Monday, August 27, 2012

Solzhenitsyn: To do evil

"To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he’s doing is good… Ideology — that is what gives devildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors."
 ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

2 comments:

  1. Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle.
    ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
    ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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  2. "We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day’s work at Auschwitz in the morning."
    ~ George Steiner

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