"I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong"
About this Quote
The second half lands harder: gentleness as an expectation of the strong. Not a saintly bonus, not a personality quirk, but a sign that someone has enough internal security to be patient. Strength here isnt aggression; its capacity. The strong can take a hit to the ego without reaching for the nearest knife. They have the slack to listen, to be fair, to be bored without turning it into a crime.
As a novelist and mid-century observer of public life, Rosten is likely writing against the era's macho mythologies: the idea that hardness is realism and tenderness is naivete. The subtext is political as much as personal. Societies excuse harshness as "toughness" and call compassion "soft", then act surprised when insecure leaders govern by insult and fear. Rosten offers a different diagnostic: look for who needs to hurt someone to feel whole. That is weakness, not power.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Captain Newman, M.D. (Leo Rosten, 1962)
Evidence: I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. (p. 328). Primary-source attribution consistently points to Leo Rosten’s novel Captain Newman, M.D. The specific locator most often given is p. 328 (near the end of a ~331-page first edition). However, I was not able to directly open a full-text scan to visually confirm p. 328 in-page; the Internet Archive item linked from Open Library errored in my fetch attempt. Open Library confirms a 1962 Harper edition (331 pages) and provides the IA record identifier. Other candidates (1) Building a Life of Value (Jason A. Merchey, 2005) compilation95.7% ... I learned that it is the weak who are cruel , and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong " ~ Leo ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rosten, Leo. (2026, February 10). I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-learned-that-it-is-the-weak-who-are-cruel-and-96958/
Chicago Style
Rosten, Leo. "I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong." FixQuotes. February 10, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-learned-that-it-is-the-weak-who-are-cruel-and-96958/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong." FixQuotes, 10 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-learned-that-it-is-the-weak-who-are-cruel-and-96958/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
