--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Spanish had butchered the Indians…" description: "\"“The Spanish had butchered the Indians with a clean conscience because they were confident that they knew what a normal human being was. Their reason t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/alain-de-botton-221_abnormality_the-spanish-had-butchered-the-indians-wi_2404954.jpg" --- # The Spanish had butchered the Indians with a clean… ![“The Spanish had butchered the Indians with a clean conscience because they were confident that they knew what a normal human being was. Their reason told them it was someone who wore breeches, had one wife, didn’t eat spiders and slept in a bed.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/alain-de-botton-221_abnormality_the-spanish-had-butchered-the-indians-wi_2404954.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/alain-de-botton-221_abnormality_the-spanish-had-butchered-the-indians-wi_2404954.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/alain-de-botton-221_abnormality_the-spanish-had-butchered-the-indians-wi_2404954.jpg) > ““The Spanish had butchered the Indians with a clean conscience because they were confident that they knew what a normal human being was. Their reason told them it was someone who wore breeches, had one wife, didn’t eat spiders and slept in a bed.”” [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. Critiques colonial rationalizations that defined humanity by narrow cultural norms **In simple terms:** Colonial view reduced humanity to biased standards Key Takeaway Question cultural assumptions in defining humanity Themes colonialism culture identity bias Mood analytical critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - historical analysis - education curricula - media representation Key Concepts critical theory anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How do we broaden definitions of humanity? - What biases persist in modern narratives? A Different Perspective Risk of overgeneralizing diverse cultures ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abnormality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abnormality/) [Butchered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butchered-549630/) [Butchered Indians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butchered-indians-6034752/) [Conscience Confident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience-confident-6034755/) [Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/montaigne/) [Spanish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spanish/) [Spanish Butchered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spanish-butchered-6034753/) [Wore Breeches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wore-breeches-6034754/) ## Related quotes > [“In Montaigne’s redrawn portrait of the adequate, semi-rational human being, it is possible to speak no Greek, fart, change one’s mind after a meal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-montaigne-s-redrawn-portrait-of-the-adequate-semi-rational-human/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Language is butchered by the media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-watson/language-is-butchered-by-the-media/) [Don Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-watson/) > [“He glanced first at me, and then at his devastated flowerbed; all plowed up and butchered, like a Ripper victim- like Pearly Poll, lying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/he-glanced-first-at-me-and-then-at-his-devastated-flowerbed-all/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [“The madman bum and angel beat in time with the absolute heart of the poem butchered out of their own bodies good to eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-madman-bum-and-angel-beat-in-time-with-the-absolute-heart-of-the/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Legions of men, butchered for the greater glory and the profit margins of bankers, chancellors, generals, stockbrokers, and other fathers of the nation, had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/legions-of-men-butchered-for-the-greater-glory-and-the-profit-margins/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“Quinn's mother knew what to do she was a librarian. She'd done research. She skinned him and dressed him out, hung him in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-huneven/quinn-s-mother-knew-what-to-do-she-was-a-librarian-she-d-done/) [Michele Huneven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-huneven/) > [“We have just discovered our dear colleague butchered in a hotel room, and you wish to discuss literature?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/we-have-just-discovered-our-dear-colleague-butchered-in-a-hotel-room/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [We butchered the force present at the airport, we are destroying them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/we-butchered-the-force-present-at-the-airport-we-are-destroying-them/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [“I met a guy who had an interesting job. He was a meat cutter, or a meat slicer, something like that. I probably butchered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-met-a-guy-who-had-an-interesting-job-he-was-a-meat-cutter-or-a-meat/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/with-the-absolute-heart-of-the-poem-of-life-butchered-out-of-their/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Kiriwar: "I thought I smelled shit stinking up the hallway." Shiki: "I butchered a hyena...maybe that's why. That's what you do to a dog…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suguro-chayamachi/kiriwar-i-thought-i-smelled-shit-stinking-up-the-hallway-shiki-i/) [Suguro Chayamachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suguro-chayamachi/) > [The first time it was reported that our friends were being butchered there was a cry of horror. Then a hundred were butchered. