“What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the Earth, and the elimination of egoism and pride which is always prone to plunge the world into primeval barbarism and strife.”
About this quote
True connection between different groups fails when people let their personal or tribal vanity dictate how they interact. We build walls out of mere stubbornness. When was the last time you actually listened to an opponent instead of just waiting for your turn to speak? Drop the need to be right all the time, because that defense mechanism only breeds division and conflict. Real progress requires us to look past our own small bubbles and see the common ground we share.
When to use it
- A project manager dealing with two software teams refusing to share their code because of a petty department rivalry. 'We need to drop this useless turf war and sit down in the same room to build a unified system.'
- A daughter trying to resolve a decades-old feud between her father and uncle over a small inheritance dispute. 'Holding onto this family grudge over a tiny sum of money is just pride talking, and it is destroying our holidays.'
- A local neighborhood leader attempting to resolve a tense zoning dispute between long-time residents and new business owners. 'Let us host an open town hall where we actually talk to each other face-to-face instead of just posting angry comments online.'