--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It followed then that when Hitler burned…" description: "\"“It followed then that when Hitler burned a book I felt it as keenly, please forgive me, as his killing a human, for in the long sum of history they ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/ray-bradbury-75_books_it-followed-then-that-when-hitler-burned_1605424.jpg" --- # It followed then that when Hitler burned a book I felt it… ![“It followed then that when Hitler burned a book I felt it as keenly, please forgive me, as his killing a human, for in the long sum of history they are one and the same flesh.” quote by Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/ray-bradbury-75_books_it-followed-then-that-when-hitler-burned_1605424.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/ray-bradbury-75_books_it-followed-then-that-when-hitler-burned_1605424.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/ray-bradbury-75_books_it-followed-then-that-when-hitler-burned_1605424.jpg) > ““It followed then that when Hitler burned a book I felt it as keenly, please forgive me, as his killing a human, for in the long sum of history they are one and the same flesh.”” [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Destruction of knowledge and loss of life are equally tragic in humanity’s moral ledger. **In simple terms:** Both book burning and killing are equally harmful. Key Takeaway Protect both knowledge and life. Themes ethics history memory Mood somber urgent Type moral inspirational When to use this quote - education - humanitarian work - archival preservation Key Concepts human rights censorship Questions to Reflect On - How do we value cultural memory versus human life? - What actions can prevent both? A Different Perspective Some may argue the impacts differ in scale. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Followed Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/followed-hitler-6112643/) [Forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgive/) [Forgive Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgive-killing-1174285/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hitler/) [Hitler Burned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hitler-burned-6112641/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Keenly Forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keenly-forgive-6112642/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [We can forgive you for killing our children, but we can never forgive you for making us kill your children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/golda-meir/we-can-forgive-you-for-killing-our-children-but-we-can-never-forgive/) [Golda Meir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/golda-meir/) > [“Stealing to forgive the killing, because maybe they do out of necessity, but the traitor ever”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emiliano-zapata/stealing-to-forgive-the-killing-because-maybe-they-do-out-of/) [Emiliano Zapata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emiliano-zapata/) > [“You will never be able to forgive me for killing your father, so don’t waste your time trying. 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She flirted and danced with other men but never would… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretl-braun/eva-braun-loved-adolf-hitler-and-he-was-the-only-man-in-her-life-she/) [Gretl Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretl-braun/) > [Anyone who makes the life of Jewish people difficult or grievous, as did the Pharaoh, as did Hitler, will be cursed by God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/anyone-who-makes-the-life-of-jewish-people-difficult-or-grievous-as/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [“I look at my mother, connected by a breath of glimmering hope, her red and shadowed eyes reveal that some element of our whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-nestor/i-look-at-my-mother-connected-by-a-breath-of-glimmering-hope-her-red/) [Alfred Nestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-nestor/) > [ \[Hitler thought\] that Mussolini was no figure of world history, like der Fuehrer or Stalin. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/hitler-thought-that-mussolini-was-no-figure-of-world-history-like-der/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) ## More by Ray Bradbury > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" He laughed. "That's against the law!" "Oh. 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It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-can-t-learn-to-write-in-college-it-s-a-very-bad-place-for-writers/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We're going to become the martians when we land there. When we explore and build communities, we become the martians. That's a wonderful destiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-re-going-to-become-the-martians-when-we-land-there-when-we-explore/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. ... I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-wish-you-a-wrestling-match-with-your-creative-muse-that-will-last-a/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The library is the biggest cracker box factory in the world. The more you eat, the more you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-library-is-the-biggest-cracker-box-factory-in-the-world-the-more/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-travel-for-romance-we-travel-for-architecture-and-we-travel-to-be/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. 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