--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In my utopia, human solidarity would be…" description: "\"“In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen not as a fact to be recognised by clearing away \"prejudice\" or burrowing down to previously hidden depths..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg" --- # In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen not as a fact… ![“In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen not as a fact to be recognised by clearing away "prejudice" or burrowing down to previously hidden depths but, rather, as a goal to be achieved. It is to be achieved not by inquiry but by imagination, the imaginative ability to see strange people as…” quote by Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg) > ““In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen not as a fact to be recognised by clearing away "prejudice" or burrowing down to previously hidden depths but, rather, as a goal to be achieved. It is to be achieved not by inquiry but by imagination, the imaginative ability to see strange people as fellow sufferers. Solidarity is not discovered by reflection but created. It is created by increasing our sensitivity to the particular details of the pain and humiliation of other, unfamiliar sorts of people. Such increased sensitivity makes it more difficult to marginalise people different from ourselves by thinking, "They do not feel as 'we' would," or "There must always be suffering, so why not let 'them' suffer?" This process of coming to see other human beings as "one of us" rather than as "them" is a matter of detailed description of what unfamiliar people are like and of redescription of what we ourselves are like. This is a task not for theory but for genres such as ethnography, the journalist's report, the comic book, the docudrama, and, especially, the novel. Fiction like that of Dickens, Olive Schreiner, or Richard Wright give us the details about kinds of suffering being endured by people to whom we had previously not attended. Fiction like that of Choderlos de Laclos, Henry James, or Nabokov gives us the details about what sorts of cruelty we ourselves are capable of, and thereby lets us redescribe ourselves. That is why the novel, the movie, and the TV program have, gradually but steadily, replaced the sermon and the treatise as the principal vehicles of moral change and progress.”” [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral understanding grows when we imaginatively inhabit others' lives, especially through fiction that details diverse suffering. **In simple terms:** Imagination builds solidarity. Key Takeaway Read diverse stories to expand empathy. Themes empathy solidarity imagination Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading fiction - watching documentaries - creative writing - community workshops Key Concepts Narrative ethics social awareness Questions to Reflect On - What stories have changed your view of others? - How can you use narrative to bridge differences? A Different Perspective Fiction may oversimplify complex issues; not all readers engage deeply. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change And Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-and-progress/) [Comic book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comic-book/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Solidarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solidarity/) [Strange people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-people/) ## Related quotes > [As much as I love to slay a red carpet hitting the ground running with 'Beale Street' and 'Native Son,' representing two such important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-layne/as-much-as-i-love-to-slay-a-red-carpet-hitting-the-ground-running/) [KiKi Layne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-layne/) > [No one can replace Richard Wright. He was my musical partner and my friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gilmour/no-one-can-replace-richard-wright-he-was-my-musical-partner-and-my/) [David Gilmour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gilmour/) > [“You can’t take a class if taking a class feels like it’s going to kill you. Faking it never works. If you don’t believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/you-can-t-take-a-class-if-taking-a-class-feels-like-it-s-going-to/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [I think I was drawn to black culture by the same things that have been drawing the entire world to it since the days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chatterton-williams/i-think-i-was-drawn-to-black-culture-by-the-same-things-that-have/) [Thomas Chatterton Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chatterton-williams/) > [“Literature is a struggle over the nature of reality. --Richard Wright to William Faulkner”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/literature-is-a-struggle-over-the-nature-of-reality-richard-wright-to/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [If you think about black art, all black art, whether it's Invisible Man or whether it's James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Zora Hurston, or Richard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheo-hodari-coker/if-you-think-about-black-art-all-black-art-whether-it-s-invisible-man/) [Cheo Hodari Coker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheo-hodari-coker/) > [ In her excellent, entirely readable Richard Wright, Hazel Rowley accomplishes what \[previous biographer\] Michel Fabre would have liked to do with once-guarded letters, aging… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darryl-pinckney/in-her-excellent-entirely-readable-richard-wright-hazel-rowley/) [Darryl Pinckney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darryl-pinckney/) > [Angry Black White Boy is bananas! Actually, it's a banana split with razor blades in it. Adam Mansbach is the white Richard Wright, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-upski-wimsatt/angry-black-white-boy-is-bananas-actually-it-s-a-banana-split-with/) William Upski Wimsatt > [I'm beginning to believe that Killer Illiteracy ought to rank near heart disease and cancer as one of the leading causes of deathamong Americans.