WIST Quotations

Twain, Mark -- Story (1905-02-02), “The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review, Vol. 180, No. 580 (1905-03)

Dave — Fri, 08 May 2026 20:18:49 +0000

A strange thing, when one considers it: to wit, the world applies to Czar and System the same moral axioms that have vogue and acceptance in civilized countries! Because, in civilized countries, it is wrong to remove oppressors otherwise than by process of law, it is held that the same rule applies in Russia, where there is no such thing as law — except for our Family. Laws are merely restraints — they have no other function. In civilized countries they restrain all persons, and restrain them all alike, which is fair and righteous; but in Russia such laws as exist make an exception — our Family. We do as we please; we have done as we pleased for centuries. Our common trade has been crime, our common pastime murder, our common beverage blood — the blood of the nation. Upon our heads lie millions of murders. Yet the pious moralist says it is a crime to assassinate us. We and our uncles are a family of cobras set over a hundred and forty million rabbits, whom we torture and murder and feed upon all our days; yet the moralist urges that to kill us is a crime, not a duty.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Story (1905-02-02), “The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review, Vol. 180, No. 580 (1905-03)
(Source)

Meant to be the musings of Czar Alexander III, whom Twain detested, about the morality of assassinating people such as himself.

Shakespeare, William -- Richard III, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 20ff (4.2.20-21) (1592)

Dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:36:49 +0000

RICHARD: Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead;
And I would have it suddenly performed.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard III, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 20ff (4.2.20-21) (1592)
(Source)

Ordering Buckingham to kill the two Princes in the Tower.

More, Thomas -- Utopia, Book 1, ch. 1 “Discourses of Raphael Hythloday” (1518 ed.) [tr. Turner (1965 ed.)]

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:52:12 +0000

Well, those are my objections on moral grounds. From a practical point of view, surely it’s obvious that to punish thieves and murderers in precisely the same way is not only absurd but also highly dangerous for the public. If a thief knows that a conviction for murder will get him into no more trouble than a conviction for theft, he’s naturally impelled to kill the person that he’d otherwise merely have robbed. It’s no worse for him if he’s caught, and it gives him a better chance of not being caught, and of concealing the crime altogether by eliminating the only witness. So in our efforts to terrorize thieves we’re actually encouraging them to murder innocent people.

[Non licere putem. Quam uero sit absurdum, atque etiam perniciosum reipublicae furem, atque homicidam ex aequo puniri, nemo est, opinor, qui nesciat.
Nempe quum latro conspiciat non minus imminere discriminis duntaxat furti damnato, quam si praeterea conuincatur homicidij, hac una cogitatione impellitur in caedem eius, quem alioqui fuerat tantum spoliaturus. quippe praeterquam quod deprehenso nihil sit plus periculi, est etiam in caede securitas maior, & maior caelandi spes sublato facinoris indice.
Itaque dum fures nimis atrociter studemus perterrefacere, in bonorum incitamus perniciem.]

Thomas More (1478-1535) English lawyer, social philosopher, statesman, humanist, Christian martyr
Utopia, Book 1, ch. 1 “Discourses of Raphael Hythloday” (1518 ed.) [tr. Turner (1965 ed.)]
(Source)

On the hanging of thieves under English law.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

I am persuaded that this punishement is unlawful. Furthermore I thinke ther is no body that knoweth not, how unreasonable, yea, how pernitious a thinge it is to the weale publike, that a thefe and a homicide or murderer, should suffer equall and like punishment. For the thefe seynge that man, that is condempned for thefte in no less jeoperdie, nor judged to no lesse punishment, then him that is convicte of manslaughter; throughe this cogitation onelye he is strongly and forciblye provoked, and in a maner constreined to kill him whome els he woulde have but robbed. For the murder beynge ones done, he is in lesse feare, and in more hoope that the deede shall not be bewrayed or knowen, seynge the partye is nowe deade and rydde oute of the waye, which onelye mighte have uttered and disclosed it. But if he chaunce to be taken and discrived, yet he is in no more daunger and jeoperdie, then if he had committed but single fellonye. Therfore whiles we go about with suche crueltie to make theves aferd, we provoke them to kil good men.
[tr. Robynson (1551)]

I think the putting of Thieves to death is not lawful; and it is plain and obvious that it is absurd, and of ill Consequence to the Common-Wealth, that a Thief and a Murderer should be equally punished; for if a Robber sees that his Danger is the same, if he is convicted of Theft, as if he were guilty of Murder, this will naturally set him on to kill the Person whom otherwise he would only have robbed; since, if the Punishment is the same, there is more security, and less danger of discovery, when he that can best make it is put out of the way; so that terrifying Thieves too much provokes them to cruelty.
[tr. Burnet (1684)]

