--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to…" description: "\"“...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be impersonal no longer.”\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png" --- # ...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be impersonal no… ![“...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be impersonal no longer.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png) > ““...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be impersonal no longer.”” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges moving from passive victimhood to active personal agency, rejecting impersonal tragedy. **In simple terms:** Stop being a passive victim. Key Takeaway Take active control. Themes agency victimhood personal power humanity Mood determined thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - overcoming trauma - social activism - personal crisis - ethical decision Key Concepts existential responsibility social critique self‑empowerment Questions to Reflect On - What impersonal forces limit you? - How can you reclaim agency? A Different Perspective May underestimate systemic constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eyes Impersonal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-impersonal-1589589/) [Impersonal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impersonal/) [Impersonal Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impersonal-tragedy-1589586/) [Profound-phrases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound-phrases-149974/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragedy Impersonal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-impersonal-1589587/) [Victim Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim-eyes-1589588/) ## Related quotes > [“You are never listening to what someone is saying, you are only ever listening to what you are hearing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-heywood/you-are-never-listening-to-what-someone-is-saying-you-are-only-ever/) [Julia Heywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-heywood/) > [Sometimes, particularly in summers in New York, I have tried to write in shorts or with no shirt on and found myself unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/sometimes-particularly-in-summers-in-new-york-i-have-tried-to-write/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [Philosophy: Impersonal anxiety; refuge among anemic ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/philosophy-impersonal-anxiety-refuge-among-anemic-ideas/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [It's two things: it's totally impersonal and it's totally personal, simultaneously. That's the nature of the mystical experience of life. Everything about life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/it-s-two-things-it-s-totally-impersonal-and-it-s-totally-personal/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [Scientists will forever have to live with the fact that their product is, in the end, impersonal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/scientists-will-forever-have-to-live-with-the-fact-that-their-product/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I used to say that I didn't want anything to do with e-mail. It seemed really impersonal, complicated and weird. 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But it turned out, when my father died, writing was exactly what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-suppose-i-often-think-of-my-writing-as-quite-impersonal-but-it/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“THE SKY IS MORE IMPERSONAL than the sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-sky-is-more-impersonal-than-the-sea/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“the impersonal and the personal are always connected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/the-impersonal-and-the-personal-are-always-connected/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [“Many people take it personally when we're impersonal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-goldstein/many-people-take-it-personally-when-we-re-impersonal/) [Emmanuel Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-goldstein/) > [An 'impersonal God'-well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads-better still. A formless life-force surging through us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-impersonal-god-well-and-good-a-subjective-god-of-beauty-truth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. 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I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More Impersonal quotes > [An 'impersonal God'-well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads-better still. A formless life-force surging through us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-impersonal-god-well-and-good-a-subjective-god-of-beauty-truth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Many people take it personally when we're impersonal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-goldstein/many-people-take-it-personally-when-we-re-impersonal/) [Emmanuel Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-goldstein/) > [“the impersonal and the personal are always connected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/the-impersonal-and-the-personal-are-always-connected/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [“THE SKY IS MORE IMPERSONAL than the sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-sky-is-more-impersonal-than-the-sea/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I suppose I often think of my writing as quite impersonal. But it turned out, when my father died, writing was exactly what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-suppose-i-often-think-of-my-writing-as-quite-impersonal-but-it/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [In the end, perhaps it will be the true romantics, not the nerds, who choose to flee from a world of impersonal, digitized relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-wilson/in-the-end-perhaps-it-will-be-the-true-romantics-not-the-nerds-who/) [Daniel H. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-wilson/) > [Technology has a shadow side. It accounts for real progress in medicine, but has also hurt it in many ways, making it more impersonal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-weil/technology-has-a-shadow-side-it-accounts-for-real-progress-in/) [Andrew Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-weil/) > [To transform a grimace into a sound sounds impossible, yet it is possible to transform a vision into music, to go outside an enslaved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/to-transform-a-grimace-into-a-sound-sounds-impossible-yet-it-is/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Nature is impersonal, awe-inspiring, elegant, eternal. It's geometrically perfect. It's tiny and gigantic. You can travel far to be in a beautiful natural setting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/nature-is-impersonal-awe-inspiring-elegant-eternal-it-s-geometrically/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [I used to say that I didn't want anything to do with e-mail. It seemed really impersonal, complicated and weird. I had no idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bd-wong/i-used-to-say-that-i-didn-t-want-anything-to-do-with-e-mail-it-seemed/) [BD Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bd-wong/) > [Scientists will forever have to live with the fact that their product is, in the end, impersonal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/scientists-will-forever-have-to-live-with-the-fact-that-their-product/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [It's two things: it's totally impersonal and it's totally personal, simultaneously. That's the nature of the mystical experience of life. Everything about life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/it-s-two-things-it-s-totally-impersonal-and-it-s-totally-personal/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [Philosophy: Impersonal anxiety; refuge among anemic ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/philosophy-impersonal-anxiety-refuge-among-anemic-ideas/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Sometimes, particularly in summers in New York, I have tried to write in shorts or with no shirt on and found myself unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/sometimes-particularly-in-summers-in-new-york-i-have-tried-to-write/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [The Impersonal God seen through the mists of sense is personal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-impersonal-god-seen-through-the-mists-of-sense-is-personal/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) [Browse all 42 Impersonal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impersonal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be impersonal no longer.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Lessing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be-impersonal-no-longer/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Impersonal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be-impersonal-no-longer/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/doris-lessing-501_impersonal_victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be_938994.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be impersonal no longer.” — Doris Lessing", "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": "Doris Lessing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“...Victim-eyes of impersonal tragedy, to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be-impersonal-no-longer/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/victim-eyes-of-impersonal-tragedy-to-be-impersonal-no-longer/#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 } } ] } ```