To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous HuxleyRead
What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
War trains individuals to kill each other despite having no personal conflicts, highlighting the absurdity of such violence.
Aldous Huxley's quote reflects on the paradoxical nature of war, where people with no direct animus towards each other are conditioned to commit acts of violence. It underlines the moral and ethical dilemmas that arise when societal structures prepare individuals to engage in cold-blooded murder for reasons that often have little to do with their personal beliefs or relationships.
Themes
WarViolenceAbsurdityMurderCold BloodPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the futility of war, one might quote Huxley to emphasize the moral implications of conflict.
More from Aldous Huxley
All quotes βFacts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
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In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
Aldous HuxleyRead
On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
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No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
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The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
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I lived, while 1 1/2 million Jewish children died. So I have an obligation to repair the world.
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I sometimes think we must be all mad and that we shall wake to sanity in strait-waistcoats.
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