“Our behavior is different. How often have you seen a headline like this?--TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out.Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature--a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price.”
Quote Analysis:
In this quote by Robert A. Heinlein, he examines the inherent human instinct to help those in need, even at great personal risk. Heinlein reflects on the selfless nature of human behavior, noting the tendency for individuals to rally together to aid someone in peril, regardless of the potential dangers involved. This quote highlights the deep-seated belief across cultures that the value of saving a life outweighs any potential cost.
Modern Relevance
In this quote by Robert A. Heinlein, the idea of selflessness and the instinct to help others in need is explored. This concept continues to hold modern relevance, as it reflects the innate human desire to come to the aid of those in distress, even at the risk of one's own safety. The quote highlights the universal belief that the value of human life transcends all other considerations.
Example of Usage
"Our behavior is different. How often have you seen a headline like this?--TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out. Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature--a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price.” - Robert A. Heinlein"
Reflection Questions:
In the face of danger or when someone is in need of rescue, why do you think people are willing to risk their own lives to help others?
Do you agree with Heinlein's statement that there is a "racial conviction" ingrained in humanity to prioritize helping others, even at the cost of our own well-being?
How do you personally react in situations where someone is in need of help or rescue? Do you feel compelled to assist, or do you prioritize your own safety above all else?
Have you ever witnessed or experienced a situation where individuals risked their lives to help others? How did it make you feel and what did you take away from that experience?
Similar quotes
“The belief in the probability of death with dignity is our, and society’s, attempt to deal with the reality of what is all too frequently a series of destructive events that involve by their very nature the disintegration of the dying person’s humanity. I have not often seen much dignity in the process by which we die.”
“But sometimes illumination comes to our rescue at the very moment when all seems lost; we have knocked at every door and they open on nothing until, at last, we stumble unconsciously against the only one through which we can enter the kingdom we have sought in vain a hundred years - and it opens.”
“You mean one human is good, but a hundred humans is bad?""Exactly. One human is just a person. A hundred humans make a society. And societies have kings, and religions and priests, and all these other things serrin completely fail to understand”
“All humans at some time experience injustice, assault, disqualification, invasion and betrayal. No person is completely shielded. We need not trace our family trees very far back or study for long what life was like for our forbears to uncover humanity's abusiveness. The inherited scars of our multigenerational families exist in our family systems as we know them today. The abuse of the past often exists as the shame of today, and the shame is perpetuated through our patterns of interaction.”
“We all need one another; much and often. Just as every human creature needs a place to be alone in, a sacred, private "home" of his own, so all human creatures need a place to be together in, from the two who can show each other their souls uninterruptedly, to the largest throng that can throb and stir in unison.”