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Arthur Koestler

Arthur Koestler Quotes

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Arthur Koestler was a Hungarian-British author, journalist, and political activist. He is renowned for his novel 'Darkness at Noon' and his involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Koestler's writings frequently delved into the themes of totalitarianism and the individual's resistance to oppression.

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All Men Self Mind Individual Society Ifs Reality Seems Two Creativity Ends Form Humans May World Believe Discovery Mankind Science Social

Famous Arthur Koestler Quotes

“The evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and high emotionality.”

Self Evil Individual Common Groups Mankind Lows Primaries Identification Common Denominator Transcending Aggressiveness

Author:Arthur Koestler

“The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.”

Mankind Dangerous Temptation Satan

Book:Darkness at noon

Source: Darkness at noon

“Hitherto man had to live with the idea of death as an individual; from now onward mankind will have to live with the idea of its death as a species.”

Men Ideas Science Death Individual Mankind Species

Book:Kaleidoscope: essays from Drinkers of infinity, and The heel of Achilles and later pieces and stories

Source: Kaleidoscope: essays from Drinkers of infinity, and The heel of Achilles and later pieces and stories

“In creating the human brain, evolution has wildly overshot the mark.”

Humans Brain Mankind Evolution Creating Mark Human Brain

Author:Arthur Koestler

“The disastrous history of our species indicates the futility of all attempts at a diagnosis which do not take into account the possibility that homo sapiens is a victim of one of evolution's countless mistakes.”

Mistake Mankind Possibility Evolution Accounts Victim Species Diagnosis Homo Sapiens Futility

Author:Arthur Koestler

“The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this temptation, from Spartacus to Danton and Dostoevsky; they are the classical form of betrayal of the cause. The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan. As long as chaos dominates the world, God is an anachronism; and every compromise with one’s own conscience is perfidy. When the accursed inner voice speaks to you, hold your hands over your ears….”

“To sell oneself for thirty pieces of silver is an honest transaction; but to sell oneself to one s own conscience is to abandon mankind.”

Pieces Mankind Honest Conscience Sells Oneself Thirty Silver Abandon Transactions

Book:Darkness at noon

Source: Darkness at noon

About the Author

Born: September 5, 1905
Died: March 1, 1983
Known for: Author
Quotes: 159

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Books & Sources

The Act of CreationRelated source material

Darkness at noonRelated source material

Kaleidoscope: essays from Drinkers of infinity, and The heel of Achilles and later pieces and storiesRelated source material

Arrow in the blue: an autobiographyRelated source material

The Yogi and the Commissar, and Other EssaysRelated source material

Astride the two cultures: Arthur Koestler at 70Related source material

Dialogue with Death: The Journal of a Prisoner of the Fascists in the Spanish Civil WarRelated source material

The Ghost in the MachineRelated source material

The thirteenth tribe: the Khazar empire and its heritageRelated source material

The trail of the dinosaur: and Reflections on hangingRelated source material

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