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/the-first-time-it-was-reported-that-our-friends-were-being-butchered/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Thousands of animals (now billions) are butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. It cries vengeance upon all the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-rolland/thousands-of-animals-now-billions-are-butchered-every-day-without-a/) [Romain Rolland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-rolland/) > [In a 50 mile radius around Chicago one can see the red aura of pain, agony, terror, anger from all the animals being butchered there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/in-a-50-mile-radius-around-chicago-one-can-see-the-red-aura-of-pain/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [I've picked butter beans, okra, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. I've butchered pigs, chickens. We made our own sausage and pudding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-harrison/i-ve-picked-butter-beans-okra-watermelon-cantaloupe-honeydew-i-ve/) [Jaime Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-harrison/) ## 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 Abnormality quotes > [An anomaly is not an abnormality. Diversity does not signify sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-canguilhem/an-anomaly-is-not-an-abnormality-diversity-does-not-signify-sickness/) [Georges Canguilhem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-canguilhem/) > [I should love to do a novel, about one abnormal character seeing present-day life, very ordinary life, yet arresting through it, abnormality, until at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-should-love-to-do-a-novel-about-one-abnormal-character-seeing/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [In a noted 1943 Harvard study, there were no cases of toxemia, congenital anomalies, or neonatal deaths among a group of well-fed woman. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brewer/in-a-noted-1943-harvard-study-there-were-no-cases-of-toxemia/) [Tom Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brewer/) > [Diversity is not an abnormality but the very reality of our planet. The human world manifests the same reality and will not seek our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/diversity-is-not-an-abnormality-but-the-very-reality-of-our-planet/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [The adjuration to be "normal" seems shockingly repellent to me; I see neither hope nor comfort in sinking to that low level. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-a-menninger/the-adjuration-to-be-normal-seems-shockingly-repellent-to-me-i-see/) [Karl A. Menninger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-a-menninger/) > [From what has been said, it would appear that the possibility of thyroid deficiency should be considered, and if found, should be treated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/broda-otto-barnes/from-what-has-been-said-it-would-appear-that-the-possibility-of/) [Broda Otto Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/broda-otto-barnes/) > [When you work as a day player on a film or a TV thing, like you're visiting a foreign country, where you know a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-heald/when-you-work-as-a-day-player-on-a-film-or-a-tv-thing-like-you-re/) [Anthony Heald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-heald/) > [Not everything that steps out of line, and thus "abnormal", must necessarily be "inferior".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-asperger/not-everything-that-steps-out-of-line-and-thus-abnormal-must/) [Hans Asperger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-asperger/) > [What we see in this world is a gross abnormality. The human consciousness fails to perceive the very simple, divine nature of every atom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-we-see-in-this-world-is-a-gross-abnormality-the-human/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Is deviation from the locally approved norms always and everywhere to be taken as disease?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-wolfe/is-deviation-from-the-locally-approved-norms-always-and-everywhere-to/) [Bernard Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-wolfe/) > [Looking at obesity without preconceived ideas, one would assume that the main trend of research should be directed toward an examination of abnormalities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilde-bruch/looking-at-obesity-without-preconceived-ideas-one-would-assume-that/) [Hilde Bruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilde-bruch/) > [Abnormalities in brain function have traditionally been detected using electroencephalography (EEG), which involves the measurement of the ongoing electrical activity generated by the brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aditi-shankardass/abnormalities-in-brain-function-have-traditionally-been-detected/) [Aditi Shankardass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aditi-shankardass/) > [as a physician I examine the dying planet as I do a dying patient. The earth has a natural system of interacting homeostatic mechanisms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-caldicott/as-a-physician-i-examine-the-dying-planet-as-i-do-a-dying-patient-the/) [Helen Caldicott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-caldicott/) > [“If she is efficient and capable or ambitious, it is assumed that she has failed to find satisfaction as a normal woman, even to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/if-she-is-efficient-and-capable-or-ambitious-it-is-assumed-that-she/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [There are studies that tell us that stress and lack of self-image, lack of self-esteem, severe dieting, binge dieting and binge eating can also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-nimoy/there-are-studies-that-tell-us-that-stress-and-lack-of-self-image/) [Leonard Nimoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-nimoy/) [Browse all 30 Abnormality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abnormality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Spanish had butchered the Indians with a clean conscience because they were confident that they knew what a normal human being was. 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