Respect for the fragility and importance of an individual life is still the mark of an educated man.
Norman CousinsRead
Where is the indignation about the fact that the US and USSR have thirty thousand pounds of destructive force for every human being in the world?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses outrage over the overwhelming destructive power held by superpowers, highlighting the moral implications for humanity.
Norman Cousins' quote emphasizes the disproportionate accumulation of nuclear arsenals by the United States and the Soviet Union, questioning the ethical and humanitarian consequences of possessing such catastrophic power. It calls for greater public indignation and awareness regarding the relationship between military might and the safety of humanity, urging individuals to reflect on the values that underpin peace and existence in a world threatened by such overwhelming destructive potential.
Themes
IndignationDestructive ForceNuclear ArmsHumanityPeace
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about global security, one might reference this quote to emphasize the need for disarmament.
More from Norman Cousins
All quotes βNever deny a diagnosis, but do deny the negative verdict that may go with it.
Norman CousinsRead
Although a man may have no jurisdiction over the fact of his existence, he can hold supreme command over the meaning of existence for him.
Norman CousinsRead
People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.
Norman CousinsRead
Reverence for life is more than solicitude or sensitivity for life. It is a sense of the whole, a capacity for inspired response, a respect for the intricate universe of individual life. It is the supreme awareness of awareness itself.
Norman CousinsRead
Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.
Norman CousinsRead
Similar quotes
He who carries God in his heart bears Heaven with him wherever he goes.
Ignatius Of LoyolaRead
That which we die for lives as wholly as that which we live for dies.
E. E. CummingsRead
As to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours, that is on no ground credible. Even if some unknown landmass is there, and not just ocean, there was only one pair of original ancestors, and it is inconceivable that such distant regions should have been peopled by Adam's descendants.
Saint AugustineRead
I think, in many people's minds, the Confederate battle flag is not only a memorial to our ancestors, which is perfectly OK, but also a symbol of white superiority and an inclination for people to believe that even slavery would've been OK.
Jimmy CarterRead
Many undoubtedly owe their good fortune to the circumstance that they possess a pleasing smile with which they win hearts. Yet these hearts would do better to beware and to learn from Hamlet's tables that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
Why do we smile? Why do we laugh? Why do we feel alone? Why are we sad and confused? Why do we read poetry? Why do we cry when we see a painting? Why is there a riot in the heart when we love? Why do we feel shame? What is that thing in the pit of your stomach called desire?
Benjamin Alire SaenzRead