Daily Inspiration Quote by Kjell Magne Bondevik

“Terrorism is contempt for human dignity” works because it refuses to bargain with the usual rhetorical escape hatches: grievances, strategy, ideology, even “root causes.” Kjell Magne Bondevik, speaking as a statesman, isn’t trying to win a seminar debate about definitions. He’s setting a moral boundary that governments can act on. The sentence is built like a verdict. “Is” collapses complexity into clarity, and “contempt” is a deliberately chosen word: not anger, not desperation, not fanaticism, but a cold regard that treats people as props. It frames terrorism less as a tactic and more as a posture toward humanity.

The subtext is diplomatic as much as ethical. By grounding the condemnation in “human dignity,” Bondevik reaches for a value that travels across borders and faiths, echoing postwar European political language shaped by human rights regimes and social-democratic ideals. It’s also a subtle attempt to depoliticize the act without depoliticizing the response: you can disagree on policy, identity, occupation, or history, but you can’t dignify terrorism with the status of legitimate politics.

Context matters: Bondevik governed in an era when European leaders were pressed to respond to high-profile attacks while maintaining liberal-democratic norms. “Human dignity” signals what’s at stake if the state overreaches. The line condemns terrorists, but it also warns governments: if you fight contempt with contempt - torture, collective suspicion, erosions of rights - you risk adopting the same moral posture, just with a flag.