--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every time that a people which has long…" description: "\"Every time that a people which has long crouched in slavery and ignorance is moved to its lowest depths there appear monsters and heroes, prodigies of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_crime_every-time-that-a-people-which-has-long_3189708.png" --- # Every time that a people which has long crouched in… ![“Every time that a people which has long crouched in slavery and ignorance is moved to its lowest depths there appear monsters and heroes, prodigies of crime and prodigies of virtue.” quote by Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_crime_every-time-that-a-people-which-has-long_3189708.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_crime_every-time-that-a-people-which-has-long_3189708.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_crime_every-time-that-a-people-which-has-long_3189708.png) > “Every time that a people which has long crouched in slavery and ignorance is moved to its lowest depths there appear monsters and heroes, prodigies of crime and prodigies of virtue.” [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies that have suffered extreme oppression produce both extreme evil and extraordinary goodness. **In simple terms:** Oppression creates both monsters and heroes. Key Takeaway Recognize the dual potential of hardship. Themes oppression morality human nature history justice Mood somber reflective thoughtful Type historical philosophical analytical When to use this quote - revolution - colonialism - civil rights movements - post‑war reconstruction - economic collapse Key Concepts dualism extremes of behavior social psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does oppression shape moral choices? - Can societies nurture virtue amid suffering? A Different Perspective Extreme hardship can also suppress positive outcomes, not just reveal them. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Crouched Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crouched-slavery-5878688/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-moved-5878689/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Lowest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lowest/) [Monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters/) [Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prodigies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prodigies/) [Prodigies Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prodigies-crime-5878690/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Slavery Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery-ignorance-2593995/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/there-is-no-slavery-but-ignorance-liberty-is-the-child-of-intelligence/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [There is no slavery but ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/there-is-no-slavery-but-ignorance/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [The first reason for mans inner slavery is his ignorance, and above all, his ignorance of himself. Without self-knowledge, without understanding the working and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gurdjieff/the-first-reason-for-mans-inner-slavery-is-his-ignorance-and-above/) [George Gurdjieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gurdjieff/) > [The first reason for people's slavery is our ignorance, and above all, our ignorance of ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-i-gurdjieff/the-first-reason-for-people-s-slavery-is-our-ignorance-and-above-all/) [G. I. Gurdjieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-i-gurdjieff/) > [Maybe the same instruments and tools that have been used to keep people in slavery and ignorance could potentially be used to liberate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/maybe-the-same-instruments-and-tools-that-have-been-used-to-keep/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/war-is-peace-freedom-is-slavery-ignorance-is-strength/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Freedom believes in education - the salvation of slavery is ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/freedom-believes-in-education-the-salvation-of-slavery-is-ignorance/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [He has the personality of a child prodigy, but no discernable talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/he-has-the-personality-of-a-child-prodigy-but-no-discernable-talent/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [The word "prodigy" was thrown around a lot, but I didn't understand what that meant, or the weight of it. It didn't really mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misty-copeland/the-word-prodigy-was-thrown-around-a-lot-but-i-didn-t-understand-what/) [Misty Copeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misty-copeland/) > [Look at the real prodigies, and I look like nothing compared to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/look-at-the-real-prodigies-and-i-look-like-nothing-compared-to-them/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [And yes, again, that was it exactly. A retyper and not a writer. A prodigy and not a genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-yes-again-that-was-it-exactly-a-retyper-and-not-a-writer-a/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history, will probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-philosopher-who-with-calm-suspicion-examines-the-dreams-and-omens/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Destiny, quite often, is a determined parent. Mozart was hardly some naive prodigy who sat down at the keyboard and, with God whispering in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/destiny-quite-often-is-a-determined-parent-mozart-was-hardly-some/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I was never a prodigy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-davenport/i-was-never-a-prodigy/) [Lindsay Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-davenport/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Alphonse de Lamartine > [Grief and sadness knits two hearts in closer bonds than happiness ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger than common joys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/grief-and-sadness-knits-two-hearts-in-closer-bonds-than-happiness/) [Alphonse De Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Habit with it's iron sinews, clasps us and leads us day by day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/habit-with-it-s-iron-sinews-clasps-us-and-leads-us-day-by-day/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [History is neither more nor less than biography on a large scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/history-is-neither-more-nor-less-than-biography-on-a-large-scale/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Silence,--the applause of real and durable impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/silence-the-applause-of-real-and-durable-impressions/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Let us enjoy the fugitive hour. Man has no harbor, time has no shore; it rushes on, and carries us with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/let-us-enjoy-the-fugitive-hour-man-has-no-harbor-time-has-no-shore-it/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Void of freedom, what would virtue be?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/void-of-freedom-what-would-virtue-be/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [I am persuaded that if the brutes even--if the dog, the horse, the ox, the elephant, the bird, could speak, they would confess, that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/i-am-persuaded-that-if-the-brutes-even-if-the-dog-the-horse-the-ox/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [The most effective coquetry is innocence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/the-most-effective-coquetry-is-innocence/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [There is a woman at the begining of all great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/there-is-a-woman-at-the-begining-of-all-great-things/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Enthusiasm springs from the imagination, and self-sacrifice from the heart. Women are, therefore, more naturally heroic than men. All nations have in their annals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/enthusiasm-springs-from-the-imagination-and-self-sacrifice-from-the/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [True love is the ripe fruit of a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/true-love-is-the-ripe-fruit-of-a-lifetime/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [At twenty every one is republican.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/at-twenty-every-one-is-republican/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [We are earth's children, and life is the same in sap as in blood; all that the earth, our mother, feels and expresses to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/we-are-earth-s-children-and-life-is-the-same-in-sap-as-in-blood-all/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Let us savour the swift delights of the most beautiful of our days!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/let-us-savour-the-swift-delights-of-the-most-beautiful-of-our-days/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Shall not this bygone Eden that we knew In our Eternal Life have shape and hue? For where Time is not shall not all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/shall-not-this-bygone-eden-that-we-knew-in-our-eternal-life-have/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) [Explore all 134 Alphonse de Lamartine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) ## More Crime quotes > [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/) [Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/) > [“Crime and punishment can be summed up in two classifications: there are bad people and there are people who get into bad situations. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnie-dent-jr/crime-and-punishment-can-be-summed-up-in-two-classifications-there/) [Johnnie Dent Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnie-dent-jr/) > [With 'Pretty Girls,' I saw the opportunity to talk not just about crime but what crime leaves behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/with-pretty-girls-i-saw-the-opportunity-to-talk-not-just-about-crime/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [“The jailers, the Court, everyone in that building – it wasn’t about justice; it was about obedience and intimidation…about maintaining order. Fear accomplished that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-allan/the-jailers-the-court-everyone-in-that-building-it-wasn-t-about/) [Jay Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-allan/) > [Taking notes while watching Forensic Files and Snapped. I don't want to make the same mistakes the criminals do! ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/taking-notes-while-watching-forensic-files-and-snapped-i-don-t-want/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/nations-sometimes-flourish-by-denying-the-crimes-that-brought-them/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [“a crime to fell a tree and light it on fire, where coals of hardened shit warmed and stunk up homes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-crime-to-fell-a-tree-and-light-it-on-fire-where-coals-of-hardened/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. 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