--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We take foreigners to be incomplete…" description: "\"We take foreigners to be incomplete Americans -- convinced that we must help and hasten their evolution.\" — Saul Bellow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/saul-bellow-558_america_we-take-foreigners-to-be-incomplete-amer_1278361.png" --- # We take foreigners to be incomplete Americans -- convinced… ![“We take foreigners to be incomplete Americans -- convinced that we must help and hasten their evolution.” quote by Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/saul-bellow-558_america_we-take-foreigners-to-be-incomplete-amer_1278361.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/saul-bellow-558_america_we-take-foreigners-to-be-incomplete-amer_1278361.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/saul-bellow-558_america_we-take-foreigners-to-be-incomplete-amer_1278361.png) > “We take foreigners to be incomplete Americans -- convinced that we must help and hasten their evolution.” [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker sees immigrants as unfinished, implying a paternalistic duty to accelerate their assimilation. **In simple terms:** Immigrants are viewed as needing help. Key Takeaway Avoid assuming superiority over others. Themes cultural assimilation ethics identity Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical social When to use this quote - immigration policy - community integration - education - social services Key Concepts postcolonial theory humanism Questions to Reflect On - How can we support immigrant autonomy? - What does “help” truly mean? A Different Perspective Such views can erase immigrant agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) [Americans Convinced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-convinced-1289096/) [Convinced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convinced/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Foreigners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreigners/) [Foreigners Incomplete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreigners-incomplete-4122152/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Incomplete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incomplete/) [Incomplete Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incomplete-americans-4122151/) ## Related quotes > [I used to work as a tour guide for Americans. 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But old cultures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/americans-find-it-hard-to-believe-that-foreigners-are-unalterably/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [if you get married they think you're finished and if you are without a woman they think you're incomplete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/if-you-get-married-they-think-you-re-finished-and-if-you-are-without/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When you feel you have good although incomplete expertise, start trying things. 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I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-don-t-think-we-have-all-the-words-in-a-single-vocabulary-to-explain/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [Many men build as cathedrals are built-the part nearest the ground finished, but that part which soars toward heaven, the turrets and the spires,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/many-men-build-as-cathedrals-are-built-the-part-nearest-the-ground/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) ## More by Saul Bellow > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/if-i-m-out-of-my-mind-it-s-all-right-with-me-thought-moses-herzog/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I have begun in old age to understand just how oddly we are all put together. We are so proud of our autonomy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-have-begun-in-old-age-to-understand-just-how-oddly-we-are-all-put/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“On Broadway it was still bright afternoon and the gassy air was almost motionless under the leaden spokes of sunlight, and sawdust footprints lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/on-broadway-it-was-still-bright-afternoon-and-the-gassy-air-was/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-evils-that-have-the-ability-to-survive-identification-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Myself is thus and so, and will continue thus and so. And why fight it? 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Plenty of evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/is-our-species-crazy-plenty-of-evidence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“But now the emphasis has shifted to making it. People have surrendered their personal moral objectives to government or schools or psychologists. It’s a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/but-now-the-emphasis-has-shifted-to-making-it-people-have-surrendered/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There's a kind of emptiness at the center of life ... nothing to form your life on, or by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-s-a-kind-of-emptiness-at-the-center-of-life-nothing-to-form/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“I don't know how it all at once came to me to talk a lot, tell jokes, kick up, and suddenly have views. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-don-t-know-how-it-all-at-once-came-to-me-to-talk-a-lot-tell-jokes/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-times-when-the-most-practical-thing-is-to-lie-down/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“For knowledge of death makes us wish to extend our lives at the expense of others. And this is the root of the struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/for-knowledge-of-death-makes-us-wish-to-extend-our-lives-at-the/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) [Explore all 464 Saul Bellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... 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