QuoteProject
You understand that the piggies are animals, and you no more condemn them for murdering Libo and Pipo than you condemn a cabra for shewing up capim." That's right," said Miro. Ender smiled. "And that's why you'll never learn anything from them. Because you think of them as animals.
Orson Scott Card
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on how perspectives shape our understanding of morality and learning.

In this quote, the characters discuss the nature of understanding and condemnation, comparing human judgment to the instinctual behaviors of animals. It highlights the limitations of viewing others through a purely animalistic lens, suggesting that doing so hinders the ability to learn from different perspectives, ultimately pointing out that understanding others requires recognizing their humanity rather than reducing them to mere animals.

Themes

UnderstandingMoralityLearningPerspectiveJudgment

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate about environmental ethics, this quote could illustrate arguments about animal rights.

More from Orson Scott Card

And enough for me that when my hand touched your shoulder, you leaned on me; and when you felt me slip away, you called my name.
Orson Scott CardRead
The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
Orson Scott CardRead
Never mind that the story had turned out to be lies and foolishness—there was always folks stupid enough to say, Where there's smoke there's fire, when the saying should have been, Where there's scandalous lies there's always malicious believers and spreaders-around, regardless of evidence.
Orson Scott CardRead
The lives of all people flow through time, and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain or fear, time flows through all lives equally.
Orson Scott CardRead
You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind.
Orson Scott CardRead
I've had your tears with mine, and you've had mine with yours. I think that's more intimate even than a kiss.
Orson Scott CardRead

Similar quotes

There's always women of many different races on my shows, and there are always women who look many different ways, but there is still a size thing in this industry. It's hard. I mean to have to say, 'I want a larger woman to be an actor on my shows.' Or, 'Find me a larger woman,' is almost insulting to me.
Shonda RhimesRead
We are rare and precious because we are alive, because we can think as well as we can. We are privileged to influence and perhaps control our future. I believe we have an obligation to fight for life on Earth - not just for ourselves, but for all those, humans and others, who came before us, and to whom we are beholden, and for all those who, if we are wise enough, will come after.
Carl SaganRead
Truthfulness is the foundation of all the virtues of mankind
Abdu'L-BahRead
A man builds a house in England with the expectation of living in it and leaving it to his children; we shed our houses in America as easily as a snail does his shell.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
To grumble about the world and its unhappiness is always easier than to beat one's breast and groan over oneself.
Soren KierkegaardRead
It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.
Thomas JeffersonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.