I think putting thieves to death is not lawful ; and it is plain and obvious that it is absurd, and of ill consequence to the commonwealth, that a thief and a murderer should be equally punished: for if a robber sees that his danger is the same, if he is convicted of theft, as if he were guilty of murder, this will naturally incite him to kill the person whom otherwife he would only have robbed, since if the punishment is the same, there is more security and less danger of discovery, when he that can best make it is put out of the way; so that terrifying thieves too much, provokes them to cruelty.
[tr. Warner (1758)]

I think putting thieves to death, not lawful. And it is obviously absurd, and prejudicial to the commonwealth, that theft and murder should be punished alike. For, if a robber find that his danger is the same, if he be convicted of theft as if he had been guilty of murder, he will be incited to kill the person whom otherwise he would only have robbed; since, the punishment being the same, there is less danger of discovery, when he who can best make it is killed. Thus, terrifying thieves too much, provoketh them to cruelty.
[tr. Cayley (1808)]

I think putting thieves to death is not lawful; and it is plain and obvious that it is absurd and of ill consequence to the commonwealth that a thief and a murderer should be equally punished; for if a robber sees that his danger is the same if he is convicted of theft as if he were guilty of murder, this will naturally incite him to kill the person whom otherwise he would only have robbed; since, if the punishment is the same, there is more security, and less danger of discovery, when he that can best make it is put out of the way; so that terrifying thieves too much provokes them to cruelty.
[tr. Burnet/Morley (1901)]

I am persuaded that this punishment is unlawful. Furthermore, I think there is no body that knoweth not how unreasonable, yea, how pernicious a thing it is to the weal public that a thief and a homicide or murderer should suffer equal and like punishment. For the thief, seeing that man that is condemned for theft in no less jeopardy, nor judged to no less punishment, than him that is convict of manslaughter; through this cogitation only he is strongly and forcibly provoked, and in a manner constrained, to kill him, whom else he would have but robbed. For the murder once done, he is in less care and in more hope, that the deed shall not be betrayed or known, seeing the party is now dead and rid out of the way, which only might have uttered and disclosed it. But if he chance to be taken and discrived, yet he is in no more danger and jeopardy than if he had committed but single felony. Therefore whiles we go about with such cruelty to make thieves afeared, we provoke them to kill good men.
[tr. Robynson/Lupton/Armes (1911)]

I think this punishment unlawful. Now how absurd and even dangerous to the commonwealth it is that a thief and a murderer should receive the same punishment, surely everyone knows. For since the robber sees that he is in as great danger if merely condemned for theft as if he were convicted of murder as well, this consideration alone impels him to murder a man, whom otherwise he would only have robbed; for besides the fact that he is in no more danger if caught, there is greater safety in putting the man out of the way, and a greater hope of covering up the offence, if there is no one left to tell the tale. And so while we try to frighten thieves with excessive cruelty, we urge them on to the destruction of honest men.
[tr. Richards (1923)]

I think this punishment unlawful. Besides, surely everyone knows how absurd and even dangerous to the commonwealth it is that a thief and a murderer should receive the same punishment. Since the robber sees that he is in as great danger if merely condemned for theft as if he were convicted of murder as well, this single consideration impels him to murder the man whom otherwise he would only have robbed. In addition to the fact that he is in no greater danger if caught, there is greater safety in putting the man out of the way and greater hope of covering up the crime if he leaves no one left to tell the tale. Thus, while we endeavor to terrify thieves with excessive cruelty, we urge them on to the destruction of honest citizens.
[tr. Richards/Surtz (1964)]

I think it is wrong to put thieves to death. But everybody knows how absurd and even harmful to the public welfare it is to punish theft and murder alike. If theft carries the same penalty as murder, the thief will be encouraged to kill the victim whom otherwise he would only have robbed. When the punishment is the same, murder is safer, since one conceals both crimes by killing the witness. Thus while we try to terrify thieves with extreme cruelty, we really invite them to kill innocent men.
[tr. Adams (1992 ed.)]

I think putting thieves to death is not lawful; and it is plain and obvious that it is absurd and of ill consequence to the commonwealth that a thief and a murderer should be equally punished; for if a robber sees that his danger is the same if he is convicted of theft as if he were guilty of murder, this will naturally incite him to kill the person whom otherwise he would only have robbed; since, if the punishment is the same, there is more security, and less danger of discovery, when he that can best make it is put out of the way; so that terrifying thieves too much provokes them to cruelty.
[tr. Open Utopia (Duncombe) (2012)]

Shaw, George Bernard -- Pygmalion, Act 5 (1913)

Dave — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:29:57 +0000

HIGGINS: Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble. There’s only one way of escaping trouble; and that’s killing things. Cowards, you notice, are always shrieking to have troublesome people killed.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
Pygmalion, Act 5 (1913)
(Source)

Euripides -- Medea [Μήδεια], l. 791ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]

Dave — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 20:28:37 +0000

MEDEA:What makes me cry with pain
Is the next thing I have to do. I will kill my sons.
No one shall take my children from me.

