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Quote by C.S. Lewis

“Every vice leads to cruelty. Even a good emotion, pity, if not controlled by charity and justice, leads through anger to cruelty. Most atrocities are stimulated by accounts of the enemy's atrocities; and pity for the oppressed classes, when separated from the moral law as a whole, leads by a very natural process to the unremitting brutalities of a reign of terror.”

Quote by C.S. Lewis

Book:The Problem of Pain
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The Problem of Pain

C.S. Lewis delves into the philosophical and spiritual aspects of pain, examining its presence in the world and its significance in human life. more

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C.S. Lewis

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“A Nazi initiation into the upper reaches of the SS was to gouge out the eye of a pet cat after feeding the cat and cuddling it for a month. This exercise was designed to eliminate all traces of pity-poison and mold a full Übermensch. There is a very sound magical postulate involved: the practitioner achieves superhuman status by performing some atrocious, revolting, subhuman act. In Morocco, magic men gain power by eating their own excrement. But dig out Ruski’s eyes? Stack bribes to the radioactive sky. What does it profit a man? I could not occupy a body that could dig out Ruski’s eyes. So WHO gained the whole world? I didn’t. Any bargain involving exchange of qualitative values like animal love for quantitative advantage is not only dishonorable, as wrong as a man can get, it is also foolish. Because YOU get nothing. You have sold your YOU.”

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Book:The Cat Inside
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“[To admit that college isn't for everyone] may sound élitist. It may even sound philistine, since the purpose of a liberal-arts education is to produce well-rounded citizens rather than productive workers. But perhaps it is more foolishly élitist to think that going to school until age 22 is necessary to being well-rounded, or to tell millions of young adults that their futures depend on performing a task that only a minority of them can actually accomplish. It is absurd that people have to get college degrees to be considered for good jobs in hotel management or accounting — or journalism. It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs. The tight connection between college degrees and economic success may be a nearly unquestioned part of our social order. Future generations may look back and shudder at the cruelty of it.”

JobsScienceMoneyEducationKnowledgeEconomyCollegeJournalismHotelModernityAccountingEducation ReformDegreeAtrocity
Author:Ramesh Ponnuru
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“In all bluefolk the immune system is quite advanced. A large number of relevant genes seem to be imported from the crocodile: those creatures live in stagnant, muddy water in much warmer climates, where they are exposed to many diseases and parasites. Wrestling with prey or each other, they may be wounded, but the dirty swamp water in the cut is mostly harmless. It was a very important acquisition by the Auravelus; it meant that virtually none of the old bioweapons were effective against them. More ordinary bluefolk could still suffer under a few recipes, but often no more than a rash. Chemical weapons had to be used instead. Infection or contamination through wounds was largely useless; our Asian friends determined that inhalation was a more viable route. Concoctions made against the lungs, as aerosols, were the most successful”

WarScienceTortureEugenicsWar CrimesGenetic EngineeringAtrocityBiopunkHuman Experimentation
Book:Terra Incognita
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“Land, sea and air news from everywhere bring tales of incredible human valour which we all discuss briefly and then, as more news pours in, get forgotten. New inventions for destruction keep being produced – each more terrible than the last. We did not start this war but now we have to win it. Our target is peace on earth but we must do most ghastly things to achieve this. We are rightly proud of our efforts but, when we get time to think – which is not very often – we are appalled by the misery and suffering we must receive and inflict. Now I can understand why my Mother so often said – after World War I – ‘I can never, ever, forgive the Germans.’ Now, once again, we have all become murderers – in one way or another.”

WarMurderAtrocity
Book:To War With Whitaker
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“Nobody talks about it. It’s not that kind of war.” “What kind of war is it, then?” said Guet Imm. She looked like she wanted to hit Tet Sang. “A secret war? I’ve never heard of such a thing!” “Yes,” said Tet Sang. “Open death, open atrocity, open persecution. But a silent war. It’s safer to be silent in these times.”

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Book:The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water
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“Sonnet of National Obligation When a nation is founded on terrorism, It has an obligation for self-improvement. If admitting the past hurts your feelings, Better remain in your mother's basement. If we really look for filth and atrocities, We'll find it in the history of every nation. The real problem is not the history, But the absolute denial of its admission. No nation can become civilized, Till it steps up to right the wrongs. Admit the errors of our ancestors, And pledge to never repeat those harms. Humanity begins with admitting inhumanity. Lo we are the shield against further atrocity.”

SlaveryInjusticeOppressionAccountabilityAmerican HistorySonnetInhumanityNation BuildingAtrocityNation Builder
Book:Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society
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“Your conscience is what you do, not what you think or say you think. It’s also something you do when it has to be done, not as an afterthought when you’re forced to face up to your wrongdoing. Remorse is cheap and easy. It’s an insult. My awareness obliged me to act, but I did nothing: I cooperated, and my compliance enabled something monstrous. I didn’t slaughter millions, but there’s no sliding scale in atrocities, even if the robotic imagination of the law requires fixed thresholds. Each death, each act of suffering, is a complete and qualifying act of evil in itself. Humans instinctively norm. We behave like others around us, because compliance is our survival strategy. No matter how intelligent, sensible, or kind, 99 percent of human beings will carry out the most appalling acts if the rest of their tribe is doing the same. And most of our conscious acts are simply postscript rationalizations of our hard-wired unconscious decisions.”

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Book:Halo: Mortal Dictata
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