--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is important to act as if bearing…" description: "\"It is important to act as if bearing witness matters.\" — Maxine Kumin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png" --- # It is important to act as if bearing witness matters. ![“It is important to act as if bearing witness matters.” quote by Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png) > “It is important to act as if bearing witness matters.” [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She emphasizes the moral importance of bearing witness to events, implying that observation carries responsibility. **In simple terms:** Witnessing matters morally. Key Takeaway Take responsibility for what you observe. Themes ethics observation activism Mood reflective urgent Type poetic activist When to use this quote - human rights monitoring - journalism - community advocacy Key Concepts moral duty social consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How does bearing witness inspire change? - What obligations arise from observation? A Different Perspective Witnessing alone may not lead to action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bearing witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bearing-witness/) ## Related quotes > [“Trust a witness in all matters in which neither his self-interest, his passions, his prejudices, nor the love of the marvellous is strongly concerned.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/trust-a-witness-in-all-matters-in-which-neither-his-self-interest-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The older you get, the more important it is to act your age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-older-you-get-the-more-important-it-is-to-act-your-age/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The older you get, the more important it is to not act your age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/the-older-you-get-the-more-important-it-is-to-not-act-your-age/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [“I sing, not to hear the echo repeat, a shade fainter, my song! I think of light and not of glory! Singing is my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-rostand/i-sing-not-to-hear-the-echo-repeat-a-shade-fainter-my-song-i-think-of/) [Edmond Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-rostand/) > [“I had read once, in one of those pre-plague books in the library, that love was bearing witness. That it was the act of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-carey/i-had-read-once-in-one-of-those-pre-plague-books-in-the-library-that/) [Anna Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-carey/) > [The concept of a literature of witness - of bearing witness - has embedded in it the need for action. One must not simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-alberto-urrea/the-concept-of-a-literature-of-witness-of-bearing-witness-has/) [Luis Alberto Urrea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-alberto-urrea/) > [An Eskimo custom offers an angry person release by walking the emotion out of his or her system in a straight line across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eskimo-custom-offers-an-angry-person-release-by-walking-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Individuals bearing witness do not change history; only movements that understand their social world can do that. Movements encourage solidarity; the moral individual is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/individuals-bearing-witness-do-not-change-history-only-movements-that/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [We know what boredom is: it is a dull Impatience or a fierce velleity, A champing wish, stalled by our lassitude, To make or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wilbur/we-know-what-boredom-is-it-is-a-dull-impatience-or-a-fierce-velleity/) [Richard Wilbur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wilbur/) > [“What is courage?" I ask. "Bearing witness. That is a form of courage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stern/what-is-courage-i-ask-bearing-witness-that-is-a-form-of-courage/) [Jessica Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stern/) > [“There are many perks to living for twenty-one centuries, and foremost among them is bearing witness to the rare birth of genius. It invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/there-are-many-perks-to-living-for-twenty-one-centuries-and-foremost/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [“The discipline of witness takes seriously the biblical mandate of bearing witness to Jesus by building nonmanipulative relationships with eternity in view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-d-boa/the-discipline-of-witness-takes-seriously-the-biblical-mandate-of/) [Kenneth D. Boa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-d-boa/) > [Was it the act of giving birth that made you a mother? Did you lose that label when you relinquished your child? If people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/was-it-the-act-of-giving-birth-that-made-you-a-mother-did-you-lose/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Let me close by bearing witness (and my nine decades on this earth fully qualify me to say this) that the older I get,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/let-me-close-by-bearing-witness-and-my-nine-decades-on-this-earth/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Photography is a weapon against what's wrong out there. It's bearing witness to the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-stirton/photography-is-a-weapon-against-what-s-wrong-out-there-it-s-bearing/) Brent Stirton ## More by Maxine Kumin > [Poetry makes nothing happen. It survives in the valley of its saying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/poetry-makes-nothing-happen-it-survives-in-the-valley-of-its-saying/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [There is an extraordinary degree of amity among Washington poets. They hang together. You would be hard pressed to find that in Manhattan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/there-is-an-extraordinary-degree-of-amity-among-washington-poets-they/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [I don't think I've ever felt terribly comfortable writing about my body. First of all, I think I took my body for granted for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-felt-terribly-comfortable-writing-about-my/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [The time on either side of now stands fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/the-time-on-either-side-of-now-stands-fast/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [God serves the choosy. They know what to want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/god-serves-the-choosy-they-know-what-to-want/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [And the pond's stillness nippled as if by rain instead is pocked with life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/and-the-pond-s-stillness-nippled-as-if-by-rain-instead-is-pocked-with/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [Women are not supposed to have uteruses, especially in poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/women-are-not-supposed-to-have-uteruses-especially-in-poems/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [To build is to dwell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/to-build-is-to-dwell/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [... people