--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Martin Buber suggested that evil…" description: "\"Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed because of the inability of man to imagine the real. Yet human beings do have that capacity. Lord Byron, a p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png" --- # Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed because of the… ![“Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed because of the inability of man to imagine the real. Yet human beings do have that capacity. Lord Byron, a poet favored by Alfred Nobel, captured the stark essence of a post-nuclear world in his poem Darkness:” quote by Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png) > “Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed because of the inability of man to imagine the real. Yet human beings do have that capacity. Lord Byron, a poet favored by Alfred Nobel, captured the stark essence of a post-nuclear world in his poem Darkness:” [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Evil spreads when people cannot envision a true reality, yet humans can imagine it. **In simple terms:** Evil thrives on lack of imagination; we can imagine truth. Key Takeaway Cultivate imagination to counteract evil. Themes evil imagination reality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education reform - media literacy - conflict resolution Key Concepts philosophy human nature Questions to Reflect On - How can we teach imaginative thinking? - What barriers prevent people from seeing reality? A Different Perspective Imagination alone may not change entrenched systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Essence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essence/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobel/) [Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“We take comfort in the notion of an unbridgeable gulf between good and evil, but maybe we should understand, as Zimbardo's work suggested, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-bauer/we-take-comfort-in-the-notion-of-an-unbridgeable-gulf-between-good/) Shane Bauer > [“What do ego-lessness and becoming unattached mean in connection with today's mystical way in the form of resistance? . . . What is missing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-soelle/what-do-ego-lessness-and-becoming-unattached-mean-in-connection-with/) [Dorothee Soelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-soelle/) > [Every person born into the world represents something new, something that never existed before, something original and unique…If there had been someone like her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/every-person-born-into-the-world-represents-something-new-something/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [“A person should realize that conflict situations between oneself and others are nothing but the effects of conflict situations in one’s own soul. MARTIN…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rosen/a-person-should-realize-that-conflict-situations-between-oneself-and/) [Mark Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rosen/) > [“Most of all I found myself listening- listening in the acutely active way that makes dialogue a truly hermeneutical act. Hermeneutics is the science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-w-fowler/most-of-all-i-found-myself-listening-listening-in-the-acutely-active/) [James W. Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-w-fowler/) > [All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. - Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/all-journeys-have-secret-destinations-of-which-the-traveler-is/) [Aroha Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroha-janet/) > [“The connection between radical attentiveness, prayer, and joy pervades Jewish mystical thinking in its diverse phases but never so brightly, so every-day-related, and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-soelle/the-connection-between-radical-attentiveness-prayer-and-joy-pervades/) [Dorothee Soelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-soelle/) > [“Closer attention to beliefs, mindsets and outlooks releases us from ideological and often moralizing categories; it reveals some shared aspirations, hopes, bitterness and dread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/closer-attention-to-beliefs-mindsets-and-outlooks-releases-us-from/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Martin Buber said he sensed a rising hunger for relatedness Men would no longer rise in rebellion merely against one oppressor or another but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/martin-buber-said-he-sensed-a-rising-hunger-for-relatedness-men-would/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [“You cannot mend the chromosome, quell the earthquake, or stanch the flood. You cannot atone for the dead tyrants’ murders and you alone cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/you-cannot-mend-the-chromosome-quell-the-earthquake-or-stanch-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“One eats in holiness and the table becomes an altar. Martin Buber”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-shaw-judson/one-eats-in-holiness-and-the-table-becomes-an-altar-martin-buber/) Sylvia Shaw Judson > [“Zen Buddhism, for example, as practiced by Suzuki, the excellent Japanese mystic, has nothing to do with the superstitious and predjudiced Buddhism that infested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcelo-ramos-motta/zen-buddhism-for-example-as-practiced-by-suzuki-the-excellent/) Marcelo Ramos Motta > [“Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, who died in 1965, wrote of how the mere thought of the infinite led him to contemplate suicide: “A necessity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/jewish-philosopher-martin-buber-who-died-in-1965-wrote-of-how-the/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [“All the dilemmas and questions of today were known in ethics more than 2,000 years ago. All the greatest teachers of mankind whether prophets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alija-izetbegovic/all-the-dilemmas-and-questions-of-today-were-known-in-ethics-more/) [Alija Izetbegović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alija-izetbegovic/) > [Then the highest state of love is prayerfulness. In prayerfulness there is communion. In sex there is the I/it relationship, in love the I/thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/then-the-highest-state-of-love-is-prayerfulness-in-prayerfulness/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Bernard Lown > [Once a new paradigm takes hold, its acceptance is extraordinarily rapid and one finds few who claim to have adhered to a discarded method.