Eichmann in Jerusalem Quotes
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Source: Eichmann in Jerusalem
Author: Hannah Arendt
"The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him…"
The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together.
Context
This quote is taken from the philosophical/political book Eichmann in Jerusalem, published by Hannah Arendt in 1963.
Hannah Arendt includes this quote in the epilogue to her book because she probably thinks it's a suitable thought to end on. One of the ideas that she has tried to drive home throughout the book is that evil doesn't always appear in the form of some monster. It's often just a boring, everyday thing that we all take for granted and don't really think much about. That's why Hannah Arendt thinks that the real problem with Eichmann, a famous genocidal Nazi, is that tons of people are capable of acting just like him without even realizing they're doing anything wrong.
That's a scary thought.
Where you've heard it
This quote is way too long to be catchy and it's a little too depressing for any pop culture reference. After all, nobody really wants to hear that all of us, deep down, are capable of becoming mass murderers. If you ever do hear this quote, chances are it'll be coming from someone who's not terribly optimistic about human goodness.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
People will think you're pretentious for memorizing any quote that's as long as this one. And they'll think you're even more pretentious when they realize what you're actually saying.