--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There can be no meaningful change if we…" description: "\"“There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look down at the arena of anguish from thirty thousand feet.”\" — Payam Akhavan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg" --- # There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look… ![“There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look down at the arena of anguish from thirty thousand feet.” quote by Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg) > ““There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look down at the arena of anguish from thirty thousand feet.”” [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Meaningful change cannot happen when we view suffering from a distant, detached perspective; we must engage directly. **In simple terms:** Change requires close, empathetic engagement. Key Takeaway Engage directly with suffering to create change. Themes social justice empathy activism Mood thoughtful inspirational Type social philosophical When to use this quote - humanitarian work - community organizing - policy reform Key Concepts engagement perspective human connection Questions to Reflect On - How does proximity affect our ability to help? - When is distance necessary for effective action? A Different Perspective It may underestimate the need for strategic distance in some analyses. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Anguish Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish-thirty-1857519/) [Arena Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arena-anguish-1857520/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Meaningful Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful-change-558797/) [Thirty Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty-thousand-580929/) ## Related quotes > [To effect meaningful change, you have to look at who's in the boardrooms, who has the financial control of businesses, and who has the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-dubuc/to-effect-meaningful-change-you-have-to-look-at-who-s-in-the/) [Nancy Dubuc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-dubuc/) > [Many change initiatives are poorly thought out, and rolled out prematurely. Others are genuinely good ideas but the proponents underestimate the amount of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-a-klein/many-change-initiatives-are-poorly-thought-out-and-rolled-out/) [Gary A. Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-a-klein/) > [I think we can achieve meaningful change, but only if we demand that the institutions themselves change their behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/i-think-we-can-achieve-meaningful-change-but-only-if-we-demand-that/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [In order to prepare for meaningful change, we have to look at both sides of the problem. We need to examine the output of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pogge/in-order-to-prepare-for-meaningful-change-we-have-to-look-at-both/) [Thomas Pogge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pogge/) > [“(I also believe that the most meaningful change, where individuals can triumph over both entropy and evolution as it were, comes when people use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/i-also-believe-that-the-most-meaningful-change-where-individuals-can/) [Samuel R. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-latham/i-don-t-believe-that-history-holds-easy-answers-or-simple-lessons/) [Jennifer Latham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-latham/) > [Set goals that are achievable. Bring about meaningful change one step at a time. Raising awareness is not enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-spira/set-goals-that-are-achievable-bring-about-meaningful-change-one-step/) [Henry Spira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-spira/) > [We believe strongly that all meaningful change comes from entrepreneurs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jurvetson/we-believe-strongly-that-all-meaningful-change-comes-from/) [Steve Jurvetson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jurvetson/) > [I don't know if any genuine, meaningful change could ever result from a song. It's kind of like throwing peanuts at a gorilla.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-don-t-know-if-any-genuine-meaningful-change-could-ever-result-from/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## More by Payam Akhavan > [I hate the tribal hatred thesis - in Yugoslavia and Rwanda and places like that they kill each other because that's just what people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/i-hate-the-tribal-hatred-thesis-in-yugoslavia-and-rwanda-and-places/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [We must sacrifice something in order to make the world better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/we-must-sacrifice-something-in-order-to-make-the-world-better/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [Helping survivors of residential schools in Canada is not the same as the UN sending in peacekeepers to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/helping-survivors-of-residential-schools-in-canada-is-not-the-same-as/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [We need to sacrifice something. And this is what I find lacking. We want to construct an image of ourselves as virtuous but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/we-need-to-sacrifice-something-and-this-is-what-i-find-lacking-we/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [Wounds simply won't heal if they are swept under the carpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/wounds-simply-won-t-heal-if-they-are-swept-under-the-carpet/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [The reason why the war ended in Bosnia was not because of amnesty but because a combined Croat-Bosnian offensive defeated the Serbs on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/the-reason-why-the-war-ended-in-bosnia-was-not-because-of-amnesty-but/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [Criminal trials are fundamentally about individual accountability whereas truth commissions are less about the guilt of the perpetrator and more about the suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/criminal-trials-are-fundamentally-about-individual-accountability/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [Storytelling is very important. It is through context and relations that we understand the importance of human dignity. The concept means nothing as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/storytelling-is-very-important-it-is-through-context-and-relations/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [In Yugoslavia we were told we were not only naive idealists in wanting war criminals to be prosecuted but that we were actually standing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/in-yugoslavia-we-were-told-we-were-not-only-naive-idealists-in/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [There are realities that one needs to deal with, but very often what we are told is political reality is merely cynicism. One could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-deal-with-but-very-often-what/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [When we deconstruct how radical evil occurs we realize that it is anything but spontaneous combustion. You need pyromaniacs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/when-we-deconstruct-how-radical-evil-occurs-we-realize-that-it-is/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [When I joined the UN War Crimes Tribunal, it was a realization of the dream of justice, that finally after Nuremberg, the UN is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/when-i-joined-the-un-war-crimes-tribunal-it-was-a-realization-of-the/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) > [In many instances violence - which obviously inflicts tremendous trauma on victims - also inflicts trauma on the perpetrator. Radical evil takes a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/in-many-instances-violence-which-obviously-inflicts-tremendous-trauma/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) [Explore all 14 Payam Akhavan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look down at the arena of anguish from thirty thousand feet.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Payam Akhavan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we-choose-to-look-down-at-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we-choose-to-look-down-at-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/payam-akhavan-33674_anguish_there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we_2590684.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There can be no meaningful change if we choose to look down at the arena of anguish from thirty thousand feet.” — Payam Akhavan", "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": "Payam Akhavan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There can be no meaningful change...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we-choose-to-look-down-at-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-can-be-no-meaningful-change-if-we-choose-to-look-down-at-the/#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 } } ] } ```