--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Few things in life can be so appalling as…" description: "\"Few things in life can be so appalling as the difference between a dry antiseptic statement of a principle by a well spoken man in a quiet office, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png" --- # Few things in life can be so appalling as the difference… ![“Few things in life can be so appalling as the difference between a dry antiseptic statement of a principle by a well spoken man in a quiet office, and what happens to people when that principle is put into practice.” quote by John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png) > “Few things in life can be so appalling as the difference between a dry antiseptic statement of a principle by a well spoken man in a quiet office, and what happens to people when that principle is put into practice.” [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Principles sound noble in theory but can cause harm when applied without nuance. **In simple terms:** Ideas can be dangerous when acted on blindly. Key Takeaway Consider real-world impact before implementing ideas. Themes principles theory practice ethics Mood cautious critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - business strategy - public policy - medical guidelines - education reform Key Concepts policy implementation human behavior organizational dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you test a principle before applying it? - What safeguards can prevent negative outcomes? A Different Perspective Idealistic statements may overlook complexities and unintended consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Office](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/office/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Things in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-in-life/) ## Related quotes > [Humor was an antiseptic that cleaned the deepest of personal wounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/humor-was-an-antiseptic-that-cleaned-the-deepest-of-personal-wounds/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [Fighting the Taliban and the various radical organizations on the front lines is like adding a Band-Aid to a cut, it may stop the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy/fighting-the-taliban-and-the-various-radical-organizations-on-the/) [Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy/) > [New York's not exactly antiseptic. It could be clean and less dangerous, and not horrible, not under a tidal wave of tourists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/new-york-s-not-exactly-antiseptic-it-could-be-clean-and-less/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [“Dr. Lister, who treated the wounded Pres. Garfield, had been so stung by the medical establishment's reaction to his embrace of African-American doctors that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-millard/dr-lister-who-treated-the-wounded-pres-garfield-had-been-so-stung-by/) [Candice Millard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-millard/) > [“Some of the most powerful antiseptic essential oils include lavender oil, tea tree oil, and clove oil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/althea-press/some-of-the-most-powerful-antiseptic-essential-oils-include-lavender/) [Althea Press](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/althea-press/) > [“In the antiseptic world we try to purge ourselves of difficult things. Don't dwell on it, switch off the light and go home. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/in-the-antiseptic-world-we-try-to-purge-ourselves-of-difficult-things/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [The whole of Cornwall has become antiseptic. When I was growing up in St. Austell, the county was wonderfully rough and workish. 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I get into microphone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tituss-burgess/meanwhile-someone-is-shining-my-head-to-get-it-dry-to-attach-my-top/) [Tituss Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tituss-burgess/) ## More by John Kenneth Galbraith > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“Men can labor to make sense out of single steps toward the goal without ever pausing to reflect that the goal itself is ludicrous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/men-can-labor-to-make-sense-out-of-single-steps-toward-the-goal/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [That one never need to look beyond the love of money for explanation of human behavior is one of the most jealously guarded simplification…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/that-one-never-need-to-look-beyond-the-love-of-money-for-explanation/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [If we were not in Vietnam, all that part of the world would be enjoying the obscurity it so richly deserves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/if-we-were-not-in-vietnam-all-that-part-of-the-world-would-be/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Washington is a place where men praise courage and act on elaborate personal cost-benefit calculations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/washington-is-a-place-where-men-praise-courage-and-act-on-elaborate/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [World War II revealed two of the enduring features of the Keynesian Revolution. One was the moral difference between spending for welfare and spending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/world-war-ii-revealed-two-of-the-enduring-features-of-the-keynesian/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Money is what fueled the industrial society. But in the informational society, the fuel, the power, is knowledge. 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It has not been the devil's policy to keep the masses of mankind in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/a-bad-book-is-the-worse-that-it-cannot-repent-it-has-not-been-the/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Genius is a rising stock market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/genius-is-a-rising-stock-market/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Mr. David Stockman has said that supply-side economics was merely a cover for the trickle-down approach to economic policy—what an older and less elegant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/mr-david-stockman-has-said-that-supply-side-economics-was-merely-a/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed. 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By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) Jennifer Siebel Newsom > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [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/) > [Shortly after I turned 50, both Ted Turner and the AARP came into my life. The only difference? With AARP, there were benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/shortly-after-i-turned-50-both-ted-turner-and-the-aarp-came-into-my/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. 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B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) [Browse all 8,110 Differences quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Few things in life can be so appalling as the difference between a dry antiseptic statement of a principle by a well spoken man in a quiet office, and what happens to people when that principle is put into practice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-as-the-difference-between-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Differences" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-as-the-difference-between-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d7/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_differences_few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-a_1398331.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Few things in life can be so appalling as the difference between a dry antiseptic statement of a principle…” — John Kenneth Galbraith", "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": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Few things in life can be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-as-the-difference-between-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/few-things-in-life-can-be-so-appalling-as-the-difference-between-a/#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 } } ] } ```