) > [We have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to stand up for faith, their faith. Professed to stand up for Islam,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-have-seen-violence-and-terror-perpetrated-by-those-who-profess-to/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“The one thing I learned in my youth as a grave robber was that everyone looks the same when they're dead. We're all equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-heath/the-one-thing-i-learned-in-my-youth-as-a-grave-robber-was-that/) [Lorraine Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-heath/) > [And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/and-lest-we-get-on-our-high-horse-and-think-this-is-unique-to-some/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The senator has got to understand if he's going to have - he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-senator-has-got-to-understand-if-he-s-going-to-have-he-can-t-have/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“Finn is God: If you get off your high horse, you'll notice that it, too, poops.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-park/finn-is-god-if-you-get-off-your-high-horse-you-ll-notice-that-it-too/) [Jessica Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-park/) > [You must have a good view from your high horse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swag/you-must-have-a-good-view-from-your-high-horse/) [Swag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swag/) > [Well of course, I smoke mad weed, I'm on my high horse.-Lil Wayne-](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/well-of-course-i-smoke-mad-weed-i-m-on-my-high-horse-lil-wayne/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [I thought Al Iaquinta did a great job at UFC 223, but Khabib is going to say he won the Super Bowl after he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-ferguson/i-thought-al-iaquinta-did-a-great-job-at-ufc-223-but-khabib-is-going/) [Tony Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-ferguson/) > [“- It is clear that we have to come down a bit from the high horse of reason on which we enjoy sitting. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-christoph-blumhardt/it-is-clear-that-we-have-to-come-down-a-bit-from-the-high-horse-of/) [Johann Christoph Blumhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-christoph-blumhardt/) ## More by Alain De Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain De Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More High horse quotes > [“The one thing I learned in my youth as a grave robber was that everyone looks the same when they're dead. We're all equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-heath/the-one-thing-i-learned-in-my-youth-as-a-grave-robber-was-that/) [Lorraine Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-heath/) > [I thought Al Iaquinta did a great job at UFC 223, but Khabib is going to say he won the Super Bowl after he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-ferguson/i-thought-al-iaquinta-did-a-great-job-at-ufc-223-but-khabib-is-going/) [Tony Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-ferguson/) > [Well of course, I smoke mad weed, I'm on my high horse.-Lil Wayne-](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/well-of-course-i-smoke-mad-weed-i-m-on-my-high-horse-lil-wayne/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [You must have a good view from your high horse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swag/you-must-have-a-good-view-from-your-high-horse/) [Swag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swag/) > [“Finn is God: If you get off your high horse, you'll notice that it, too, poops.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-park/finn-is-god-if-you-get-off-your-high-horse-you-ll-notice-that-it-too/) [Jessica Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-park/) > [The senator has got to understand if he's going to have - he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-senator-has-got-to-understand-if-he-s-going-to-have-he-can-t-have/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/and-lest-we-get-on-our-high-horse-and-think-this-is-unique-to-some/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to stand up for faith, their faith. Professed to stand up for Islam,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-have-seen-violence-and-terror-perpetrated-by-those-who-profess-to/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [When you've just made the most complete fool of yourself, you feel the need of a specially high horse to ride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-wentworth/when-you-ve-just-made-the-most-complete-fool-of-yourself-you-feel-the/) [Patricia Wentworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-wentworth/) > [Hate stuck up people with a passion, get off your fucking high horse will you your no better than anyone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hate-stuck-up-people-with-a-passion-get-off-your-fucking-high-horse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's about communication, no matter how impossibly hard your art is to understand and how much of an ivory tower or high horse you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-white/it-s-about-communication-no-matter-how-impossibly-hard-your-art-is-to/) [Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-white/) > [There the Bush Administration has offered only a merry go-round policy. They got up on their high horse, whooped and hollered, rode around in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-the-bush-administration-has-offered-only-a-merry-go-round/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Be careful on that high horse sweetie... it's a long way down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-careful-on-that-high-horse-sweetie-it-s-a-long-way-down/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“- It is clear that we have to come down a bit from the high horse of reason on which we enjoy sitting. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-christoph-blumhardt/it-is-clear-that-we-have-to-come-down-a-bit-from-the-high-horse-of/) [Johann Christoph Blumhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-christoph-blumhardt/) > [“Fine,” she says. “Fine. Just step down off your high horse and put your dick in my stable!” I laugh so loud, it echoes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-huss/fine-she-says-fine-just-step-down-off-your-high-horse-and-put-your/) [J.A. Huss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-huss/) [Browse all 43 High horse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-horse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Confident that cast-iron walls separate our nature and situation from theirs, comfortable in the well-broken-in saddle of our high horse, we have exchanged our capacity to be tolerant for detachment and derision. It is the tragedian's task, then, to force us to confront an almost unbearable truth: every folly or myopia of which any human being in history has been guilty may be traced back to some aspect of our collective nature. 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