--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a democratic society, a wrongful…" description: "\"“In a democratic society, a wrongful practice persists only when most people don’t perceive it to be unjust. At first, only a small minority of aboliti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/peter-thiel-1311_slavery_in-a-democratic-society-a-wrongful-pract_1581070.png" --- # In a democratic society, a wrongful practice persists only… ![“In a democratic society, a wrongful practice persists only when most people don’t perceive it to be unjust. At first, only a small minority of abolitionists knew that slavery was evil; that view has rightly become conventional, but it was still a secret in the early 19th century. To say that there…” quote by Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/peter-thiel-1311_slavery_in-a-democratic-society-a-wrongful-pract_1581070.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/peter-thiel-1311_slavery_in-a-democratic-society-a-wrongful-pract_1581070.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/peter-thiel-1311_slavery_in-a-democratic-society-a-wrongful-pract_1581070.png) > ““In a democratic society, a wrongful practice persists only when most people don’t perceive it to be unjust. At first, only a small minority of abolitionists knew that slavery was evil; that view has rightly become conventional, but it was still a secret in the early 19th century. To say that there are no secrets left today would mean that we live in a society with no hidden injustices.”” [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies hide injustices when the majority fails to recognize them as wrong, allowing harmful practices to continue unnoticed. **In simple terms:** Hidden wrongs persist when most don’t see them as unjust. Key Takeaway Expose and challenge hidden injustices. Themes justice perception democracy ethics Mood critical reflective Type political ethical When to use this quote - policy reform - education campaigns - media investigations - grassroots activism Key Concepts social blind spots collective denial moral awakening Questions to Reflect On - What injustices are we overlooking today? - How can we make hidden harms visible? A Different Perspective Changing perceptions is slow and faces entrenched interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abolitionists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionists-527391/) [Abolitionists Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionists-knew-3157942/) [Hidden Injustices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hidden-injustices-5973414/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Slavery Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery-evil-498168/) [Society Wrongful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-wrongful-5973413/) ## Related quotes > [Wilberforce and the band of abolitionists knew that a private faith that did not act in the face of oppression was no faith at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/wilberforce-and-the-band-of-abolitionists-knew-that-a-private-faith/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [Negro slavery is an evil of colossal magnitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/negro-slavery-is-an-evil-of-colossal-magnitude/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [“Negro Slavery is an evil of Colossal magnitude and I am utterly averse to the admission of Slavery into the Missouri Territories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/negro-slavery-is-an-evil-of-colossal-magnitude-and-i-am-utterly/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Negro Slavery is an evil of Colossal magnitude. I am therefore utterly averse to the admission of Slavery into the Missouri Territory, and heartily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/negro-slavery-is-an-evil-of-colossal-magnitude-i-am-therefore-utterly/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Who freed the slaves? To the extent that they were ever u2018freed,' they were freed by the Thirteenth Amendment, which was authored and pressured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lerone-bennett-jr/who-freed-the-slaves-to-the-extent-that-they-were-ever-u2018freed/) [Lerone Bennett, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lerone-bennett-jr/) > [“Certain black women faced the triple hurdle—of being abolitionists in a slave society, of being black among white reformers, and of being women in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/certain-black-women-faced-the-triple-hurdle-of-being-abolitionists-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [We've actually bought quite a number of historical pieces. We are doing a piece on the abolitionists, Harper's Ferry and the abolitionist John Brown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-landgraf/we-ve-actually-bought-quite-a-number-of-historical-pieces-we-are/) [John Landgraf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-landgraf/) > [Oftentimes, a history book in school will talk about the Underground Railroad as if it's one sentence. But thousands of people decided to run,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurnee-smollett-bell/oftentimes-a-history-book-in-school-will-talk-about-the-underground/) [Jurnee Smollett-Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurnee-smollett-bell/) > [Is art influential? It can be - 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' rallied abolitionists, and 'The Jungle' provoked the demand for a safer food industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-shetterly/is-art-influential-it-can-be-uncle-tom-s-cabin-rallied-abolitionists/) [Will Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-shetterly/) > [Enslaving each other was what human beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/enslaving-each-other-was-what-human-beings-had-done-for-ages-and-the/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Everybody has asked the question, and they learned to ask it early of the abolitionists, 'What shall we do with the Negro?' I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/everybody-has-asked-the-question-and-they-learned-to-ask-it-early-of/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There are those who view the abolitionists as just maniacs, apolitical fanatics who helped to cause the war, and Lincoln is the model of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/there-are-those-who-view-the-abolitionists-as-just-maniacs-apolitical/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“Doak and other early abolitionists planted a host of Presbyterian churches and “log cabin colleges” that taught a strong antislavery doctrine. They laid the basis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-himes/doak-and-other-early-abolitionists-planted-a-host-of-presbyterian/) [Andrew Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-himes/) > [I was in