Strange how blind people are! They are horrified by the torture chambers of the Middle Ages, but their arsenals fill them with pride!
Bertha Von SuttnerRead
How can justice be attained when, in the expiation of an old wrong, another wrong is to be committed? No reasonable creature would conceive of the idea of obliterating ink stains with ink, or spots of oil with oil. Only blood must be washed out with blood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Justice cannot be achieved through further wrongdoing.
In this quote, Bertha Von Suttner conveys the idea that attempting to rectify a previous wrong by committing another wrong only perpetuates injustice. She uses the metaphor of using ink to remove ink stains to illustrate the futility of trying to resolve an issue with more of the same negative action, asserting that true justice requires a different approach than merely balancing one act of harm with another.
Themes
JusticeWrongdoingBloodRetributionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of peaceful conflict resolution.
More from Bertha Von Suttner
All quotes →I wanted to be of service to the Peace League, and how could I better do so than by trying to write a book which should propagate its ideas? And I could do it most effectively, I thought, in the form of a story.
Bertha Von SuttnerRead
After the verb 'to Love', 'to Help' is the most beautiful verb in the world.
Bertha Von SuttnerRead
I am quite sure that from America will come the greatest help for the cause of peace, and I consider it my duty to inform the people of Europe as to the feelings and intentions of the friends of peace in Europe.
Bertha Von SuttnerRead
The stars of eternal truth and right have always shone in the firmament of human understanding. The process of bringing them down to earth, remolding them into practical forms, imbuing them with vitality, and then making use of them, has been a long one.
Bertha Von SuttnerRead
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