--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But that citizen's perception was also at…" description: "\"But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth in recognizing that the very brutality of the means by which the IRA were pursuing change ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg" --- # But that citizen's perception was also at one with the… ![“But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth in recognizing that the very brutality of the means by which the IRA were pursuing change was destructive of the trust upon which new possibilities would have to be based.” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg) > “But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth in recognizing that the very brutality of the means by which the IRA were pursuing change was destructive of the trust upon which new possibilities would have to be based.” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Violence in pursuit of change erodes trust, making lasting peace impossible without honest means. **In simple terms:** Violence destroys trust needed for new possibilities. Key Takeaway Seek peaceful, trustworthy change. Themes politics trust violence Mood somber critical Type political analytical When to use this quote - peace negotiations - social movements - community building - reconciliation Key Concepts Ethics conflict resolution social contract Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives exist to violent protest? - How does trust affect societal change? A Different Perspective Non‑violent methods may be slower and harder to mobilize. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brutality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutality/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“I am not too worried about the many changes in today's society, but I am rather overly concerned about societies refusal to change from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-sankar/i-am-not-too-worried-about-the-many-changes-in-today-s-society-but-i/) [Lawrence Sankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-sankar/) > [“Since you cannot get them to change, you must change yourself so that their destructive patterns no longer work on you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/since-you-cannot-get-them-to-change-you-must-change-yourself-so-that/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [When change is necessary, not to change is destructive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-bernard/when-change-is-necessary-not-to-change-is-destructive/) [A. R. Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-bernard/) > [Each persons perception determines their truth. Life experiences create your perception. You will find the truth is always the same color just in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ml/each-persons-perception-determines-their-truth-life-experiences/) ML > [“We know the truth of a matter when we are able to see and understand it. The truth does not change, only our perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/we-know-the-truth-of-a-matter-when-we-are-able-to-see-and-understand/) [Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/) > [Everything we see is based on perception not truth. Everything we hear is based on opinion not fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/everything-we-see-is-based-on-perception-not-truth-everything-we-hear/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [“An Idea is nothing but Information, It won't do us any harm until we accept it as perception of truth in our mind, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djayawarman-alamprabu/an-idea-is-nothing-but-information-it-won-t-do-us-any-harm-until-we/) Djayawarman Alamprabu > [“There is the truth , the perception of truth, and versions that don't even come close; but it's the perception that creates the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnie-dent-jr/there-is-the-truth-the-perception-of-truth-and-versions-that-don-t/) [Johnnie Dent Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnie-dent-jr/) > [Minds fettered by this doctrine no longer inquire concerning a proposition whether it is attested by sufficient evidence, but whether it accords with Scripture;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/minds-fettered-by-this-doctrine-no-longer-inquire-concerning-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise From outward things, whate'er you may believe. There is an inmost centre in us all, Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/truth-is-within-ourselves-it-takes-no-rise-from-outward-things-whate/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [A lot of what we're doing here deals with perception rather than truth. Many would argue that reality depends more on the former than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-vaughn/a-lot-of-what-we-re-doing-here-deals-with-perception-rather-than/) [Carrie Vaughn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-vaughn/) > [All perception of truth is the detection of an analogy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-perception-of-truth-is-the-detection-of-an-analogy/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“I haven’t been disingenuous in what I’ve said describing my perception of “truth” and “reality.” Certainly, I understand what is generally meant to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-gloeckner/i-haven-t-been-disingenuous-in-what-i-ve-said-describing-my/) [Phoebe Gloeckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-gloeckner/) > [“No justification is needed for those who have attained to الحقيقة {Truth} for they are the Ones who are in the Know. The Truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aainaa-ridtz-a-r/no-justification-is-needed-for-those-who-have-attained-to-truth-for/) AainaA-Ridtz A R > [I began realizing that it wasn't important for me to concern myself with the perception of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-vernon/i-began-realizing-that-it-wasn-t-important-for-me-to-concern-myself/) [Justin Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-vernon/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More Brutality quotes > [All women love semi-rape. They love to be taken.It was his sweet brutality against my bruised body that made his act of love so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-fleming/all-women-love-semi-rape-they-love-to-be-taken-it-was-his-sweet/) [Ian Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-fleming/) > [“The hunger for power has made them cruel They shed humanity and shed every rule They bow to the devil, deny what is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/the-hunger-for-power-has-made-them-cruel-they-shed-humanity-and-shed/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers, they were his enforcers, they were his thugs. And Hitler discovered that he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fischer/hitler-recruited-around-him-homosexuals-to-make-up-his-stormtroopers/) [Bryan Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fischer/) > [The greatest reward of this constant interrogation, confrontation with the brutality of my country, is that it has freed me from hosts and myths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-greatest-reward-of-this-constant-interrogation-confrontation-with/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [The African tribesman, with his complete contempt for truth and his emphasis on brutality and savagery for others but not for himself, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/the-african-tribesman-with-his-complete-contempt-for-truth-and-his/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [Never mind a world that can't see past brutality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-ocasek/never-mind-a-world-that-can-t-see-past-brutality/) [Ric Ocasek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-ocasek/) > [I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-am-not-unmindful-that-some-of-you-have-come-here-out-of-great/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The horse-laugh indicates brutality of character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-horse-laugh-indicates-brutality-of-character/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [The Negroes of America had taken the President, the press and the pulpit at their word when they spoke in broad terms of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-negroes-of-america-had-taken-the-president-the-press-and-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We need tremendous energy to bring about a psychological change in ourselves as human beings, because we have lived far too long in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-need-tremendous-energy-to-bring-about-a-psychological-change-in/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I see myself capable of arrogance and brutality... That's a fierce thing, to discover within yourself that which you despise the most in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stevens/i-see-myself-capable-of-arrogance-and-brutality-that-s-a-fierce-thing/) [George Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stevens/) > [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I can tell you countless instances of this country's history of brutality, of inequity, of heartlessness. But if I do that without also talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-moore/i-can-tell-you-countless-instances-of-this-country-s-history-of/) [Wes Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-moore/) > [What draws men and women together is stronger than the brutality and tyranny which drive them apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millicent-fawcett/what-draws-men-and-women-together-is-stronger-than-the-brutality-and/) [Millicent Fawcett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millicent-fawcett/) > [Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/whether-it-comes-from-a-despotic-sovereign-or-an-elected-president/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) [Browse all 427 Brutality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth in recognizing that the very brutality of the means by which the IRA were pursuing change was destructive of the trust upon which new possibilities would have to be based.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seamus Heaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-at-one-with-the-truth-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brutality" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-at-one-with-the-truth-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/seamus-heaney-1711_brutality_but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-a_3083460.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth in recognizing that the very brutality of the…” — Seamus Heaney", "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": "Seamus Heaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But that citizen's perception was also...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-at-one-with-the-truth-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/but-that-citizen-s-perception-was-also-at-one-with-the-truth-in/#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 } } ] } ```