---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm trying to make people more alert that…"
description: "\"I'm trying to make people more alert that mere acceptance isn't a good enough indicator that something is ethical. You actually need to stop and think...."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/sheila-jasanoff-50194_acceptance_i-m-trying-to-make-people-more-alert-tha_2813674.jpg"
---

#  I'm trying to make people more alert that mere acceptance…

![“I'm trying to make people more alert that mere acceptance isn't a good enough indicator that something is ethical. You actually need to stop and think. Acceptance on the basis of ignorance or deceit is not the same thing as the acceptance on the basis of ongoing vigorous democratic debate.” quote by Sheila Jasanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/sheila-jasanoff-50194_acceptance_i-m-trying-to-make-people-more-alert-tha_2813674.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/sheila-jasanoff-50194_acceptance_i-m-trying-to-make-people-more-alert-tha_2813674.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/sheila-jasanoff-50194_acceptance_i-m-trying-to-make-people-more-alert-tha_2813674.jpg)

> “I'm trying to make people more alert that mere acceptance isn't a good enough indicator that something is ethical. You actually need to stop and think. Acceptance on the basis of ignorance or deceit is not the same thing as the acceptance on the basis of ongoing vigorous democratic debate.”

[Sheila Jasanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jasanoff/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ethical judgment requires active, informed deliberation, not passive acceptance based on misinformation.

**In simple terms:** Think before you accept; demand informed debate.

Key Takeaway

Question assumptions, seek truth.

Themes

ethics critical thinking democracy information

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

advisory reflective

When to use this quote

- policy making
- media consumption
- organizational decisions
- personal choices

Key Concepts

deliberative democracy moral responsibility

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you verify the basis of your acceptance?
- What mechanisms ensure ongoing democratic debate?

A Different Perspective

Ignorance can masquerade as consent, undermining true ethical standards.

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[Acceptance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Deceit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceit/) [Good enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-enough/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/)

## Related quotes

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[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [It think acceptance levels sort of swings back and forth. Like in the 60's there was a lot more freedom with sex that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-saget/it-think-acceptance-levels-sort-of-swings-back-and-forth-like-in-the/)

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[Tan Cheng Bock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-cheng-bock/)

> [God says, "there's nothing you can do to be accepted, trust me and and let me change you." And at the end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/god-says-there-s-nothing-you-can-do-to-be-accepted-trust-me-and-and/)

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> [The only stuff we looked at were incidents for which there are a paper trail ... (and) everything we looked up was full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bastone/the-only-stuff-we-looked-at-were-incidents-for-which-there-are-a/)

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> [Today is the parent of tomorrow. The present casts its shadow far into the future. That is the law of life, individual and social.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/today-is-the-parent-of-tomorrow-the-present-casts-its-shadow-far-into/)

[Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/)

> [A false mind is false in everything, just as a cross eye always looks askant. But one may err once, nay, a hundred times,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/a-false-mind-is-false-in-everything-just-as-a-cross-eye-always-looks/)

[Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/)

> [Don't let him, trick you into thinking he will always be there for you, because the minute a more prettier women walks into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-let-him-trick-you-into-thinking-he-will-always-be-there-for-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“The fact that I can get away with something is the very reason why I shouldn’t do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/the-fact-that-i-can-get-away-with-something-is-the-very-reason-why-i/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/)

[William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/)

> [ “Where there are kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed), there is worldly life. As long as anger-pride-deceit-greed exist; one is a sansaari \[living a worldly life\] regardless of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-there-are-kashays-anger-pride-deceit-greed-there-is-worldly/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/there-is-no-deceit-in-death-it-delivers-precisely-what-it-has/)

[KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/)

## More by Sheila Jasanoff

> [I'm all in favor of being able to imagine new frontiers with the aid of technologies, but I want a more compassionate approach that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jasanoff/i-m-all-in-favor-of-being-able-to-imagine-new-frontiers-with-the-aid/)

[Sheila Jasanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jasanoff/)

> [Climate change is there as a reminder that we can get richer and safer societies that are also consuming more and more to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jasanoff/climate-change-is-there-as-a-reminder-that-we-can-get-richer-and/)

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> [I want a society in which we don't throw things and people away with quite the abandon we do, especially people. This is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jasanoff/i-want-a-society-in-which-we-don-t-throw-things-and-people-away-with/)

[Sheila Jasanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jasanoff/)

> [I am kind of a sucker for democracy, so I do think that what kinds of citizens we have in our societies are more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jasanoff/i-am-kind-of-a-sucker-for-democracy-so-i-do-think-that-what-kinds-of/)

[Sheila Jasanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jasanoff/)

> [Historically, the idea that you take something novel and you break it has been seen as the ultimate rejection of Enlightenment values, of progress,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jasanoff/historically-the-idea-that-you-take-something-novel-and-you-break-it/)

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[Sheila Jasanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jasanoff/)

[Explore all 7 Sheila Jasanoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jasanoff/)

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[Aruho Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aruho-marvin/)

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[Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/)

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> [“There was beauty in chaos, she'd just never known it before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-linsmeier/there-was-beauty-in-chaos-she-d-just-never-known-it-before/)

[Amanda Linsmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-linsmeier/)

> [Accepting the challenges in life makes it interesting and overcoming them makes it eloquent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/accepting-the-challenges-in-life-makes-it-interesting-and-overcoming/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Acceptance is the only thing you should teach. Be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Dalit, you must inculcate acceptance, not tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-haasan/acceptance-is-the-only-thing-you-should-teach-be-it-christian-muslim/)

[Kamal Haasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-haasan/)

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[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 3,960 Acceptance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/)

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