Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a sense of the past.
Susan SontagRead
Wherever people feel safe — they will be indifferent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that safety can lead to apathy among individuals.
Susan Sontag's quote conveys the idea that when people are in a comfortable and secure environment, they may become indifferent to the struggles and suffering of others. This indifference stems from a lack of direct experience with hardship, which can result in a disconnect from the realities faced by those less fortunate. Thus, in a state of safety, humans may overlook moral responsibilities and fail to engage with the world around them.
Themes
SafetyIndifferenceApathyResponsibilityEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social justice, one might use this quote to highlight the dangers of complacency.
More from Susan Sontag
All quotes →Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.
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Gide and I have attained such perfect intellectual communion that I experience the appropriate labor pains for every thought he gives birth to!
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Volume depends precisely on the writer's having been able to sit in a room every day, year after year, alone.
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In NY sensuality completely turns into sexuality - no objects for the senses to respond to, no beautiful river, houses, people. Awful smells of the street, and dirt... Nothing except eating, if that, and the frenzy of the bed.
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It hurts to love. It's like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing that at any moment the other person may just walk off with your skin.
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