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/i-m-beginning-to-believe-that-killer-illiteracy-ought-to-rank-near/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [I loved 1930's women's pictures'films by Josef Von Sternberg or William Wyler. So, I fashioned a style out of that. The integrity and ethos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kola-boof/i-loved-1930-s-women-s-pictures-films-by-josef-von-sternberg-or/) [Kola Boof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kola-boof/) > [“During the racial confrontations of the 1960s, An American Dilemma encountered rising criticism from activists and scholars who disputed Myrdal's optimism about white liberalism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-patterson/during-the-racial-confrontations-of-the-1960s-an-american-dilemma/) [James T. Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-patterson/) > [“Richard Wright, a Mississippi-born negro, has written a blinding and corrosive study in hate. It is a novel entitled "Native Son".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-cohn/richard-wright-a-mississippi-born-negro-has-written-a-blinding-and/) David L. Cohn > [Mine is, after all, the generation that had come to maturity drinking in the forebodings of the Silones, Koestlers, and Richard Wrights. It had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-hansberry/mine-is-after-all-the-generation-that-had-come-to-maturity-drinking/) [Lorraine Hansberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-hansberry/) > [How do we slow down what matters the most and speed up what benefits change and progress? We don't want to impede progress, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maeda/how-do-we-slow-down-what-matters-the-most-and-speed-up-what-benefits/) [John Maeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maeda/) > [Trade policy can be a tool for change and progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/trade-policy-can-be-a-tool-for-change-and-progress/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) ## More by Richard M. Rorty > [“The pre-Sixties reformist Left, insofar as it concerned itself with oppressed minorities, did so by proclaiming that all of us –– black, white, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/the-pre-sixties-reformist-left-insofar-as-it-concerned-itself-with/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) > [“The orthodox tend to think that people who, like the postmodernists and me, believe neither in God nor in some suitable substitute, must feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/the-orthodox-tend-to-think-that-people-who-like-the-postmodernists/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) > [“The cultural Left has contributed to the formation of this politically useless unconscious not only by adopting “power” as the name of an invisible,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/the-cultural-left-has-contributed-to-the-formation-of-this/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) > [“When the Right proclaims that socialism has failed, and that capitalism is the only alternative, the cultural Left has little to say in reply.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/when-the-right-proclaims-that-socialism-has-failed-and-that/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) > [“One reason the cultural Left will have a hard time transforming itself into a political Left is that, like the Sixties Left, it still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/one-reason-the-cultural-left-will-have-a-hard-time-transforming/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) > [“This cultural Left thinks more about stigma than about money, more about deep and hidden psychosexual motivations than about shallow and evident greed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/this-cultural-left-thinks-more-about-stigma-than-about-money-more/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) > [“Vladimir Nabokov and George Orwell had quite different gifts, and their self-images were quite different. But, I shall argue, their accomplishment was pretty much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/vladimir-nabokov-and-george-orwell-had-quite-different-gifts-and/) [Richard M. Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) [Explore all 8 Richard M. Rorty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/) ## More Comic book quotes > [One of the key characteristics of the comic book medium is that it is not brought to life by just one voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-lee/one-of-the-key-characteristics-of-the-comic-book-medium-is-that-it-is/) [Jim Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-lee/) > [Most men are secretly still mad at their mothers for throwing away their comic books. They would be valuable now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/most-men-are-secretly-still-mad-at-their-mothers-for-throwing-away/) [Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/) > [I've always had a soft spot for comic books. I learned to read from them. The words in them were so interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/i-ve-always-had-a-soft-spot-for-comic-books-i-learned-to-read-from/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [When you think of comic book readers, you never think of the brown girl, and I was that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iman-vellani/when-you-think-of-comic-book-readers-you-never-think-of-the-brown/) [Iman Vellani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iman-vellani/) > [I enjoy the fact that we have these mobile comics now, which are sort of a cross