--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more that you dehumanize somebody…" description: "\"The more that you dehumanize somebody, the easier it is to kill them... deport them... do whatever you can.\" — Cheri Honkala" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg" --- # The more that you dehumanize somebody, the easier it is to… ![“The more that you dehumanize somebody, the easier it is to kill them... deport them... do whatever you can.” quote by Cheri Honkala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg) > “The more that you dehumanize somebody, the easier it is to kill them... deport them... do whatever you can.” Cheri Honkala ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dehumanizing people makes it easier to justify violence or oppression against them. **In simple terms:** Seeing others as less human enables cruelty. Key Takeaway Recognize shared humanity. Themes human rights violence empathy politics activism Mood urgent serious Type activist educational When to use this quote - policy debates - community organizing - media narratives Key Concepts dehumanization moral psychology Questions to Reflect On - How to counter dehumanization? - What policies protect vulnerable groups? A Different Perspective Complex systemic factors also drive violence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dehumanize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dehumanize/) ## Related quotes > [It's generally much easier to kill an organization than to change it substantially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/it-s-generally-much-easier-to-kill-an-organization-than-to-change-it/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“This is, of course, how they want us: panicked, weak, and separated. 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You’re not so prejudiced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-s-easier-to-kill-people-when-you-re-dead-yourself-she-told-him-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Strange as it may seem—or perhaps it does not seem so strange—they all had the same thought: it was so much easier to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/strange-as-it-may-seem-or-perhaps-it-does-not-seem-so-strange-they/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [It’s easier to kill people, when you’re dead yourself. I mean, it’s not such a big deal. You’re not so prejudiced any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-s-easier-to-kill-people-when-you-re-dead-yourself-i-mean-it-s-not/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [It is easier to kill than to heal. It is easier to destroy than to preserve. It is easier to tear down than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bishop/it-is-easier-to-kill-than-to-heal-it-is-easier-to-destroy-than-to/) [Anne Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bishop/) > [When one nation is at war with another nation, the political machine does everything it can to vilify the people of the other nation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-siddig/when-one-nation-is-at-war-with-another-nation-the-political-machine/) [Alexander Siddig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-siddig/) > [“It’s always easier to kill someone else’s darlings than it is to kill your own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-s-always-easier-to-kill-someone-else-s-darlings-than-it-is-to-kill/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I'm just saying it's easier to kill a cat than dispose of a car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dobbin/i-m-just-saying-it-s-easier-to-kill-a-cat-than-dispose-of-a-car/) [John Dobbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dobbin/) > [In early times, it was easier to control a million people than to kill a million. Today, it is infinitely easier to to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/in-early-times-it-was-easier-to-control-a-million-people-than-to-kill/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [Donald Trump proposes to deport 16 million people, 11 million who are here without documents. And both Donald Trump and Mike Pence want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-kaine/donald-trump-proposes-to-deport-16-million-people-11-million-who-are/) [Tim Kaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-kaine/) ## More by Cheri Honkala > [People are good people. If they know what's going on, and they can relate to it, they can be moved to do something. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/people-are-good-people-if-they-know-what-s-going-on-and-they-can/) Cheri Honkala > [It's easier to do horrible things to people if you don't really see them as people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/it-s-easier-to-do-horrible-things-to-people-if-you-don-t-really-see/) Cheri Honkala > [I think that my experience as a single mom getting into relationships in an impoverished district with men that don't have options resonates with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/i-think-that-my-experience-as-a-single-mom-getting-into-relationships/) Cheri Honkala Explore all 4 Cheri Honkala quotes ## More Dehumanize quotes > [“Any time we feel ourselves moved to outrage by the behavior of people we think of as them, have we, accidentally or deliberately, allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-time-we-feel-ourselves-moved-to-outrage-by-the-behavior-of-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you objectify a person living with dementia, you dehumanize them. Once dehumanized, the person becomes a villain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-demarco/when-you-objectify-a-person-living-with-dementia-you-dehumanize-them/) Bob DeMarco > [“There are two ways to dehumanize; the first is to strip people of all virtue; the second is to cleanse them of all sin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/there-are-two-ways-to-dehumanize-the-first-is-to-strip-people-of-all/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“But on Kwajalein, the guards sought to deprive them of something that had sustained them even as all else had been lost: dignity. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/but-on-kwajalein-the-guards-sought-to-deprive-them-of-something-that/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [I look at is as one single entity. I dehumanize the audience. This way, I don't get nervous, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-hickey/i-look-at-is-as-one-single-entity-i-dehumanize-the-audience-this-way/) [Kenny Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-hickey/) > [When we deny the EVIL within ourselves, we dehumanize ourselves, and we deprive ourselves not only of our own destiny but of any possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/when-we-deny-the-evil-within-ourselves-we-dehumanize-ourselves-and-we/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [We cannot expect to move forward or win anyone over to our side if we dehumanize the people we speak to. Productivity requires civility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-johnson/we-cannot-expect-to-move-forward-or-win-anyone-over-to-our-side-if-we/) [Mike Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-johnson/) > [Segregation is evil; there is no pattern of life which can dehumanize men as can the way of segregation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-smith/segregation-is-evil-there-is-no-pattern-of-life-which-can-dehumanize/) [Lillian Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-smith/) > [It's interesting to see the more femme that you present yourself, the more people sort of dehumanize you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-tranter/it-s-interesting-to-see-the-more-femme-that-you-present-yourself-the/) [Justin Tranter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-tranter/) > [ It \[culture\] invites people to diminish themselves, and dehumanize themselves by behaving like machines, meme processors of memes passed down from Madison Avenue, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/it-culture-invites-people-to-diminish-themselves-and-dehumanize/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The instant people specialize, it's in their interest to dehumanize the people their specialized function operates upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/the-instant-people-specialize-it-s-in-their-interest-to-dehumanize/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [When you dehumanize a group, there's lasting consequences because they know that they're being dehumanized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-carville/when-you-dehumanize-a-group-there-s-lasting-consequences-because-they/) [James Carville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-carville/) > [“The obsessions of others embarrass and repel because they seem to dehumanize, to make the obsessed one robotic and alien and unavailable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-castle/the-obsessions-of-others-embarrass-and-repel-because-they-seem-to/) Terry Castle > [Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coretta-scott-king/homophobia-is-like-racism-and-anti-semitism-and-other-forms-of-2/) [Coretta Scott King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coretta-scott-king/) > [There is a tendency to dehumanize kids that commit crimes. The system is focused on punishment, not on rehabilitation. These kids are the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/there-is-a-tendency-to-dehumanize-kids-that-commit-crimes-the-system/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) [Browse all 38 Dehumanize quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dehumanize/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The more that you dehumanize somebody, the easier it is to kill them... deport them... do whatever you can.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cheri Honkala" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-the-easier-it-is-to-kill-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dehumanize" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-the-easier-it-is-to-kill-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ab/cheri-honkala-72785_dehumanize_the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-th_2618817.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The more that you dehumanize somebody, the easier it is to kill them... deport them... do whatever you can.” — Cheri Honkala", "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": "Cheri Honkala", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheri-honkala/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The more that you dehumanize somebody,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-the-easier-it-is-to-kill-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-honkala/the-more-that-you-dehumanize-somebody-the-easier-it-is-to-kill-them/#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 } } ] } ```