--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What people call impartiality may simply…" description: "\"What people call impartiality may simply mean indifference, and what people call partiality may simply mean mental activity.\" — Gilbert K. Chesterton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7b/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_impartiality_what-people-call-impartiality-may-simply_2690728.png" --- # What people call impartiality may simply mean… ![“What people call impartiality may simply mean indifference, and what people call partiality may simply mean mental activity.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7b/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_impartiality_what-people-call-impartiality-may-simply_2690728.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7b/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_impartiality_what-people-call-impartiality-may-simply_2690728.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7b/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_impartiality_what-people-call-impartiality-may-simply_2690728.png) > “What people call impartiality may simply mean indifference, and what people call partiality may simply mean mental activity.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Impartiality can be passive indifference; partiality can be active engagement **In simple terms:** Being neutral may mean doing nothing; bias can drive action Key Takeaway Recognize when neutrality hinders progress Themes ethics perception action Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - political debate - personal relationships - social activism Key Concepts bias indifference motivation Questions to Reflect On - When does bias become beneficial? - Can indifference be a moral stance? A Different Perspective Neutrality isn’t always virtuous ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Impartiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impartiality/) [Indifference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifference/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Partiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partiality/) [Partiality Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partiality-simply-2655942/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Impartiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-impartiality-2655941/) [People Partiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-partiality-2655940/) ## Related quotes > [“When fairness disappears from the public discuss of any nation, when partiality replaces impartiality, God begins to look”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/when-fairness-disappears-from-the-public-discuss-of-any-nation-when/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Discernment is a power of the understanding in which few excel. Is not that owing to its connection with impartiality and truth? for are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/discernment-is-a-power-of-the-understanding-in-which-few-excel-is-not/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Impartiality is not neutrality. It is partiality for justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/impartiality-is-not-neutrality-it-is-partiality-for-justice/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/excessive-partiality-for-one-foreign-nation-and-excessive-dislike-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [With regard to Banks, they have taken too deep and too wide a root in social transactions, to be got rid of altogether, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/with-regard-to-banks-they-have-taken-too-deep-and-too-wide-a-root-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Some people would regard people who look like they do as ugly if they did not look like them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-would-regard-people-who-look-like-they-do-as-ugly-if-they/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Time, so complain'd of, Who to no one man Shows partiality, Brings round to all men Some undimm'd hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/time-so-complain-d-of-who-to-no-one-man-shows-partiality-brings-round/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Smitten as we are with the vision of social righteousness, a God indifferent to everything but adulation, and full of partiality for his individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/smitten-as-we-are-with-the-vision-of-social-righteousness-a-god/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I have developed a very strong partiality for the dead: they don't talk back, they don't sue, and they don't have angry relatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/i-have-developed-a-very-strong-partiality-for-the-dead-they-don-t/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“That our selves and all men are apt and prone to differ it is no new Thing in all former Ages in all parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/that-our-selves-and-all-men-are-apt-and-prone-to-differ-it-is-no-new/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [Who does not know history's first law to be that an author must not dare to tell anything but the truth? And its second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/who-does-not-know-history-s-first-law-to-be-that-an-author-must-not/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [We can make ourselves whole only by accepting our partiality, by living within our limits, by being humans not by trying to be gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-can-make-ourselves-whole-only-by-accepting-our-partiality-by/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The republic I fell in love with, the republic I risked my life to defend, the values I hold dear, the integrity that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-west/the-republic-i-fell-in-love-with-the-republic-i-risked-my-life-to/) [Allen West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-west/) > [We can today open wide the history of their administrations and point with pride to every act, and challenge the world to point out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/we-can-today-open-wide-the-history-of-their-administrations-and-point/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldwin-smith/the-novelist-must-look-on-humanity-without-partiality-or-prejudice/) [Goldwin Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldwin-smith/) ## More by Gilbert K. Chesterton > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Impartiality quotes > [“A good judge is not one who is impartial, but one who has prejudice for good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/a-good-judge-is-not-one-who-is-impartial-but-one-who-has-prejudice/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [I know some people believe impartiality is key, and it's necessary in some situations, but in others - if something is so fundamentally wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-dooley/i-know-some-people-believe-impartiality-is-key-and-it-s-necessary-in/) [Stacey Dooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-dooley/) > [The job of a judge is to figure out what the law says, not what he wants it to say. There is a difference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-thomas/the-job-of-a-judge-is-to-figure-out-what-the-law-says-not-what-he/) [Clarence Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-thomas/) > [Our impartiality is kept for abstract merit and demerit, which none of us ever saw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/our-impartiality-is-kept-for-abstract-merit-and-demerit-which-none-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Protestations of impartiality I shall make none. Theyare always useless and are besides perfect nonsense, when used bya news-monger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/protestations-of-impartiality-i-shall-make-none-theyare-always/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) > [My guiding principle will be justice and complete impartiality, and I am sure that with your support and co-operation, I can look forward to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali-jinnah/my-guiding-principle-will-be-justice-and-complete-impartiality-and-i/) [Muhammad Ali Jinnah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali-jinnah/) > [In reasoning upon moral subjects, we have great occasion for candor, in order to compare circumstances, and weigh arguments with impartiality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-emmons/in-reasoning-upon-moral-subjects-we-have-great-occasion-for-candor-in/) [Nathanael Emmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-emmons/) > [My father and I were always on the most distant terms when I was a boy--a sort of armed neutrality, so to speak. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-father-and-i-were-always-on-the-most-distant-terms-when-i-was-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Giese was an unemotional man, but then in the study of Solaris emotion is a hindrance to the explorer. Imagination and premature theorizing are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/giese-was-an-unemotional-man-but-then-in-the-study-of-solaris-emotion/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nowadays people seem to imagine that impartiality means readiness to treat lies and truth the same, to hold white as bad as black and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orde-charles-wingate/nowadays-people-seem-to-imagine-that-impartiality-means-readiness-to/) [Orde Charles Wingate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orde-charles-wingate/) > [“The hardest task for the historian… is to consider the evidence without prejudice. We all have prior agendas and tend to find what we’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-evans/the-hardest-task-for-the-historian-is-to-consider-the-evidence/) [Christopher Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-evans/) > [Bias and impartiality is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/bias-and-impartiality-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Justice is impartiality. Only strangers are impartial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/justice-is-impartiality-only-strangers-are-impartial/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Impartiality is not neutrality. It is partiality for justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/impartiality-is-not-neutrality-it-is-partiality-for-justice/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [“Scientists were the embodiment of this new-fangled sobriety—impartial, businesslike, colorless, and reliable. Or so people assumed. For in actual practice, it was their supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-van-reybrouck/scientists-were-the-embodiment-of-this-new-fangled-sobriety-impartial/) [David Van Reybrouck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-van-reybrouck/) [Browse all 72 Impartiality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impartiality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What people call impartiality may simply mean indifference, and what people call partiality may simply mean mental activity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gilbert K. 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