To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous HuxleyRead
The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own.
Interpretation
What this quote means
War dehumanizes individuals, forcing them into violent conflicts that they do not personally own.
Aldous Huxley's quote highlights the tragic reality of war, where individual human beings become mere tools or victims of larger political conflicts. It emphasizes that ordinary people, caught in these situations, are not truly represented in the political decisions that lead to war, resulting in a profound moral dilemma as they are pressured to kill or be killed for causes they do not personally align with.
Themes
WarViolenceHumanityPoliticsConflict
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the impacts of conflict in our society, one might reference this quote to highlight the dehumanizing nature of war.
More from Aldous Huxley
All quotes →Facts 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.
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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.
Aldous HuxleyRead
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