{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/not-that-human",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/not-that-human.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/not-that-human.md",
  "id": "3a5039ea-1a05-4fe6-a24a-b74ceef88353",
  "slug": "not-that-human",
  "text": "Not that human beings need to be violent in order to be human, but if you ever lose the will to control, the will to destroy, then it must be because you choose to lose it. My role was not to force you to be gentle and kind; it was to keep you alive while you decided for yourselves what kind of people you wanted to be.",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Orson Scott Card",
    "slug": "orson-scott-card",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card"
  },
  "book": {
    "title": "The Memory Of Earth",
    "slug": "the-memory-of-earth",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
  "chapter_parent": null,
  "page": null,
  "verified": false,
  "original": null,
  "other_languages": [],
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "violence",
      "slug": "violence",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence"
    },
    {
      "name": "free will",
      "slug": "free-will",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will"
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Memory_Of_Earth_(1992)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  },
  "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09",
  "more_from_book": [
    {
      "id": "d3042353-011f-4c0b-a95a-dafd2aff47b1",
      "slug": "nafai-knew-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/nafai-knew-the",
      "text": "Nafai knew the rule: when a man acts like a child, he's boyish, and everyone's delighted; when a boy acts the same way, he's childish, and everyone tells him to be a man.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "youth",
          "slug": "youth",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth"
        },
        {
          "name": "childhood",
          "slug": "childhood",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Memory_Of_Earth_(1992)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09"
    },
    {
      "id": "b796fd65-b42c-4861-b2e6-6dce3a9cd5fa",
      "slug": "wouldnt-it-have",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/wouldnt-it-have",
      "text": "Wouldn't it have been better to change humanity so it no longer desired to destroy itself?",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "human nature",
          "slug": "human-nature",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature"
        },
        {
          "name": "violence",
          "slug": "violence",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Memory_Of_Earth_(1992)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09"
    },
    {
      "id": "ad2fbe60-a056-4502-99cd-65598f378a01",
      "slug": "why-wont-anyone",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/why-wont-anyone",
      "text": "\"Why won't anyone ever answer my questions?\"\n\n\"Because you never stop asking them and especially because you keep asking them even when it's clear that nobody knows the answers.\"\n\n\"Well, how do I know that they don't know the answer unless I ask?\"",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "curiosity",
          "slug": "curiosity",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/curiosity"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Memory_Of_Earth_(1992)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09"
    }
  ]
}