Arrogance Quote by Jacob Bronowski
“This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This is where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: The Holocaust Remembrance, 1965
Arrogance, dogma, and ignorance enable atrocities; truth and humility are essential to prevent dehumanization.
In simple terms: Blind certainty leads to evil; humility prevents cruelty.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate humility and critical thinking.
Themes
history
ethics
human rights
Mood
somber
reflective
Type
historical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- education
- policy making
- memorials
- media coverage
Key Concepts
arrogance
dogma
ignorance
dehumanization
Questions to Reflect On
- How can societies guard against collective arrogance?
- What role does education play in preventing cruelty?
A Different Perspective
The quote may oversimplify complex causes of genocide.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