get confidential at midnight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/people-get-confidential-at-midnight/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [I would not recommend poetry as a career. In the first place, it's impossible in this time and place - in this culture -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/i-would-not-recommend-poetry-as-a-career-in-the-first-place-it-s/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [A lot of people use the dictionary to find out how to spell words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/a-lot-of-people-use-the-dictionary-to-find-out-how-to-spell-words/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [So many poems you go into and come up empty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/so-many-poems-you-go-into-and-come-up-empty/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [Everything pays for growing tame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/everything-pays-for-growing-tame/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [When Sleeping Beauty wakes up, she is almost fifty years old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/when-sleeping-beauty-wakes-up-she-is-almost-fifty-years-old/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) > [If I'm working on a poem, it's at the forefront of my mind; I'm working on it when I'm cooking dinner or stretched out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/if-i-m-working-on-a-poem-it-s-at-the-forefront-of-my-mind-i-m-working/) [Maxine Kumin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) [Explore all 41 Maxine Kumin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/) ## More Bearing witness quotes > [“As his ears rang and his heart broke for her, he stayed strong against the gale force she let loose. After all, there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/as-his-ears-rang-and-his-heart-broke-for-her-he-stayed-strong-against/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [Photography is a weapon against what's wrong out there. It's bearing witness to the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-stirton/photography-is-a-weapon-against-what-s-wrong-out-there-it-s-bearing/) Brent Stirton > [Let me close by bearing witness (and my nine decades on this earth fully qualify me to say this) that the older I get,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/let-me-close-by-bearing-witness-and-my-nine-decades-on-this-earth/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Was it the act of giving birth that made you a mother? Did you lose that label when you relinquished your child? If people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/was-it-the-act-of-giving-birth-that-made-you-a-mother-did-you-lose/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“The discipline of witness takes seriously the biblical mandate of bearing witness to Jesus by building nonmanipulative relationships with eternity in view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-d-boa/the-discipline-of-witness-takes-seriously-the-biblical-mandate-of/) [Kenneth D. Boa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-d-boa/) > [“There are many perks to living for twenty-one centuries, and foremost among them is bearing witness to the rare birth of genius. It invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/there-are-many-perks-to-living-for-twenty-one-centuries-and-foremost/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [ “...\[Nature\] ever bearing witness against man that he has deliberately chosen ugliness instead of beauty...” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-morris/nature-ever-bearing-witness-against-man-that-he-has-deliberately/) [William Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-morris/) > [“What is courage?" I ask. "Bearing witness. That is a form of courage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stern/what-is-courage-i-ask-bearing-witness-that-is-a-form-of-courage/) [Jessica Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stern/) > [We know what boredom is: it is a dull Impatience or a fierce velleity, A champing wish, stalled by our lassitude, To make or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wilbur/we-know-what-boredom-is-it-is-a-dull-impatience-or-a-fierce-velleity/) [Richard Wilbur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wilbur/) > [Individuals bearing witness do not change history; only movements that understand their social world can do that. Movements encourage solidarity; the moral individual is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/individuals-bearing-witness-do-not-change-history-only-movements-that/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [“Modern 3D cinema technology works by ensuring your left eye sees one image while your right sees another. But they could, presumably, issue one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/modern-3d-cinema-technology-works-by-ensuring-your-left-eye-sees-one/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [An Eskimo custom offers an angry person release by walking the emotion out of his or her system in a straight line across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eskimo-custom-offers-an-angry-person-release-by-walking-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The concept of a literature of witness - of bearing witness - has embedded in it the need for action. One must not simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-alberto-urrea/the-concept-of-a-literature-of-witness-of-bearing-witness-has/) [Luis Alberto Urrea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-alberto-urrea/) > [“I had read once, in one of those pre-plague books in the library, that love was bearing witness. That it was the act of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-carey/i-had-read-once-in-one-of-those-pre-plague-books-in-the-library-that/) [Anna Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-carey/) > [“I sing, not to hear the echo repeat, a shade fainter, my song! I think of light and not of glory! Singing is my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-rostand/i-sing-not-to-hear-the-echo-repeat-a-shade-fainter-my-song-i-think-of/) [Edmond Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-rostand/) [Browse all 74 Bearing witness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bearing-witness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is important to act as if bearing witness matters.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maxine Kumin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-witness-matters/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bearing witness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-witness-matters/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/maxine-kumin-16101_bearing-witness_it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-wit_874931.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is important to act as if bearing witness matters.” — Maxine Kumin", "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": "Maxine Kumin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-kumin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is important to act as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-witness-matters/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-kumin/it-is-important-to-act-as-if-bearing-witness-matters/#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 } } ] } ```