James Gilligan Inspirational Quotes (3)

I have yet to see a serious act of violence that was not provoked by the experience of feeling shamed and humiliated, disrespected and ridiculed, and that did not represent the attempt to prevent or undo this ‘loss of face’—no matter how severe the punishment, even if it includes death.

All violence is an attempt to replace shame with self-esteem.

The reason that I think it is a waste of time to engage in moral value judgements about people's violence, is because it doesn't advance by one iota our understanding of either the causes or the prevention of the violent behaviour.