--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To preserve our absolute categories or…" description: "\"“To preserve our absolute categories or ideals at the expense of human lives offends equally against the principles of science and of history; it is an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/isaiah-berlin-10150_equality_to-preserve-our-absolute-categories-or-i_1278101.jpg" --- # To preserve our absolute categories or ideals at the… ![“To preserve our absolute categories or ideals at the expense of human lives offends equally against the principles of science and of history; it is an attitude found in equal measure on the right and left wings in our days, and is not reconcilable with the principles accepted by those who respect…” quote by Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/isaiah-berlin-10150_equality_to-preserve-our-absolute-categories-or-i_1278101.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/isaiah-berlin-10150_equality_to-preserve-our-absolute-categories-or-i_1278101.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/isaiah-berlin-10150_equality_to-preserve-our-absolute-categories-or-i_1278101.jpg) > ““To preserve our absolute categories or ideals at the expense of human lives offends equally against the principles of science and of history; it is an attitude found in equal measure on the right and left wings in our days, and is not reconcilable with the principles accepted by those who respect the facts.”” [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Holding ideals above human lives harms both science and history, and is found across political extremes. **In simple terms:** Ideals that ignore human cost damage truth. Key Takeaway Balance ideals with humanity. Themes ethics science politics history Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - academic research - public discourse - humanitarian work Key Concepts moral philosophy political ideology Questions to Reflect On - How can we protect human life while pursuing ideals? - What role should facts play in politics? 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Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) ## More by Isaiah Berlin > [Those who have ever valued liberty for its own sake believed that to be free to choose, and not to be chosen for, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/those-who-have-ever-valued-liberty-for-its-own-sake-believed-that-to/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-is-liberty-not-equality-or-fairness-or-justice-or-human/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The world that we encounter in ordinary experience is one in which we are faced by choices equally absolute, the realisation of some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-world-that-we-encounter-in-ordinary-experience-is-one-in-which-we/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Philosophers are adults who persist in asking childish questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/philosophers-are-adults-who-persist-in-asking-childish-questions/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The history of society is the history of the inventive labors that man alter man, alter his desires, habits, outlook, relationships both to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-history-of-society-is-the-history-of-the-inventive-labors-that/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing completely straight was ever made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/out-of-the-crooked-timber-of-humanity-nothing-completely-straight-was/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Utopias have their value -- nothing so wonderfully expands the imaginative horizons of human potentialities -- but as guides to conduct they can prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/utopias-have-their-value-nothing-so-wonderfully-expands-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Both liberty and equality are among the primary goals pursued by human beings throughout many centuries; but total liberty for wolves is death to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/both-liberty-and-equality-are-among-the-primary-goals-pursued-by/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [All forms of tampering with human beings, getting at them, shaping them against their will to your own pattern, all thought control and conditioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/all-forms-of-tampering-with-human-beings-getting-at-them-shaping-them/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The case against the notion of historical objectivity is like the case against international law, or international morality; that it does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-case-against-the-notion-of-historical-objectivity-is-like-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“True pluralism, as Berlin understands it, is much more tough-minded and intellectually bold: it rejects the view that all conflicts of values can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/true-pluralism-as-berlin-understands-it-is-much-more-tough-minded-and/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-and-equality-spontaneity-and-security-happiness-and-knowledge/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [To understand is to perceive patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/to-understand-is-to-perceive-patterns/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The view that the truth is one and undivided, and the same for all men everywhere at all times, whether one finds it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-view-that-the-truth-is-one-and-undivided-and-the-same-for-all-men/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The most passionate, consistent, extreme and implacable enemy of the Enlightenment and ... all forms of rationalism ... was Johann Georg Hamann. His influence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-most-passionate-consistent-extreme-and-implacable-enemy-of-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) [Explore all 64 Isaiah Berlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## More Equality quotes > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [Nothing says the party is over more than when you run out of ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rande-gerber/nothing-says-the-party-is-over-more-than-when-you-run-out-of-ice/) [Rande Gerber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rande-gerber/) > [I hope that we always have diversity, that we have equality and representation every step of the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsai-martin/i-hope-that-we-always-have-diversity-that-we-have-equality-and/) [Marsai Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsai-martin/) > [“Unless man is commited to the belief that all mankind are his brothers, then he labours in vain and hypocritically in the vineyards of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-clayton-powell/unless-man-is-commited-to-the-belief-that-all-mankind-are-his/) Adam Clayton Powell > [I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. 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