And love Quote by Wendell Berry
“Want of imagination makes things unreal enough to be destroyed. By imagination I mean knowledge and love. I mean compassion. People of power kill children, the old send the young to die, because they have no imagination. They have power. Can you have power and imagination at the same time? Can you kill people you don’t know and have compassion for them at the same time?”
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Unsettling of America, Wendell Berry, 1970
A lack of imagination—understood as knowledge, love, and compassion—allows those in power to commit cruelty without empathy.
In simple terms: Power without imagination leads to cruelty.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate empathy and imagination.
Themes
power
imagination
compassion
cruelty
ethics
Mood
reflective
concerned
Type
philosophical
ethical
When to use this quote
- political leadership
- military decisions
- corporate policies
- social activism
Key Concepts
moral imagination
ethical responsibility
humanism
Questions to Reflect On
- How can societies foster imagination among leaders?
- What practices nurture compassion in decision‑making?
A Different Perspective
Imagination alone may not change entrenched power structures.
