--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human nature is not black and white but…" description: "\"Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg" --- # Human nature is not black and white but black and grey. ![“Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg) > “Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human behavior contains moral ambiguity, rarely purely good or evil. **In simple terms:** People are often morally ambiguous. Key Takeaway Accept complexity in judgments. Themes morality human nature ambiguity Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - political decisions - legal judgments Key Concepts ethical relativism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle gray moral areas? - What biases push you toward black‑and‑white thinking? A Different Perspective Oversimplification can ignore nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grey/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) ## Related quotes > [“Where there's black, even grey looks white,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-lukyanenko/where-there-s-black-even-grey-looks-white/) [Sergei Lukyanenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-lukyanenko/) > [I don't understand why everyone has to wear black, grey and white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/i-don-t-understand-why-everyone-has-to-wear-black-grey-and-white/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [The world is not black and white. More like black and grey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/the-world-is-not-black-and-white-more-like-black-and-grey/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [There is nothing gray about whether a follower of Christ should see 50 Shades of Grey. This is a black and white issue. Don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/there-is-nothing-gray-about-whether-a-follower-of-christ-should-see/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [I do not look at the world in terms of black and white - and I find people who do rather scary. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james-2/i-do-not-look-at-the-world-in-terms-of-black-and-white-and-i-find/) [E. L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james-2/) > [We shall be free only together, black and white. We shall survive only together, black and white. We can be human only together, black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/we-shall-be-free-only-together-black-and-white-we-shall-survive-only/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [I don't find anything black and white; I find grey in every person, and that is what excites me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vetrimaaran/i-don-t-find-anything-black-and-white-i-find-grey-in-every-person-and/) [Vetrimaaran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vetrimaaran/) > [We are all somewhere or the other a little grey, not black and white. We have our imperfections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kriti-sanon/we-are-all-somewhere-or-the-other-a-little-grey-not-black-and-white/) [Kriti Sanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kriti-sanon/) > [I prefer to work with grey characters rather than black and white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/i-prefer-to-work-with-grey-characters-rather-than-black-and-white/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [The Americans at heart are a pure and noble people; things to them are in black and white. It's either 'rawk' or it's not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/the-americans-at-heart-are-a-pure-and-noble-people-things-to-them-are/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [To me, most of life kind of lives in the grey and I don't just mean morally. I just mean kind of everything. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-paulson/to-me-most-of-life-kind-of-lives-in-the-grey-and-i-don-t-just-mean/) [Sarah Paulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-paulson/) > [Adulthood isn't black and white - it's a thousand shades of grey. Or taupe. It's not who you are, it's where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-noble/adulthood-isn-t-black-and-white-it-s-a-thousand-shades-of-grey-or/) [Elizabeth Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-noble/) > [“The car housed a hysterical bumper sticker: Save the Planet, and I permitted a moment of contemplation to truly bask in this thought. Save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-crown/the-car-housed-a-hysterical-bumper-sticker-save-the-planet-and-i/) [Bruce Crown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-crown/) > [I feel like the world we live in seems to be full of an increasingly grey area, but the culture that we live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bettany/i-feel-like-the-world-we-live-in-seems-to-be-full-of-an-increasingly/) [Paul Bettany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bettany/) > [Fairy tales thrive on black and white. In life, there's only grey - no bad guys, no good guys. You could be the Cheshire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-arre/fairy-tales-thrive-on-black-and-white-in-life-there-s-only-grey-no/) [Arnold Arre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-arre/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) Frank B. Wilderson III > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) Browse all 11,655 Black quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but-black-and-grey/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Black" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but-black-and-grey/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/graham-greene-441_black_human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but_620024.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Human nature is not black and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but-black-and-grey/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/human-nature-is-not-black-and-white-but-black-and-grey/#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 } } ] } ```