Printer’s ink has been running a race against gunpowder these many, many years. Ink is handicapped, in a way, because you can blow up a man with gunpowder in half a second, while it may take twenty years to blow him up with a book. But the gunpowder destroys itself along with its victim, while a book can keep on exploding for centuries.
Christopher Morley (1890-1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist, poet
The Haunted Bookshop, ch. 6 [Roger Mifflin] (1919)
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Quotations about:
gunpowder
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… [T]he three great elements of modern civilization, Gunpowder, Printing, and the Protestant Religion ….
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
“The State of German Literature,” Edinburgh Review No. 92, Art. 2 (1827-10)
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A review of Franz Horn's The Poetry and Oratory of the Germans, from Luther's Time to the Present (1822-1824), and Outlines for the History and Criticism of Polite Literature in German, 1790-1818 (1819).
Collected in Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827-1855).
Thou knowest that since the invention of gun-powder, there is no place impregnable: that is to say, Usbek, there is no longer any asylum upon earth against injustice and violence. I always tremble for fear at last some invention will be found out of a shorter way to destroy mankind, and to depopulate whole nations and whole kingdoms.
[Tu sais que, depuis l’invention de la poudre, il n’y a plus de places imprenables ; c’est-à-dire, Usbek, qu’il n’y a plus d’asile sur la terre contre l’injustice et la violence. Je tremble toujours qu’on ne parvienne à la fin à découvrir quelque secret qui fournisse une voie plus abrégée pour faire périr les hommes, détruire les peuples et les nations entières.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Persian Letters [Lettres Persanes], Letter 106, Rhedi to Usbek (1721) [tr. Ozell (1760 ed.), # 105]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Thou knowest, that since the Invention of gun-powder, there is no place impregnable; that is to say, Ushek, that there is not any longer an asylum upon earth against injustice and violence. I always tremble, left they should at arrive at last, at the discovery of some secret, which may furnish them with a shorter way to destroy mankind, and to depopulate whole nations and whole kingdoms.
[tr. Floyd (1762), # 105]You know that since the invention of gunpowder no place is impregnable; that is to say, Usbek, that there is no longer upon the earth a refuge from injustice and violence. I dread always lest they should at last discover some secret which will furnish them with a briefer method of destroying men, by killing them off wholesale in tribes and nations.
[tr. Davidson (1891)]You know that, since the invention of gunpowder, no fortress is impregnable; that is to say, Usbek, that there is no longer upon earth an asylum against injustice and violence. I am always in terror lest some secret or other should be at length discovered that will not only kill men, but destroy entire tribes and nations.
[tr. Betts (1897)]You know that since the invention of gunpowder there have been no impregnable places; and this is to say, Usbek, that there is no longer an asylum from injustice and violence any¬ where on the earth. I am in constant terror that ultimately someone will succeed in discovering some secret which will furnish an even more efficient way to kill men, by destroying whole peoples and entire nations.
[tr. Healy (1964)]You know, since the invention of gunpowder, no fortification is impregnable; in other words, Usbek, there no longer exists, anywhere on earth, any asylum from injustice and violence. I live in fear that men of science will eventually discover some secret which would offer a faster day to kill people, destroy races, and wipe out entire nations.
[tr. Mauldon (2008)]You know that since the invention of gunpowder, no place is impregnable -- and that is to say, Usbek, that there is no place on earth where we are safe from injustice and violence. I tremble at the thought that eventually someone will discover some new secret that will lead to an even more efficient way to kill even more people, perhaps to destroy entire populations and nations.
[tr. MacKenzie (2014), # 105]
Again, we should notice the force, effect, and consequences of inventions, which are nowhere more conspicuous than in those three which were unknown to the ancients; namely, printing, gunpowder, and the compass. For these three have changed the appearance and state of the whole world; first in literature, then in warfare, and lastly in navigation: and innumerable changes have been thence derived, so that no empire, sect, or star, appears to have exercised a greater power and influence on human affairs than these mechanical discoveries.
[Rursus, vim et virtutem et consequentias rerum inventarum notare juvat; quae non in aliis manifestius occurrunt, quam in illis tribus quae antiquis incognitae, et quarum primordia, licet recentia, obscura et ingloria sunt: Artis nimirum Imprimendi, Pulveris Tormentarii, et Acus Nauticae. Haec enim tria rerum faciem et statum in orbe terrarum mutaverunt: primum, in re literaria; secundum, in re bellica; tertium, in navigationibus: unde innumerae rerum mutationes sequutae sunt; ut non imperium aliquod, non secta, non stella, majorem efficaciam et quasi influxum super res humanas exercuisse videatur, quam ista mechanica exercuerunt.]
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
Instauratio Magna [The Great Instauration], Part 2 “Novum Organum [The New Organon],” Book 1, Aphorism # 129 (1620) [tr. Wood (1831)]
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(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Again, it is well to observe the force and virtue and consequences of discoveries; and these are to be seen nowhere more conspicuously than in those three which were unknown to the ancients, and of which the origin, though recent, is obscure and inglorious; namely, printing, gunpowder, and the magnet. For these three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes; insomuch that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries.
[tr. Spedding (1858)]Again, it is well to mark the force, virtue, and consequences of discoveries; and these occur nowhere more manifestly than in those which were unknown to the ancients, and whose origin, though recent, is obscure and inglorious; the Arts, namely, of Printing, of Gunpowder, and the Mariner's Compass. For these three have changed the face and condition of things all over the world; the first in letters, the second in war, the third in navigation. And hence numberless changes have followed; so that no government, no sect, no star, seems to have exercised greater power and influence over human affairs than these mechanical discoveries.
[tr. Johnson (1859)]Again, it helps to notice the force, power and consequences of discoveries, which appear at their clearest in three things that were unknown to antiquity, and whose origins, though recent, are obscure and unsung: namely, the art of printing, gunpowder and the nautical compass. In fact these three things have changed the face and condition of things all over the globe: the first in literature; the second in the art of war; the third in navigation; and innumerable changes have followed; so that no empire or sect or star seems to have exercised a greater power and influence on human affairs than those mechanical things.
[tr. Silverthorne (2000)]Notice the vigour of discoveries, their power to generate consequences. This is nowhere more obvious than in three discoveries that the ancients didn’t know and whose origins (all quite recent) were obscure and humdrum. I am talking about the arts of printing, gunpowder, and the nautical compass. These three have changed the whole aspect and state of things throughout the world -- the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation -- bringing about countless changes; so that there seems to have been no empire, no philosophical system, no star that has exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries.
[tr. Bennett (2017)]
