I believe that in intense conflict, far from becoming sharper, differences melt away.
Rene GirardRead
It doesn't take much insight to realize that wars have been getting worse every time - worse from the point of view of the civilian, more and more destructive, more and more total.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Wars increasingly harm civilians and become more destructive over time.
Rene Girard emphasizes that wars are evolving into more catastrophic events, particularly for civilians, highlighting a troubling trend of increasing destruction and totality in conflicts. This observation invites reflection on the consequences of war and the persistent suffering of innocents caught in the midst of violence.
Themes
WarDestructionCiviliansConflictViolence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about humanitarian crises, one might quote Girard to emphasize the impact of war on civilians.
More from Rene Girard
All quotes βWe don't even know what our desire is. We ask other people to tell us our desires. We would like our desires to come from our deepest selves, our personal depths - but if it did, it would not be desire. Desire is always for something we feel we lack.
Rene GirardRead
The protective system of scapegoats is finally destroyed by the Crucifixion narratives as they reveal Jesus' innocence and, little by little, that of all analogous victims.
Rene GirardRead
Instead of blaming victimization on the victims, the Gospels blame it on the victimizers. What the myths systematically hide, the Bible reveals.
Rene GirardRead
What I call a mimetic crisis is a situation of conflict so intense that on both sides people act the same way and talk the same way even though, or because, they are more and more hostile to each other.
Rene GirardRead
Salvation lies in imitating Christ, in other words, in imitating the 'withdrawal relationship' that links him with his Father... To listen to the Father's silence is to abandon oneself to his withdrawal, to conform to it.
Rene GirardRead
Similar quotes
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
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Unite liberality with a just frugality; always reserve something for the hand of charity; and never let your door be closed to the voice of suffering humanity.
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Man is a part of the world, and his spirit is part of the spirit of the world. We are merely a peculiar mode of Being, a living atom within it, or, rather, a cell that, if sufficiently open to itself and its own mystery, can also experience the mystery, the will, the pain, and the hope of the world.
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The problem with introspection is that it has no end.
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Nothing that isn't a real crime makes a man appear so contemptible and little in the eyes of the world as inconsistency.
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Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that have been offer'd to private subjects.
Samuel AdamsRead