--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To look squarely at the suffering of the…" description: "\"“To look squarely at the suffering of the ordinary people whose misery is recorded in the transcripts makes me feel that I am not qualified even to be ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/xiaobo-liu-41908_alma-mater_to-look-squarely-at-the-suffering-of-the_1492658.jpg" --- # To look squarely at the suffering of the ordinary people… ![“To look squarely at the suffering of the ordinary people whose misery is recorded in the transcripts makes me feel that I am not qualified even to be called a “survivor.” It is true that I was one of the last people to leave Tiananmen Square on June 4th, but I did nothing to volunteer myself…” quote by Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/xiaobo-liu-41908_alma-mater_to-look-squarely-at-the-suffering-of-the_1492658.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/xiaobo-liu-41908_alma-mater_to-look-squarely-at-the-suffering-of-the_1492658.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/xiaobo-liu-41908_alma-mater_to-look-squarely-at-the-suffering-of-the_1492658.jpg) > ““To look squarely at the suffering of the ordinary people whose misery is recorded in the transcripts makes me feel that I am not qualified even to be called a “survivor.” It is true that I was one of the last people to leave Tiananmen Square on June 4th, but I did nothing to volunteer myself during the bloody terror of the massacre’s aftermath, nothing to show that a kernel of my humanity had survived. After I left the square, I did not go to Beijing Normal University campus to check on the students from my alma mater who presumably had also left the square. Still less did I consider going out into the streets to minister to dead and wounded whom I did not know. Instead I fled to the relative safety of the foreign diplomatic housing compound. It is no wonder that the ordinary people who lived through the butchery might ask: “When great terror engulfed the city of Beijing, where were all those ‘black hands’ ”? Fifteen”” [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels unqualified to claim survivor status after witnessing tragedy and fleeing, questioning personal responsibility and humanity. **In simple terms:** Witnessing horror can cause survivor guilt. Key Takeaway Acknowledge personal limits and seek healing. Themes guilt memory responsibility trauma humanity Mood somber reflective Type personal historical When to use this quote - counseling - historical testimony - activism - community support Key Concepts survivor syndrome moral injury collective memory Questions to Reflect On - How can one reconcile survival with guilt? - What actions can honor those lost? A Different Perspective May romanticize martyrdom or ignore systemic causes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alma mater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alma-mater/) [Tiananmen square](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tiananmen-square/) ## Related quotes > [We have a gameshow called survivor in this country. It's a game in our country. Where you can win a million dollars living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tosh/we-have-a-gameshow-called-survivor-in-this-country-it-s-a-game-in-our/) [Daniel Tosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tosh/) > [Tiananmen Square is a sensitive topic because many things happened there. 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Maybe in the future, this space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ma-yansong/we-proposed-tiananmen-square-this-very-empty-political-square-in-the/) [Ma Yansong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ma-yansong/) ## More by Xiaobo Liu > [“But unarmed righteousness fostered by love can overcome weapons and power, as demonstrated by the miraculous triumph of Jesus over Caesar, or Gandhi’s and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/but-unarmed-righteousness-fostered-by-love-can-overcome-weapons-and/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“In a post-totalitarian dictatorship, the grins of the people are the nightmares of the dictators.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/in-a-post-totalitarian-dictatorship-the-grins-of-the-people-are-the/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“As facing the sea reveals the sky and facing the sky reveals the sea facing my soul reveals your soul”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/as-facing-the-sea-reveals-the-sky-and-facing-the-sky-reveals-the-sea/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“China has entered an “Age of Sarcasm.” Anywhere outside of state-sponsored parties, entertainment shows, or the comedies and skits on television, China’s rulers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/china-has-entered-an-age-of-sarcasm-anywhere-outside-of-state/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“Life numbed, unceasing, interminable, from zero begins to zero it ends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/life-numbed-unceasing-interminable-from-zero-begins-to-zero-it-ends/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“Patriotism is a villain's last refuge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/patriotism-is-a-villain-s-last-refuge/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“The government forbade the broadcast of this “decadent bourgeois music,” and Li Guyi, the first mainland singer to imitate Teresa Teng’s style, was subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/the-government-forbade-the-broadcast-of-this-decadent-bourgeois-music/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“Inasmuch as resistance is a choice to descend into hell, one musn't complain about the darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/inasmuch-as-resistance-is-a-choice-to-descend-into-hell-one-musn-t/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) > [“Let the darkness transform into rock across the wilderness of my memory”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaobo-liu/let-the-darkness-transform-into-rock-across-the-wilderness-of-my/) [Xiaobo Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) [Explore all 10 Xiaobo Liu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaobo-liu/) ## More Alma mater quotes > [Wherever you go and whatever ends you pursue, you must always fulfill the trust reposed in you by your nation, your parents and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samar-mubarakmand/wherever-you-go-and-whatever-ends-you-pursue-you-must-always-fulfill/) Samar Mubarakmand > [My alma mater was books, a good library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/my-alma-mater-was-books-a-good-library/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I never expected to join the ranks of commencement speakers, especially at my alma mater. 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Hail, our song we raise in praise of thee Long in the memory of every loyal owl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-lasky/hail-to-st-aegolius-our-alma-mater-hail-our-song-we-raise-in-praise/) [Kathryn Lasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-lasky/) [Browse all 50 Alma mater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alma-mater/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To look squarely at the suffering of the ordinary people whose misery is recorded in the transcripts makes me feel that I am not qualified even to be called a “survivor.” It is true that I was one of the last people to leave Tiananmen Square on June 4th, but I did nothing to volunteer myself during the bloody terror of the massacre’s aftermath, nothing to show that a kernel of my humanity had survived. 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