Hannah Arendt Quotes
Hannah Arendt was a 20th-century German-American political theorist whose work shaped post-war thinking about totalitarianism, political action, and moral responsibility. The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951, traced the conditions that produced 20th-century totalitarian movements, while The Human Condition developed a philosophical anthropology of labour, work, and political action. The quotes below are attributed to Hannah Arendt, organized by topic.
Hannah Arendt on Justice
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“When all are guilty, no one is.”
Hannah Arendt on Mind
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking itself is dangerous.”
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“What makes loneliness so unbearable is the loss of one's own self which can be realized in solitude.”
Hannah Arendt on Politics
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.”
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“Politics is not the nursery; in politics obedience and support are the same.”
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.”
Hannah Arendt on Truth
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.”
Hannah Arendt on Virtue
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“The banality of evil.”
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Attributed to Hannah Arendt:
“Forgiveness is the only reaction which acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a re-action, something of the original character of action.”