--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The application of collective guilt…" description: "\"The application of collective guilt, running from one generation to another, is a dangerous doctrine which would leave few modern nations unscathed.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/margaret-thatcher-463_application_the-application-of-collective-guilt-runn_805305.jpg" --- # The application of collective guilt, running from one… ![“The application of collective guilt, running from one generation to another, is a dangerous doctrine which would leave few modern nations unscathed.” quote by Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/margaret-thatcher-463_application_the-application-of-collective-guilt-runn_805305.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/margaret-thatcher-463_application_the-application-of-collective-guilt-runn_805305.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/margaret-thatcher-463_application_the-application-of-collective-guilt-runn_805305.jpg) > “The application of collective guilt, running from one generation to another, is a dangerous doctrine which would leave few modern nations unscathed.” [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collective guilt passed through generations harms societies, urging individuals to break the cycle. **In simple terms:** Inherited guilt harms nations. Key Takeaway Reject inherited blame. Themes history collective responsibility political doctrine Mood serious political Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - education - social healing Key Concepts intergenerational trauma national identity Questions to Reflect On - How can societies heal from past wrongs? - What role does collective memory play? A Different Perspective Some guilt may be justified for accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) ## Related quotes > [I don't believe in collective guilt, but I do believe in collective responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/i-don-t-believe-in-collective-guilt-but-i-do-believe-in-collective/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [To consider judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/to-consider-judges-as-the-ultimate-arbiters-of-all-constitutional/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“I do not believe in this command leadership. Dangerous doctrine 'yan ha. Because you cannot know everything your men do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teodoro-a-agoncillo/i-do-not-believe-in-this-command-leadership-dangerous-doctrine-yan-ha/) [Teodoro A. Agoncillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teodoro-a-agoncillo/) > [Surely, nothing can be more dangerous than the doctrine that the moral obligations of men change with the latitude and longitude of a place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lloyd-garrison/surely-nothing-can-be-more-dangerous-than-the-doctrine-that-the-moral/) [William Lloyd Garrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lloyd-garrison/) > [I consider it an extremely dangerous doctrine, because the more likely we are to assume that the solution comes from the outside, the less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-consider-it-an-extremely-dangerous-doctrine-because-the-more-likely/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“there is no collective guilt,...guilt is individual, like salvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-forsyth/there-is-no-collective-guilt-guilt-is-individual-like-salvation/) [Frederick Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-forsyth/) > [I do not believe in collective guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-do-not-believe-in-collective-guilt/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I don't believe in collective guilt. The children of killers are not killers, but children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-don-t-believe-in-collective-guilt-the-children-of-killers-are-not/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [As for the concept of collective guilt, I personally think that it is totally unjustified to hold one person responsible for the behavior of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-for-the-concept-of-collective-guilt-i-personally-think-that-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Collective guilt is borne by what is conventionally called the scapegoat. Now the scapegoat for white society - which is based on myths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/collective-guilt-is-borne-by-what-is-conventionally-called-the/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“Still, among the critics of the concept of collective guilt, Bultmann was one of the few who spoke of a collective responsibility of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hammann-konrad/still-among-the-critics-of-the-concept-of-collective-guilt-bultmann/) [Hammann Konrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hammann-konrad/) > [There is no such thing as collective guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-waldheim/there-is-no-such-thing-as-collective-guilt/) Kurt Waldheim > [Punishment is now unfashionable... because it creates moral distinctions among men, which, to the democratic mind, are odious. We prefer a meaningless collective guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/punishment-is-now-unfashionable-because-it-creates-moral-distinctions/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/where-all-are-guilty-no-one-is-confessions-of-collective-guilt-are/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We prefer a meaningless collective guilt to a meaningful individual responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-prefer-a-meaningless-collective-guilt-to-a-meaningful-individual/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) ## More by Margaret Thatcher > [When you stop a dictator, there are always risks. 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