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/once-a-new-paradigm-takes-hold-its-acceptance-is-extraordinarily/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [We physicians have focused on the nuclear threat as the singular issue of our era. We are not indifferent to other human rights and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/we-physicians-have-focused-on-the-nuclear-threat-as-the-singular/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [Nuclear bombs have made mass murder a reality. Nuclear bombs threaten humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/nuclear-bombs-have-made-mass-murder-a-reality-nuclear-bombs-threaten/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [Do as much as possible for the patient, and as little as possible to the patient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/do-as-much-as-possible-for-the-patient-and-as-little-as-possible-to/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [Nuclear weapons will not be gotten rid of until the United States confronts the magnitude of the horror, the tragedy, and the long-term suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/nuclear-weapons-will-not-be-gotten-rid-of-until-the-united-states/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [Some of life's biggest and most positive changes are propelled by mini conspiracies of a few well-meaning folks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/some-of-life-s-biggest-and-most-positive-changes-are-propelled-by/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [The International Declaration of Human Rights says the right to housing, health, education should be guaranteed to everyone. The moment these things are provided,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/the-international-declaration-of-human-rights-says-the-right-to/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [We must convince each generation that they are but transient passengers on this planet earth. It does not belong to them. They are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/we-must-convince-each-generation-that-they-are-but-transient/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [I see nuclear weapons as the ultimate evil, not just evil, but the ultimate evil with the potential to make life unlivable on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/i-see-nuclear-weapons-as-the-ultimate-evil-not-just-evil-but-the/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [The security provided by a long-held belief system, even when poorly founded, is a strong impediment to progress. General acceptance of a practice becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/the-security-provided-by-a-long-held-belief-system-even-when-poorly/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [In my view, the lost art of listening and ignoring the patient as a human being is a quintessential failure of our health care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/in-my-view-the-lost-art-of-listening-and-ignoring-the-patient-as-a/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [As long as we rationalize nuclear weapons as "necessary" in order to save American lives, then nuclear weapons will never be gotten rid of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/as-long-as-we-rationalize-nuclear-weapons-as-necessary-in-order-to/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) [Explore all 13 Bernard Lown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) ## More Byron quotes > [You know what really made me sick? I was in Washington, D.C. at another time reading in a paper where the U.S. gives Byron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/you-know-what-really-made-me-sick-i-was-in-washington-d-c-at-another/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [“Byron listened quietly, thinking to himself how people everywhere are about the same, but that it did seem that in a small town, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/byron-listened-quietly-thinking-to-himself-how-people-everywhere-are/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Young Byron thundered on. 'Is there not blood enough on your penal code, that more must be poured forth to ascend to Heaven and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-k-rizzolo/young-byron-thundered-on-is-there-not-blood-enough-on-your-penal-code/) S.K. Rizzolo > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person. Nothing is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-such-thing-on-earth-as-an-uninteresting-subject-the-only/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm John Clare now. I was Byron and Shakespeare formerly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/i-m-john-clare-now-i-was-byron-and-shakespeare-formerly/) [John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/) > [I am encouraged as I look at some of those who have listened to their "different drum": Einstein was hopeless at school math and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/i-am-encouraged-as-i-look-at-some-of-those-who-have-listened-to-their/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [In the future, a new generation of artists will be writing genomes as fluently as Blake and Byron wrote verses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/in-the-future-a-new-generation-of-artists-will-be-writing-genomes-as/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Id love to own Newstead, partly because it belonged to Lord Byron, but also to try to uncover what dark secrets really lie beneath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-maitland/id-love-to-own-newstead-partly-because-it-belonged-to-lord-byron-but/) [Karen Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-maitland/) > [“THE ANGLER "I live not in myself, but I become Portion of that around me; and to me High mountains are a feeling, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barker-bradford/the-angler-i-live-not-in-myself-but-i-become-portion-of-that-around/) Charles Barker Bradford > [From the poetry of Lord Byron they drew a system of ethics compounded of misanthropy and voluptuousness,-a system in which the two great commandments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/from-the-poetry-of-lord-byron-they-drew-a-system-of-ethics-compounded/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [“You're not beautiful," he said in a quiet statement that made her brow knit. "Why do you look beautiful when you're not?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/you-re-not-beautiful-he-said-in-a-quiet-statement-that-made-her-brow/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [I think one of the both liberating and terrifying prospects from synthetic biology for example is that you are going to have all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-silva/i-think-one-of-the-both-liberating-and-terrifying-prospects-from/) [Jason Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-silva/) > [“poor Byron, whose car had been run over by an autopiloted eighteen-wheeler on Valentine’s Day, about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/poor-byron-whose-car-had-been-run-over-by-an-autopiloted-eighteen/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I am, as far as I can tell, about a month behind Lord Byron. In every town we stop at we discover innkeepers, postillions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-clarke/i-am-as-far-as-i-can-tell-about-a-month-behind-lord-byron-in-every/) [Susanna Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-clarke/) Browse all 95 Byron quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed because of the inability of man to imagine the real. Yet human beings do have that capacity. Lord Byron, a poet favored by Alfred Nobel, captured the stark essence of a post-nuclear world in his poem Darkness:", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bernard Lown" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevailed-because-of-the-inability/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Byron" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevailed-because-of-the-inability/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/bernard-lown-35376_byron_martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevail_497271.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed because of the inability of man to imagine the real. Yet human…” — Bernard Lown", "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": "Bernard Lown", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Martin Buber suggested that evil prevailed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevailed-because-of-the-inability/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/martin-buber-suggested-that-evil-prevailed-because-of-the-inability/#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 } } ] } ```