--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was a slow understanding that my…" description: "\"It was a slow understanding that my kidnappers really are a product of their environment.\" — Amanda Lindhout" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg" --- # It was a slow understanding that my kidnappers really are… ![“It was a slow understanding that my kidnappers really are a product of their environment.” quote by Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg) > “It was a slow understanding that my kidnappers really are a product of their environment.” [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding kidnappers as shaped by their environment fosters empathy and insight. **In simple terms:** Kidnappers are products of their environment. Key Takeaway Consider context when judging others. Themes empathy environment crime Mood thoughtful serious Type memoir analytical When to use this quote - conflict resolution - rehabilitation programs - personal healing Key Concepts social psychology human behavior Questions to Reflect On - How does context affect moral judgment? - What limits exist to empathy? A Different Perspective May risk excusing harmful actions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Kidnappers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kidnappers/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [It was a slow understanding that the lack of education in a country like Somalia creates these huge social problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-the-lack-of-education-in-a-country/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [If I had to create a god, I would lend him a “slow understanding”: a kind of drip-by-drip understanding of problems. People who understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/if-i-had-to-create-a-god-i-would-lend-him-a-slow-understanding-a-kind/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Don't expose your weaknesses. People are slow at understanding you, but very quick at taking advantage of the things you say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-expose-your-weaknesses-people-are-slow-at-understanding-you-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I give you my word that, until I started to tramp the place with this child, I never had a notion that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/i-give-you-my-word-that-until-i-started-to-tramp-the-place-with-this/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [Your Ex asking to be friends after breaking up is like Kidnappers asking to keep in touch after letting you go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicky/your-ex-asking-to-be-friends-after-breaking-up-is-like-kidnappers/) [Vicky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicky/) > [One thing I can't stand is late kidnappers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-tork/one-thing-i-can-t-stand-is-late-kidnappers/) [Peter Tork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-tork/) > [“There had been no kidnapped boys swabbing the decks and earning pats on the head from white kidnappers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/there-had-been-no-kidnapped-boys-swabbing-the-decks-and-earning-pats/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [If abortion is murder then, are condoms kidnappers?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muz-mafuwane/if-abortion-is-murder-then-are-condoms-kidnappers/) Muz Mafuwane > [“Is kidnapping kidnappers still kidnapping?" Miles mused. "Yes," said Roic, unhelpfully. "Not that NewEgypt is likely to bring charges." "Naw, they'd do something else."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/is-kidnapping-kidnappers-still-kidnapping-miles-mused-yes-said-roic/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [Sarah, honey, I hardly think kidnappers are going to take the time to buy a memento of their stay. I could be wrong, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/sarah-honey-i-hardly-think-kidnappers-are-going-to-take-the-time-to/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [“Our society needs criminals like Wolfgang Priklopil in order to give a face to the evil that lives within and to split it off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natascha-kampusch/our-society-needs-criminals-like-wolfgang-priklopil-in-order-to-give/) [Natascha Kampusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natascha-kampusch/) > [I've been told not to tour down in Mexico. I am too well-known now. The kidnappers may think that my publisher will pay a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-alberto-urrea/i-ve-been-told-not-to-tour-down-in-mexico-i-am-too-well-known-now-the/) [Luis Alberto Urrea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-alberto-urrea/) > [“Dex was the boy who’d tackled the kidnappers so she could try to get away. He’d suffered in silence as they burned him over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-messenger/dex-was-the-boy-who-d-tackled-the-kidnappers-so-she-could-try-to-get/) [Shannon Messenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-messenger/) > [When I was a kid I got no respect. The time I was kidnapped, and the kidnappers sent my parents a note they said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/when-i-was-a-kid-i-got-no-respect-the-time-i-was-kidnapped-and-the/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [How a kidnapping ends depends to a large degree on who the kidnappers are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuliana-sgrena/how-a-kidnapping-ends-depends-to-a-large-degree-on-who-the-kidnappers/) [Giuliana Sgrena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuliana-sgrena/) ## More by Amanda Lindhout > [The countries with the greatest problems have the kindest people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/the-countries-with-the-greatest-problems-have-the-kindest-people/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [I'm afraid of elevators, because they are an enclosed space, but I get in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/i-m-afraid-of-elevators-because-they-are-an-enclosed-space-but-i-get/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [I know firsthand how critical support systems are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/i-know-firsthand-how-critical-support-systems-are/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [Contemplating Christmas when you are isolated and far from home brings its own unique pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/contemplating-christmas-when-you-are-isolated-and-far-from-home/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [ “I'd spent my life believing that people were, at heart, kind and good. This was what the world had shown me. \[...