between a comic book and an animated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/i-enjoy-the-fact-that-we-have-these-mobile-comics-now-which-are-sort/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) > [I spent a lot of time drawing and writing little comic books, and my mom was a rapper, so I would steal her instrumentals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-thee-stallion/i-spent-a-lot-of-time-drawing-and-writing-little-comic-books-and-my/) [Megan Thee Stallion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-thee-stallion/) > [Comic books have gone mainstream. The audience is there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley-shipp/comic-books-have-gone-mainstream-the-audience-is-there/) [John Wesley Shipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley-shipp/) > [One of the best things that happened for me as a playwright is becoming a comic-book writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-aguirre-sacasa/one-of-the-best-things-that-happened-for-me-as-a-playwright-is/) [Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-aguirre-sacasa/) > [I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-didn-t-really-grow-up-a-comic-book-fanatic-i-was-a-big-baseball/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [For some reason, I tend to take on the stuff that people are really passionate about. If you make a list of people you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-hawley/for-some-reason-i-tend-to-take-on-the-stuff-that-people-are-really/) [Noah Hawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-hawley/) > [When I started in the comic book business, 'Art Of' books were strictly the provenance of the greats, like Rembrandt and Da Vinci. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-starlin/when-i-started-in-the-comic-book-business-art-of-books-were-strictly/) [Jim Starlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-starlin/) > [With every script, I write a note to my collaborator that says: 'I write full script. But see it as a guide. You take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-michael-bendis/with-every-script-i-write-a-note-to-my-collaborator-that-says-i-write/) [Brian Michael Bendis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-michael-bendis/) > [One of the things I've always loved about genre, comic books, science fiction and fantasy is that there's a certain level of playfulness to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-hawley/one-of-the-things-i-ve-always-loved-about-genre-comic-books-science/) [Noah Hawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-hawley/) > [I had read the 'Wonder Woman' comic books when I was a child; I was much more interested in those than I was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-carter/i-had-read-the-wonder-woman-comic-books-when-i-was-a-child-i-was-much/) [Lynda Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-carter/) > [My characters are all kind of geek archetypes of people I've encountered at gaming and comic book conventions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-cline/my-characters-are-all-kind-of-geek-archetypes-of-people-i-ve/) [Ernest Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-cline/) [Browse all 1,150 Comic book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comic-book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen not as a fact to be recognised by clearing away \"prejudice\" or burrowing down to previously hidden depths but, rather, as a goal to be achieved. It is to be achieved not by inquiry but by imagination, the imaginative ability to see strange people as fellow sufferers. Solidarity is not discovered by reflection but created. It is created by increasing our sensitivity to the particular details of the pain and humiliation of other, unfamiliar sorts of people. Such increased sensitivity makes it more difficult to marginalise people different from ourselves by thinking, \"They do not feel as 'we' would,\" or \"There must always be suffering, so why not let 'them' suffer?\" This process of coming to see other human beings as \"one of us\" rather than as \"them\" is a matter of detailed description of what unfamiliar people are like and of redescription of what we ourselves are like. This is a task not for theory but for genres such as ethnography, the journalist's report, the comic book, the docudrama, and, especially, the novel. Fiction like that of Dickens, Olive Schreiner, or Richard Wright give us the details about kinds of suffering being endured by people to whom we had previously not attended. Fiction like that of Choderlos de Laclos, Henry James, or Nabokov gives us the details about what sorts of cruelty we ourselves are capable of, and thereby lets us redescribe ourselves. That is why the novel, the movie, and the TV program have, gradually but steadily, replaced the sermon and the treatise as the principal vehicles of moral change and progress.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard M. Rorty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-seen-not-as-a-fact-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Comic book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-seen-not-as-a-fact-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/richard-m-rorty-47645_comic-book_in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-s_2966916.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen not as a fact to be recognised by clearing away \"prejudice\" or…” — Richard M. Rorty", "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": "Richard M. Rorty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-rorty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In my utopia, human solidarity would...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-seen-not-as-a-fact-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-rorty/in-my-utopia-human-solidarity-would-be-seen-not-as-a-fact-to-be/#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 } } ] } ```