--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You may not understand this, but I don't…" description: "\"“You may not understand this, but I don't think it matters killing people so long as you don't hate them. I also think that there are times when you ca..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/george-orwell-57_killing-people_you-may-not-understand-this-but-i-don-t_1213053.jpg" --- # You may not understand this, but I don't think it matters… ![“You may not understand this, but I don't think it matters killing people so long as you don't hate them. I also think that there are times when you can only show your feeling of brotherhood for someone else by killing him, or trying to. I believe most ordinary people feel this and would make a…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/george-orwell-57_killing-people_you-may-not-understand-this-but-i-don-t_1213053.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/george-orwell-57_killing-people_you-may-not-understand-this-but-i-don-t_1213053.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/george-orwell-57_killing-people_you-may-not-understand-this-but-i-don-t_1213053.jpg) > ““You may not understand this, but I don't think it matters killing people so long as you don't hate them. I also think that there are times when you can only show your feeling of brotherhood for someone else by killing him, or trying to. I believe most ordinary people feel this and would make a peace in that sense if they had any say in the matter. There has been very little popular resistance to this war, and also very little hatred. It is a job that has to be done.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Killing may be justified if it prevents greater hatred, but moral ambiguity remains. **In simple terms:** Violence can be seen as necessary, yet conflicted. Key Takeaway Question the ethics of violence. Themes war morality humanity conflict Mood thought‑provoking critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - Military decisions - peace negotiations - personal conscience Key Concepts Just war theory ethical relativism psychology of aggression Questions to Reflect On - Is killing ever truly justified? - How does hatred influence moral choices? A Different Perspective Risk of normalizing violence and ignoring non‑violent solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brotherhood Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brotherhood-killing-3686112/) [Feeling Brotherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-brotherhood-1506113/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Killing people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing-people/) [Matters Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matters-killing-3686113/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [The Son of God became incarnate in the souls of men to instill the feeling of brotherhood. All are brothers and all children of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-son-of-god-became-incarnate-in-the-souls-of-men-to-instill-the/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [For a better, happier, more stable and civilized future, each of us must develop a sincere, warm-hearted feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/for-a-better-happier-more-stable-and-civilized-future-each-of-us-must/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [“Once you've played for someone, sweated blood for them, won and lost games for them, then that person is transformed forever in your eyes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/once-you-ve-played-for-someone-sweated-blood-for-them-won-and-lost/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [The American Negro has no conception of the hundreds of millions of other non-whites' concern for him: he has no conception of their feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/the-american-negro-has-no-conception-of-the-hundreds-of-millions-of/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Develop the feeling of brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/develop-the-feeling-of-brotherhood-of-man-and-fatherhood-of-god/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [The main objection to killing people as a punishment...is that killing people is wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/the-main-objection-to-killing-people-as-a-punishment-is-that-killing/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [I've never had a car. Like I can drive, but I'm always at the risk of killing people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/i-ve-never-had-a-car-like-i-can-drive-but-i-m-always-at-the-risk-of/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [Even the best weapon is an unhappy tool, hateful to living things. So the follower of the Way stays away from it. Weapons are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/even-the-best-weapon-is-an-unhappy-tool-hateful-to-living-things-so/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Don't fret. We'll just have to find something else you're good at besides killing people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-b-dunkle/don-t-fret-we-ll-just-have-to-find-something-else-you-re-good-at/) [Clare B. Dunkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-b-dunkle/) > [You've got this world, these pathologists that are, day in and day out, taking apart bodies, coming up with theories about how they died…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-ventimiglia/you-ve-got-this-world-these-pathologists-that-are-day-in-and-day-out/) [Milo Ventimiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-ventimiglia/) > [If you think about it, Washington's overwhelming power in the world is founded on death, the awesome arsenal for killing people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-greider/if-you-think-about-it-washington-s-overwhelming-power-in-the-world-is/) [William Greider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-greider/) > [Kira is evil ... There's no denying that ... But lately I've been starting to think of it more like this ... The real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsugumi-ohba/kira-is-evil-there-s-no-denying-that-but-lately-i-ve-been-starting-to/) [Tsugumi Ohba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsugumi-ohba/) > [A lot of people heard 'Murda Business' and thought it was about killing people, trying to be tough and hardcore. If you actually listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-azalea/a-lot-of-people-heard-murda-business-and-thought-it-was-about-killing/) [Iggy Azalea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-azalea/) > [What? Had a dry spell of killing people lately? (Susan) As a matter of fact, yes. If it doesn’t end soon, I might get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/what-had-a-dry-spell-of-killing-people-lately-susan-as-a-matter-of/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [ The best way to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood \[in Egypt\] is in the ballot box, not through arrests and killing people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/the-best-way-to-marginalize-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-egypt-is-in-the/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Killing quotes > [ The best way to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood \[in Egypt\] is in the ballot box, not through arrests and killing people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/the-best-way-to-marginalize-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-egypt-is-in-the/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-religion-has-mandated-killing-others-as-a-requirement-for-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua/i-don-t-enjoy-killing-but-when-done-righteously-it-s-just-a-chore/) [Joshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua/) > [Many years ago I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realised, 'I am killing him - all for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mccartney/many-years-ago-i-was-fishing-and-as-i-was-reeling-in-the-poor-fish-i/) [Paul McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mccartney/) > [Killing shit the ever so talented Mr. Ripley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/killing-shit-the-ever-so-talented-mr-ripley/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [Humans had always been better at killing than any other living thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/humans-had-always-been-better-at-killing-than-any-other-living-thing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Those old hypocrites. They talk about killing witches but the Good Book’s full of magic. Turning the Nile to blood and parting the Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/those-old-hypocrites-they-talk-about-killing-witches-but-the-good/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [Muses had a way of killing those whom they inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-neville/muses-had-a-way-of-killing-those-whom-they-inspired/) [Katherine Neville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-neville/) > [“I would ask what it is you think you're doing, but... you are a teenager. I should have known better than to leave you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-would-ask-what-it-is-you-think-you-re-doing-but-you-are-a-teenager/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [You don't bargain with terrorists. You don't appease terrorists. And anybody who believes that this is about something we've done has to ask themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chertoff/you-don-t-bargain-with-terrorists-you-don-t-appease-terrorists-and/) [Michael Chertoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chertoff/) > [Yelena.” I halted in the doorway, looking back over my shoulder. “You once said I wasn’t ready to believe your reason for killing Reyad.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/yelena-i-halted-in-the-doorway-looking-back-over-my-shoulder-you-once/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [Killing became the same thing as having sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-lee-lucas/killing-became-the-same-thing-as-having-sex/) [Henry Lee Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-lee-lucas/) > [“English: "Being an adult doesn't mean killing the child we once were; it means being able to protect him." Česky: „Být dospělým neznamená zabít…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebasti-n-wortys/english-being-an-adult-doesn-t-mean-killing-the-child-we-once-were-it/) [Sebastián Wortys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebasti-n-wortys/) > [If both parties have a stake in the other, the chances of them killing each other are going to be reduced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/if-both-parties-have-a-stake-in-the-other-the-chances-of-them-killing/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [Dancing with death meant being committed to killing, committed with your heart and soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-goodkind/dancing-with-death-meant-being-committed-to-killing-committed-with/) [Terry Goodkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-goodkind/) [Browse all 2,564 Killing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You may not understand this, but I don't think it matters killing people so long as you don't hate them. 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