to the extent that

To attain the highest mental life it is necessary that knowledge of that which mankind has said and done shall be brought to the mind of each individual, to the extent that such knowledge will the more thoroughly adapt him to his environment and enable him to most effectively react upon that environment.

1896 May, Logan G. McPherson, “The Development of the Monetary Problem”, in Popular Science Monthly, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 20

To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I’ve gone native. But it doesn’t take long to find me out. Already the waiter realizes I don’t have much Spanish. Out of respect for my homeland, the waiter’s bringing me ketchup and mustard... He gives me a vast, four-page menu of which, he explains, one meat item is actually available; one vegetarian; several fish.

1986, Denis Johnson, The Stars at Noon, Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 29

Terrible things happen when people collaborate with terrible perpetrators; most people are generally helpful to the extent that their circumstances and temperament allow (unless they’ve been taught to hate); being a bystander is often morally permissible; being a hero is exceptional and instinctual (not taught); and what history teaches us is both easier and harder than the supposed dark dangers of bystanderdom.

2020 January 21, Rivka Weinberg, The New York Times, retrieved 23 Aug 2026