To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
There is nothing less to our credit than our neglect of the foreigner and his children, unless it be the arrogance most of us betray when we set out to "Americanize" him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Neglecting foreigners and trying to impose one's culture can reflect poorly on our values.
This quote emphasizes the ethical responsibility we hold towards foreigners and their children, urging us to acknowledge their existence and humanity rather than turning a blind eye. It also critiques the arrogance of attempting to impose our culture on them, suggesting that such an attitude can undermine the richness of diversity and represents a failure of empathy and understanding.
Themes
ForeignersCultureArroganceEmpathyNeglect
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about immigration policies, this quote can highlight the need for empathy towards newcomers.
More from Charles Horton Cooley
All quotes βIf we divine a discrepancy between a man's words and his character, the whole impression of him becomes broken and painful; he revolts the imagination by his lack of unity, and even the good in him is hardly accepted.
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We have no higher life that is really apart from other people. It is by imagining them that our personality is built up; to be without the power of imagining them is to be a low-grade idiot.
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The imaginations which people have of one another are the solid facts of society.
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Each man must have his I; it is more necessary to him than bread; and if he does not find scope for it within the existing institutions he will be likely to make trouble.
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The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves but the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
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