VIOLENCE QUOTES III
quotations about violence
Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them.
FLANNERY O'CONNOR
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
Violence, contrary to popular belief, is not part of the anarchist philosophy. It has repeatedly been pointed out by anarchist thinkers that the revolution can neither be won, nor the anarchist society established and maintained, by armed violence. Recourse to violence then is an indication of weakness, not of strength, and the revolution with the greatest possibilities of a successful outcome will undoubtedly be the one in which there is no violence, or in which violence is reduced to a minimum, for such a revolution would indicate the near unanimity of the population in the objectives of the revolution.... Violence as a means breeds violence; the cult of personalities as a means breeds dictators--big and small--and servile masses; government--even with the collaboration of socialists and anarchists--breeds more government. Surely then, freedom as a means breeds more freedom, possibly even the Free Society! To Those who say this condemns one to political sterility and the Ivory Tower our reply is that 'realism' and their 'circumstantialism' invariably lead to disaster. We believe there is something more real, more positive and more revolutionary to resisting war than in participation in it; that it is more civilised and more revolutionary to defend the right of a fascist to live than to support the Tribunals which have the legal power to shoot him; that it is more realistic to talk to the people from the gutter than from government benches; that in the long run it is more rewarding to influence minds by discussion than to mould them by coercion.
VERNON RICHARDS
"Anarchism and violence", What Is Anarchism?: An Introduction
Watching violence in movies or in TV programs stimulates the spectators to imitate what they see much more than if seen live or on TV news. In movies, violence is filmed with perfect illumination, spectacular scenery, and in slow motion, making it even romantic. However, in the news, the public has a much better perception of how horrible violence can be, and it is used with objectives that do not exist in the movies.
STEVEN SPIELBERG
interview, Veja, 1993
The primary outcome of violence is more violence. That does not mean that all consequential violence necessarily will be bloodier than the first, for violence is not always bloody. Much is psychological.
GENE DAVENPORT
"The inevitable outcome of violence is more violence", The Jackson Sun, April 28, 2017
One almost hates to bring it up for fear of being intellectually and socially quarantined, but we do have something that used to be a widely understood guide for how to contain violence: the solidly nonviolent message of Jesus of Nazareth. Unfortunately, that baby seems to have been thrown out with the bathwater. In educated, polite company it's not proper to talk about him and his example anymore.
JOHN NASSIVERA
"Media and male aggression", Rutland Herald, April 26, 2017
Violence is a dark contrast to what so many of us still believe in -- love.
ROBI LUDWIG
Till Death Do Us Part
Grieved at his heart, when looking down he saw
The whole earth filled with violence; and all flesh
Corrupting each their way.
JOHN MILTON
Paradise Lost
Violence and injury enclose in their net all that do such things, and generally return upon him who began.
LUCRETIUS
De Rerum Natura
Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.
MALCOLM X
Malcolm X Speaks
The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
BIBLE
Psalms 11:5
The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we do to each other.
FRANK HERBERT
Dune Messiah
Not all men seek rest and peace; some are born with the spirit of the storm in their blood, restless harbingers of violence and bloodshed, knowing no other path.
ROBERT E. HOWARD
"A Witch Shall Be Born", Weird Tales, 1934
Football combines the two worst things about America: it is violence punctuated by committee meetings.
GEORGE F. WILL
International Herald Tribune, May 7, 1990
Let's be honest about something: Violence is not an equal opportunity employer. The vast majority of people who commit acts of violence are males.
JOHN NASSIVERA
"Media and male aggression", Rutland Herald, April 26, 2017
People in favour of the use of force all think that it is just a means of attaining justice and peace. But peace and justice are free from violence... That is the final objective of history. If you abandon non-violence, you have no sense of history. You pass history by, you put history on ice, you are a traitor to history.
ANDRÉ TROCMÉ
attributed, Fighting for Hope
In violence, we forget who we are.
MARY MCCARTHY
"Characters in Fiction", Partisan Review
Evil only gives rise to more evil, and violence to more violence, in a spiral that ends by imprisoning everyone.
POPE FRANCIS
Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Participants in the International Peace Conference, April 28, 2017
I had long put on one side the purist pacifist view that one should have nothing to do with a social revolution if any violence were involved.... Nevertheless, the conviction remained in my mind that any revolution would fail to establish freedom and fraternity in proportion to its use of violence, that the use of violence inevitably brought in its train domination, repression, cruelty.
FENNER BROCKWAY
Inside the Left
The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime.
MAX STIRNER
The Ego and His Own
What I didn't know was that violence wears disguises. And the first time you made fun of me in front of someone I never saw it as the beginning of something bigger.... You never hit me, and that was why I stayed, because I couldn't believe what I couldn't label: what I didn't know was that what you did was far worse, stripping me of feelings and thoughts and my sense of self.
JEANNETTE ANGELL
"What I Didn't Know", Full of Crow, October 2009