\] If humans… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/i-d-spent-my-life-believing-that-people-were-at-heart-kind-and-good/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [After spending 460 days as a hostage, I did emerge a fundamentally changed person. But I think, like everyone does as they grow older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/after-spending-460-days-as-a-hostage-i-did-emerge-a-fundamentally/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [I think that I find a lot of my healing out in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/i-think-that-i-find-a-lot-of-my-healing-out-in-the-world/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [I swung from one place to the next, sometimes backward, sometimes forward, capitalizing on my own momentum, knowing that at some point my arms—or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/i-swung-from-one-place-to-the-next-sometimes-backward-sometimes/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [“After almost seven months in Baghdad, I set my sights on Somalia. The reasons to do it seemed straightforward. Somalia was a mess. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/after-almost-seven-months-in-baghdad-i-set-my-sights-on-somalia-the/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [The big-time journalists generally had kidnapping insurance through their news organizations. Usually, it would pay for a crisis response company to help negotiate for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/the-big-time-journalists-generally-had-kidnapping-insurance-through/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [It was a slow understanding that the lack of education in a country like Somalia creates these huge social problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-the-lack-of-education-in-a-country/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [Somalia is very dangerous, and no one knows that better than I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/somalia-is-very-dangerous-and-no-one-knows-that-better-than-i/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [“I did not mention that my father was home with his gay lover and that I was in Bangladesh on vacation from my job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/i-did-not-mention-that-my-father-was-home-with-his-gay-lover-and-that/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [War dehumanizes everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/war-dehumanizes-everyone/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [Sometimes it's nice for people not to know anything about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/sometimes-it-s-nice-for-people-not-to-know-anything-about-me/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) [Explore all 82 Amanda Lindhout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) ## More Environment quotes > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [This welfare for wealthy companies wastes taxpayer dollars, harms the environment, and makes a mockery of the recent reductions in federal social spending programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/this-welfare-for-wealthy-companies-wastes-taxpayer-dollars-harms-the/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [They paved paradise and put up a parkin lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/they-paved-paradise-and-put-up-a-parkin-lot-with-a-pink-hotel-a/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/to-assist-a-child-we-must-provide-him-with-an-environment-which-will/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Daily life is both the subject and environment of the work I am making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-henrot/daily-life-is-both-the-subject-and-environment-of-the-work-i-am-making/) [Camille Henrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-henrot/) > [If, as I anticipate, a wide array of personal, portable information/communication devices becomes increasingly important and widespread for information-intensive users, it will be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-as-i-anticipate-a-wide-array-of-personal-portable-information/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are many more traits that the climate deniers share with the creationists and Holocaust deniers and others who distort the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-r-prothero/there-are-many-more-traits-that-the-climate-deniers-share-with-the/) [Donald R. Prothero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-r-prothero/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [It's the same with this idea of a literate public, and also of a democracy in which people have access to and really read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/it-s-the-same-with-this-idea-of-a-literate-public-and-also-of-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Of course, learning is strengthened and solidified when it occurs in a safe, secure and normal environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-bertrand-aristide/of-course-learning-is-strengthened-and-solidified-when-it-occurs-in-a/) [Jean-Bertrand Aristide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-bertrand-aristide/) [Browse all 8,669 Environment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was a slow understanding that my kidnappers really are a product of their environment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amanda Lindhout" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidnappers-really-are-a-product/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Environment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidnappers-really-are-a-product/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69c/amanda-lindhout-8267_environment_it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidn_277504.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was a slow understanding that my kidnappers really are a product of their environment.” — Amanda Lindhout", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amanda Lindhout", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It was a slow understanding that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidnappers-really-are-a-product/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/it-was-a-slow-understanding-that-my-kidnappers-really-are-a-product/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```