There is a story which is not being told strongly enough of the Afghan employees of the UN inside the country who are saving hundreds of thousands of lives everyday by their bravery and nobody talks of them.
You are dealing with people who have taken the responsibility of killing their own because they think that they are right, they think that they are serving the interests of their people. They not going to give that up easily, just because you've shown up.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the complexity of human conviction and the difficulty of changing deeply held beliefs.
Lakhdar Brahimi's quote illustrates the challenges faced when confronting individuals or groups who are deeply entrenched in their beliefs, often to the extent of causing harm to others. It conveys that those who view their actions as justified, even in extreme circumstances, will not easily relinquish their mindset simply due to external arguments or appearances, highlighting the need for understanding and dialogue in potentially volatile situations.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about political conflict, this quote can illustrate the deep-rooted nature of opposing views.
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If we have never had the experience of taking our commonplace religious shoes off our commonplace religious feet, and getting rid of all the undue familiarity with which we approach God, it is questionable whether we have ever stood in his presence.
Independence? That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.