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Ruthlessness Quotes

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Ruthlessness Quotes

“Clusters of distant lights was the view of Mankind that he liked the best. The lights had the archaic charm of little fires on a plain, and the frailty about them, if it did not excuse anything, at least explained a lot of Man's stubborn ruthlessness. Mankind had not started the mess that was life, after all. And on the whole, it had been an interesting species to be a part of, the girls especially, as long as you remembered to watch your back.”

“IN WORKING WITH MIRRORS IT IS NECESSARY TO RECAPITULATE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, FROM THE PRESENT MOMENT RIGHT BACK TO THE MOMENT OF BIRTH. SUCH A RECAPITULATION DEMANDS A LEVEL OF HONESTY WHICH IS ONLY ATTAINABLE THROUGH AN ACT OF RUTHLESSNESS. RUTHLESSNESS MUST BEGIN WITH YOURSELF. ONLY WHEN RUTHLESSNESS HAS REPLACED SELF-PITY CAN YOU ACHIEVE THE SOBRIETY NEEDED IN ORDER TO DISCRIMINATE WITH WISDOM.”

“Recognize that the world is a stage upon which the drama of power unfolds, and it is through the exercise of your imagination that you can devise strategies and plots to bend others to your will. The more vivid and detailed your mental picture of the life you desire, the more effectively you can wield your cunning and ruthlessness to achieve your goals. Remember, your imagination is your ultimate weapon, and it is by mastering this sovereignty that you will be able to shape the world according to your desires.”

“What causes evil?" asked Yudhishthira. "Greed is the ultimate root of every evil. People who covet what they do not have are prone to anger, and become obsessed. They are mean-spirited, enslaved by wanting. Those who pile up wealth for its own sake are often ruthless and contemptuous, despising those less well off than themselves. Lust comes from greed. Dishonesty, ill will, envy, ruthlessness - every kind of sin starts with desiring more than one possesses. Ignorance springs from the selfsame root. Greed spreads its branches and the mind grows dark, unable to judge clearly...”

“All humankind is born of the same inner goodness and fundamental ruthlessness as all the other creatures of nature. Man can never totally divorce himself from the beast that comprises part of his essential nature. It is not that our inner natures are entirely self-centered or completely filled with goodness. We can choose to make moral or immoral choices.”

“Politicians are a higher breed of men. They know that this world is ruthless and that they must live accordingly to cope with it”

“The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we ascribe the success of a movement to its faith, doctrine, propaganda, leadership, ruthlessness and so on, we are but referring to instruments of unification and to means used to inculcate a readiness for self-sacrifice. It is perhaps impossible to understand the nature of a mass movement unless it is recognized that their chief preoccupation is to foster, perfect and perpetuate a facility for united action and self-sacrifice.”

“The Great War differed from all ancient wars in the immense power of the combatants and their fearful agencies of destruction, and from all modern wars in the utter ruthlessness with which it was fought... Europe and large parts of Asia and Africa became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran. When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two expedients that the civilized, scientific, Christian States had been able to deny themselves: and they were of doubtful utility.”

“People who think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic, among them influential political leaders and businessmen as well as go-getters and hustlers of smaller caliber, tend to take it for granted that human nature is selfish and that life is a struggle in which only the fittest may survive. According to this philosophy, the basic law by which man must live, in spite of his surface veneer of civilization, is the law of the jungle. The "fittest" are those who can bring to the struggle superior force, superior cunning, and superior ruthlessness.”

“Crossing out is an art that is, perhaps, even more difficult than writing. It requires the sharpest eye to decide what is superfluous and must be removed. And it requires ruthlessness toward yourself -- the greatest ruthlessness and self-sacrifice. You must know how to sacrifice parts in the name of the whole.”

“One of the most terrible things about the English education System in Ireland is its ruthlessness...it is cold and mechanical, like the ruthlessness of an immensely powerful engine. A machine vast, complicated... It grinds night and day; it obeys immutable and predetermined laws; it is as devoid of understanding, of sympathy, of imagination, as is any other piece of machinery that performs an appointed task. Into it is fed all raw human material in Ireland; it seizes upon it inexorably and rends and compresses and remoulds...”

“In landing operations, retreat is impossible, to surrender is as ignoble as it is foolish. above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest.”

“But without Adolf Hitler, who was possessed of a demonic personality, a granite will, uncanny instincts, a cold ruthlessness, a remarkable intellect, a soaring imagination and - until the end, when, drunk with power and success, he overreached himself - an amazing capacity to size up people and situations, there almost certainly would never have been a Third Reich.”

“The World Trade Organization, The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions virtually write economic policy and parliamentary legislation. With a deadly combination of arrogance and ruthlessness, they take their sledgehammers to fragile, interdependent, historically complex societies and devastate them, all under the fluttering banner of 'reform'.”

“You want to know why I am the perfect champion? Because you can take the strength of John Cena; the intelligence of Triple H; the desire of Cena; the athleticism of Triple H; the determination of Cena; the ruthlessness of Triple H... and if you combine these attributes into one person, you get Randy Orton. The only difference is that I have one thing that neither Cena nor Triple H has: the WWE Championship.”

“When it is established that government by right can take wealth from some and give it to others. When a society establishes criminals-by-right and looters-by-law, men will use force to seize the wealth of disarmed victims. Such looters believe it safe to rob defenseless men, once they have passed a law to disarm them. But their loot becomes the magnet for other looters, who get it from them as they got it. Then the race goes, not to the ablest at production, but to those most ruthless at brutality. When force is the standard, the murderer wins over the pickpocket.”