but ignorance is a kind of insanity in the human animal. People who delight in torturing defenseless children or tiny creatures are in reality insane. The terrible thing is that people who are madmen in private may wear a totally bland and innocent expression in public.
Interpretation
Ignorance can lead to inhumane behavior, masking true madness behind a facade of normalcy.
This quote by Akira Kurosawa explores the idea that ignorance can blind individuals to their own moral compass, leading to cruel actions towards innocent beings. It suggests that some people may hide their true nature under a guise of normalcy, making it difficult to recognize the insanity that lies beneath their surface. The quote challenges us to confront the darker aspects of human behavior and reflect on the societal implications of ignorance and inhumanity.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about moral responsibility in society.
Of all my films, people wrote to me most about this one... ...I had wanted to make The Idiot long before Rashomon. Since I was little I've liked Russian literature, but I find that I like Dostoevsky the best and had long thought that this book would make a wonderful film. He is still my favourite author, and he is the one - I still think - who writes most honestly about human existence.
I can't afford to hate anyone. I don't have that kind of time.
For me, filmmaking combines everything. That's the reason I've made cinema my life's work. In films, painting and literature, theatre and music come together. But a film is still a film.
A truly good movie is enjoyable too. There’s nothing complicated about it.
The role of the artist is to not look away.
The root of any film project for me is this inner need to express something. What nurtures this root and makes it grow into a tree is the script. What makes the tree bear flowers and fruit is the directing.
Mr. Gandhi, you have been working fifteen hours a day for fifty years. Don't you think you should take a vacation?" Gandhi smiled and replied, "I am always on vacation.
I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all.
Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself.
Public Opinion... an attempt to organize the ignorance of the community, and to elevate it to the dignity of physical force.
In short, all things that please the natural man in this world, are, to a true Christian, only so many crosses and temptations, allurements of sin and snares of death, that continually exercise his virtue.
Inside each of us is a monster; inside each of us is a saint. The real question is which one we nurture the most, which one will smite the other.
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