--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Indeed, it would be great if we could all…" description: "\"Indeed, it would be great if we could all be liberated through reason, but I think it only gets us part of the way. After all, someone may have a very ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/judith-butler-1374_aggression_indeed-it-would-be-great-if-we-could-all_3013755.jpg" --- # Indeed, it would be great if we could all be liberated… ![“Indeed, it would be great if we could all be liberated through reason, but I think it only gets us part of the way. After all, someone may have a very logical view, but for other reasons we may still fail to hear what that person says, or we may turn their words around so that they are understood…” quote by Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/judith-butler-1374_aggression_indeed-it-would-be-great-if-we-could-all_3013755.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/judith-butler-1374_aggression_indeed-it-would-be-great-if-we-could-all_3013755.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/judith-butler-1374_aggression_indeed-it-would-be-great-if-we-could-all_3013755.jpg) > “Indeed, it would be great if we could all be liberated through reason, but I think it only gets us part of the way. After all, someone may have a very logical view, but for other reasons we may still fail to hear what that person says, or we may turn their words around so that they are understood to say the opposite. The task is really to find ways of addressing deep-seated forms of fear and aggression that make it possible to hold to manifestly inconsistent views without quite acknowledging them.” [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reason alone cannot fully free us; we must also confront deep‑seated fear and aggression that prevent us from genuinely hearing opposing views. **In simple terms:** Reason needs emotional work. Key Takeaway Address fear to hear dissent. Themes dialogue fear aggression reason Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political debate - conflict resolution - personal growth Key Concepts critical theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - What fears block open dialogue? - How can we engage with contradictory ideas constructively? A Different Perspective May underestimate the power of irrational forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aggression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) [Failing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failing/) [Fear Aggression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-aggression-3102897/) [Inconsistent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inconsistent/) [Liberated Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberated-reason-2005109/) [Logical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logical/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-think-320107/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Where there is fear there is aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/where-there-is-fear-there-is-aggression/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [The individual who has been liberated by reason is always running head-on into a world, a society, whose past in the shape of 'prejudices'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-individual-who-has-been-liberated-by-reason-is-always-running/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“The dissociation between fear and aggression is evident in violent psychopaths, who are the antithesis of fearful—both physiologically and subjectively they are less reactive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/the-dissociation-between-fear-and-aggression-is-evident-in-violent/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) > [“The growing number of gated communities in our nation is but one example of the obsession with safety. With guards at the gate, individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/the-growing-number-of-gated-communities-in-our-nation-is-but-one/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [I never really cared, never had reason to. When I think about it, I probably should have. Question is, Is it worth it ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leeanna-wilson/i-never-really-cared-never-had-reason-to-when-i-think-about-it-i/) [Leeanna Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leeanna-wilson/) > [I don't think happiness is necessarily the reason we're here. I think we're here to learn and evolve, and the pursuit of knowledge is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sting/i-don-t-think-happiness-is-necessarily-the-reason-we-re-here-i-think/) [Sting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sting/) > [“Why do we trust one another so little? I know there must be a reason, but still I sometimes think it's horrible that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/why-do-we-trust-one-another-so-little-i-know-there-must-be-a-reason/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [“You’re the voice of reason. You think of the things we forget about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendare-blake/you-re-the-voice-of-reason-you-think-of-the-things-we-forget-about/) [Kendare Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendare-blake/) > [You are never upset for the reason you think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/you-are-never-upset-for-the-reason-you-think/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I'm trying to make some sense out of the phrase "Everything happens for a reason," and I think I've figured out what the reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/i-m-trying-to-make-some-sense-out-of-the-phrase-everything-happens/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [The people who control the condition in which we live have no reason to think beyond more than the next five or 10 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-people-who-control-the-condition-in-which-we-live-have-no-reason/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [“Because I think everything happens for a reason and I think we need to go through shit sometimes to strengthen ourselves for whatever happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-halle/because-i-think-everything-happens-for-a-reason-and-i-think-we-need/) [Karina Halle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-halle/) > [The low points are there for a good reason. I think they can teach you a life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-shaw/the-low-points-are-there-for-a-good-reason-i-think-they-can-teach-you/) [Suzanne Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-shaw/) > [I think everything in life happens for a reason. I always think there's room for me to improve as a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-washington/i-think-everything-in-life-happens-for-a-reason-i-always-think-there/) [Kerry Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-washington/) > [I am never upset for the reason I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-schucman/i-am-never-upset-for-the-reason-i-think/) [Helen Schucman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-schucman/) ## More by Judith Butler > [I