--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Privilege, if you're very strict, is an…" description: "\"Privilege, if you're very strict, is an immoral and unjust thing to have, but if you've got it you didn't choose to get it and you might as well use it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/walker-evans-14813_ifs_privilege-if-you-re-very-strict-is-an-im_171659.png" --- # Privilege, if you're very strict, is an immoral and unjust… ![“Privilege, if you're very strict, is an immoral and unjust thing to have, but if you've got it you didn't choose to get it and you might as well use it. You're privileged to be at Yale, but you know you're under an obligation to repay what's been put into you.” quote by Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/walker-evans-14813_ifs_privilege-if-you-re-very-strict-is-an-im_171659.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/walker-evans-14813_ifs_privilege-if-you-re-very-strict-is-an-im_171659.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/walker-evans-14813_ifs_privilege-if-you-re-very-strict-is-an-im_171659.png) > “Privilege, if you're very strict, is an immoral and unjust thing to have, but if you've got it you didn't choose to get it and you might as well use it. You're privileged to be at Yale, but you know you're under an obligation to repay what's been put into you.” [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Privilege creates a moral duty to give back rather than simply enjoy it. **In simple terms:** Having privilege means you owe something. Key Takeaway Use your advantage to help others. Themes ethics responsibility social justice Mood reflective determined Type advice ethical When to use this quote - education - career advancement - community service - mentorship Key Concepts moral obligation reciprocity Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn your advantage into benefit for others? - What responsibilities come with your status? A Different Perspective Privilege alone does not guarantee positive impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Obligation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obligation/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) ## Related quotes > [I'm in a privileged position and I'm going to do my utmost to use that privileged position on behalf of the U.K., its citizens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince-andrew/i-m-in-a-privileged-position-and-i-m-going-to-do-my-utmost-to-use/) [Prince Andrew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince-andrew/) > [We can't accommodate terrorism. When someone uses the slaughter of innocent people to advance a so-called political cause, at that point the political cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-giuliani/we-can-t-accommodate-terrorism-when-someone-uses-the-slaughter-of/) [Rudy Giuliani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-giuliani/) > [If you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/if-you-can-live-amid-injustice-without-anger-you-are-immoral-as-well/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [American GIs don't fight this unjust immoral and illegal war of Johnson's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanoi-hannah/american-gis-don-t-fight-this-unjust-immoral-and-illegal-war-of/) [Hanoi Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanoi-hannah/) > [Wherever morality is based on theology, wherever the right is made dependent on divine authority, the most immoral, unjust, infamous things can be justified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/wherever-morality-is-based-on-theology-wherever-the-right-is-made/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [Embracing a certain quotient of racial bias and discrimination against the poor is an inexorable aspect of supporting capital punishment. 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I have a master's from Yale drama,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-richman/i-m-not-a-plumber-who-accidentally-blew-up-or-a-math-professor-who/) [Adam Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-richman/) ## More by Walker Evans > [I'm sometimes called a 'documentary photographer' but... a man operating under that definition could take a sly pleasure in the disguise. Very often I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/i-m-sometimes-called-a-documentary-photographer-but-a-man-operating/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [ What I believe is really good in the so-called documentary approach to photography is the addition of lyricism.\[this quality\] is usually produced unconsciously and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/what-i-believe-is-really-good-in-the-so-called-documentary-approach/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [Photography is not cute cats, nor nudes, motherhood or arrangements of manufactured products. Under no circumstances it is anything ever anywhere near a beach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/photography-is-not-cute-cats-nor-nudes-motherhood-or-arrangements-of/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [I used to try to figure out precisely what I was seeing all the time, until I discovered I didn't need to. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/i-used-to-try-to-figure-out-precisely-what-i-was-seeing-all-the-time/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [What America needs is a political revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/what-america-needs-is-a-political-revolution/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/it-s-the-way-to-educate-your-eyes-stare-pry-listen-eavesdrop-die/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [I think there is a period of esthetic discovery that happens to a man and he can do all sorts of things at white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/i-think-there-is-a-period-of-esthetic-discovery-that-happens-to-a-man/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [Documentary: That’s a sophisticated and misleading word. And not really clear… The term should be documentary style… You see, a document has use, whereas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/documentary-that-s-a-sophisticated-and-misleading-word-and-not-really/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [It is the way to educate your eye and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/it-is-the-way-to-educate-your-eye-and-more-stare-pry-listen-eavesdrop/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [Leaving aside the mysteries and the inequities of human talent, brains, taste, and reputations, the matter of art in photography may come down to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/leaving-aside-the-mysteries-and-the-inequities-of-human-talent-brains/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [ Nobody should touch a Polaroid \[camera\] until he's over sixty ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/nobody-should-touch-a-polaroid-camera-until-he-s-over-sixty/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [With the camera, it's all or nothing. You either get what you're after at once, or what you do has to be worthless. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/with-the-camera-it-s-all-or-nothing-you-either-get-what-you-re-after/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [The eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/the-eye-traffics-in-feelings-not-in-thoughts/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [The secret of photography is, the camera takes on the character and personality of the handler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/the-secret-of-photography-is-the-camera-takes-on-the-character-and/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [“Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/stare-it-is-the-way-to-educate-your-eye-and-more-stare-pry-listen/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) [Explore all 45 Walker Evans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. 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And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. 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