favour of the death penalty, and disposed to regard abolitionists as people whose hearts were bigger than their heads. Four years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gowers/i-was-in-favour-of-the-death-penalty-and-disposed-to-regard/) [Ernest Gowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gowers/) > [Many abolitionists have yet to learn the ABC of woman's rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/many-abolitionists-have-yet-to-learn-the-abc-of-woman-s-rights/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) ## More by Peter Thiel > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. Pharmaceuticals, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology - all these areas where the progress has been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/people-don-t-want-to-believe-that-technology-is-broken/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [If you think about basic science or coming up with new theories of mathematics, these are not the kinds of things which are necessarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-think-about-basic-science-or-coming-up-with-new-theories-of/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [I think we have a bubble in the US in government bonds, because of the quantitative easing and the negative real interest rates, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/i-think-we-have-a-bubble-in-the-us-in-government-bonds-because-of-the/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Time and decision-making themselves follow a power law, and some moments matter far more than others”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/time-and-decision-making-themselves-follow-a-power-law-and-some/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Today, we exaggerate the differences between left-liberal egalitarianism and libertarian individualism because almost everyone shares their common indefinite attitude. 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Competition means no profits for anybody, no meaningful differentiation, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/creative-monopoly-means-new-products-that-benefit-everybody-and/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“we have given up our sense of wonder at secrets left to be discovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/we-have-given-up-our-sense-of-wonder-at-secrets-left-to-be-discovered/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Today our society is permeated by the twin ideas that death is both inevitable and random.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/today-our-society-is-permeated-by-the-twin-ideas-that-death-is-both/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“if your company can be summed up by its opposition to already existing firms, it can’t be completely new and it’s probably not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-your-company-can-be-summed-up-by-its-opposition-to-already/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Is a lukewarm attitude to one’s work a sign of mental health? Is a merely professional attitude the only sane approach?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/is-a-lukewarm-attitude-to-one-s-work-a-sign-of-mental-health-is-a/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“If you’ve invented something new but you haven’t invented an effective way to sell it, you have a bad business—no matter how good the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-ve-invented-something-new-but-you-haven-t-invented-an/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [The business model piece is we're always talking about competing more effectively. If you're starting a company or career you don't want to compete.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/the-business-model-piece-is-we-re-always-talking-about-competing-more/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [If you invest in Microsoft or Oracle, or a number of other companies for that matter, you're fundamentally making a bet that there's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-invest-in-microsoft-or-oracle-or-a-number-of-other-companies/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [Our economy is broken. I'm not a politician, but neither is Donald Trump. He is a builder, and it's time to rebuild America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/our-economy-is-broken-i-m-not-a-politician-but-neither-is-donald/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) [Explore all 257 Peter Thiel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## More Slavery quotes > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Can you look forward to the future of our country and imagine any state of things in which, with slavery still existing, we should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dale-owen/can-you-look-forward-to-the-future-of-our-country-and-imagine-any/) [Robert Dale Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dale-owen/) > [My favorite Founding Fathers, Christians like John Adams, were absolutely appalled by slavery, and did not own slaves. I think we're going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/my-favorite-founding-fathers-christians-like-john-adams-were/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [Slavery, if it can be legalized at all, can be legalized only by positive legislation. Natural law gives it no aid. Custom imparts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/slavery-if-it-can-be-legalized-at-all-can-be-legalized-only-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Work is a vehicle with which man chases some fleeting destination called a full tummy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/work-is-a-vehicle-with-which-man-chases-some-fleeting-destination/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Being a slave is to have nothing but still having something left to lose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lalita-tedemy/being-a-slave-is-to-have-nothing-but-still-having-something-left-to/) [Lalita Tedemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lalita-tedemy/) > [Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. 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They didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldis-hodge/they-don-t-really-focus-on-that-history-here-in-america-i-remember/) [Aldis Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldis-hodge/) > [We're living based on laws and ideas that we, as a society, embraced back in the days of slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ava-duvernay/we-re-living-based-on-laws-and-ideas-that-we-as-a-society-embraced/) [Ava DuVernay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ava-duvernay/) > [“To say to the slave who has not been emancipated 'Do not behave as a slave' is to mock his enslavement. 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