don't think we have to have a personal relation to a life lost to understand that something terrible has taken place, especially in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-don-t-think-we-have-to-have-a-personal-relation-to-a-life-lost-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [We need a legal and political understanding of the right of the refugee, whereby no solution for one group produces a new class of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-need-a-legal-and-political-understanding-of-the-right-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/when-we-say-gender-is-performed-we-usually-mean-that-we-ve-taken-on-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Cameras help to minimize collateral damage, and very often, without a camera a missile cannot fire. Certainly, without a camera a drone can't function,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/cameras-help-to-minimize-collateral-damage-and-very-often-without-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I would say that I'm a feminist theorist before I'm a queer theorist or a gay and lesbian theorist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-would-say-that-i-m-a-feminist-theorist-before-i-m-a-queer-theorist/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Very often, if you just get the question: "Well, are you a Zionist?" if you say no, it's assumed that you want the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/very-often-if-you-just-get-the-question-well-are-you-a-zionist-if-you/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Sexual harassment law is very important. But I think it would be a mistake if the sexual harassment law movement is the only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/sexual-harassment-law-is-very-important-but-i-think-it-would-be-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s-not-ok-to-decide-that-an/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Let's face it. We're undone by each other. And if we're not, we're missing something. If this seems so clearly the case with grief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/let-s-face-it-we-re-undone-by-each-other-and-if-we-re-not-we-re/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [The pleasurable part of public mourning can also lead to a sense of self-sanctification that justifies in advance any war effort, whether or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/the-pleasurable-part-of-public-mourning-can-also-lead-to-a-sense-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“There is no life without the conditions of life that variably sustain life, and those conditions are pervasively social, establishing not the discrete ontology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/there-is-no-life-without-the-conditions-of-life-that-variably-sustain/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“That the power regimes of heterosexism and phallogocentrism seek to augment themselves through a constant repetition of their logic, their metaphysic, and their naturalized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/that-the-power-regimes-of-heterosexism-and-phallogocentrism-seek-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I think that public grieving is a good thing. People need to be grieved; loss needs to be acknowledged publicly, because it helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-think-that-public-grieving-is-a-good-thing-people-need-to-be/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Maybe we need to start with the rethinking of what is "west" and what is "non-west." It seems to me that there are any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/maybe-we-need-to-start-with-the-rethinking-of-what-is-west-and-what/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [It will not do to say that international law is the enemy of the Jewish people, since the Jewish people surely did not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/it-will-not-do-to-say-that-international-law-is-the-enemy-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) [Explore all 248 Judith Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## More Aggression quotes > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-namajunas/i-used-to-fight-with-hate-there-s-been-a-lot-of-aggression-in-my-past/) [Rose Namajunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-namajunas/) > [We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-nothing-in-our-history-or-position-to-invite-aggression-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Boxing can be so important to young people, it keeps you off the street and you can channel your energy and aggression in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-benn/boxing-can-be-so-important-to-young-people-it-keeps-you-off-the/) [Nigel Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-benn/) > [“That which is of great value cannot be attained through aggression. You will be able to find the mystery of life only if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/that-which-is-of-great-value-cannot-be-attained-through-aggression/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-society-that-presumes-a-norm-of-violence-and-celebrates-aggression/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [I can remember watching MTV Cribs - these amazing houses - and looking around my house where there was no carpet on the floors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bugzy-malone/i-can-remember-watching-mtv-cribs-these-amazing-houses-and-looking/) [Bugzy Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bugzy-malone/) > [Nationalism, on my opinion, is nothing more than an idealistic rationalization for militarism and aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/nationalism-on-my-opinion-is-nothing-more-than-an-idealistic/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I really like battle ropes. They're so versatile; you can get a terrific workout doing a ton of different exercises with them. My clients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-peterson/i-really-like-battle-ropes-they-re-so-versatile-you-can-get-a/) [Gunnar Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-peterson/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) [Empress Dowager Cixi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empress-dowager-cixi/) > [I'm not going to appeal to violence or aggression - of course not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-navalny/i-m-not-going-to-appeal-to-violence-or-aggression-of-course-not/) [Alexei Navalny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-navalny/) > [This is passive-aggression in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/this-is-passive-aggression-in-action/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult, we call it hostility. When an adult hits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-a-child-hits-a-child-we-call-it-aggression-when-a-child-hits-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) [Browse all 860 Aggression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Indeed, it would be great if we could all be liberated through reason, but I think it only gets us part of the way. 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