[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: ᾤμωξα δ᾿ οἷον ἔργον ἔστ᾿ ἐργαστέον
τοὐντεῦθεν ἡμῖν· τέκνα γὰρ κατακτενῶ
τἄμ᾿· οὔτις ἔστιν ὅστις ἐξαιρήσεται·]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 791ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]
(Source)

This is the first time Medea directly announces her intent; scholars debate whether it's where she actually first thinks of it.

The most interesting divergence in translations here is whether Medea is asserting that nobody can save the children from her plan to kill them, or that nobody will take them from her because she will kill them first. The former seems to me more in keeping with the rest of the passage, but some translators disagree. Though her sons were to have been exiled with her, some scholars believe Medea was concerned that they might be killed (taken from her) once she murdered Glauce, Jason's new wife.

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

But I with anguish think upon a deed
Of more than common horror, which remains
By me to be accomplish'd: for my Sons
Am I resolved to slay, them from this arm
Shall no man rescue.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

But what a deed,
Ay, there my heart is anguish'd, what a deed
Must next be done! My sons -- I'll kill them both,
And who shall save them from me?
[tr. Potter (1814)]

But I am woe for what a deed
Needs must be done: for I shall slay my sons.
No one there is who may deliver them.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

But I shudder at the deed I must do next; for I will slay the children I have borne; there is none shall take them from my toils.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

But I bewail the deed such as must next be done by me; for I shall slay my children; there is no one who shall rescue them from me.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

And wail the deed that yet for me remains
To bring to pass; for I will slay my children,
Yea, mine: no man shall pluck them from mine hand.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

I gnash my teeth
Thinking on what a path my feet must tread
Thereafter. I shall lay those children dead --
Mine, whom no hand shall steal from me away!
[tr. Murray (1906)]

Oh, my heart
Cries at the thought of what a deed I must
Do after that. For I must kill my children,
Mine own. There lives not who shall rescue them.
[tr. Lucas; ed. Higham (1938)]

I weep to think of what a deed I have to do
Next after that; for I shall kill my own children.
My children, there is none who can give them safety.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

I moan for the kind of task that I must proceed
To accomplish. For I shall put the children to death --
My children. No one will save them from me.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

Ah me, I groan at what a deed I must do next! I shall kill my children: there is no one who can rescue them.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]

It makes me groan to think what deed I must do net. For I shall kill my own children; no one shall take them from me.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

Ah! How I shudder with fear for the monstrous deed that I must do!
Immediately after the murder of the Princess I will have to murder my own children. No one can save them, now, no one!
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

I grieve over the deed I must do
after this. For I shall kill my children.
There is no one who will rescue them.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

But the next thing I’ll do fills me with pain --
I’m going to kill my children. There’s no one
can save them now.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 940ff]

Now hear what follows: I weep for what I must do; for then I'll kill my children. No one will give relief.
[tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]

I have mourned the kind of thing that I need to do
After this: For I will kill my children.
There is no one who will save them.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]

But then
I'm miserable about what I must do.
I have to kill my children; no one
will take them from my hands.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

I grieve at the deed I must do next; for I will slay my own children. No one will take them from me!
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Ah me, I groan at what a deed I must do next. I will kill my children: there is no one who can rescue them.
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]

Hugo, Victor -- Speech (1848-09-15), “Plaidoyer contre la peine de mort [An argument against the death penalty],” Assemblée Constituante, Paris

Dave — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 22:17:33 +0000

Look, examine, reflect. You hold capital punishment up as an example. Why? Because of what it teaches. And just what is it that you wish to teach by means of this example? That thou shalt not kill. And how do you teach that “thou shalt not kill”? By killing.

[Voyez, examinez, réfléchissez. Vous tenez à l’exemple [de la peine de mort]. Pourquoi? Pour ce qu’il enseigne. Que voulez-vous enseigner avec votre exemple? Qu’il ne faut pas tuer. Et comment enseignez-vous qu’il ne faut pas tuer? En tuant.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Speech (1848-09-15), “Plaidoyer contre la peine de mort [An argument against the death penalty],” Assemblée Constituante, Paris
(Source)

(Source (French)).

I have been unable to find the origin of the English translation that is widely used for this quotation (let alone an English record of the entire speech).

Shakespeare, William -- Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 252ff (4.3.252-261) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:21:55 +0000

MALCOLM: Be comforted.
Let’s make us med’cines of our great revenge,
To cure this deadly grief.

MACDUFF: He has no children. All my pretty ones?
Did you say “all”? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?

MALCOLM: Dispute it like a man.

MACDUFF: I shall do so,
But I must also feel it as a man.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 252ff (4.3.252-261) (1606)
(Source)

Macduff, learning his family and household have been killed on Macbeth's orders.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1941-02-19), “The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius,” Part 1 “England Your England,” sec. 1, The Searchlight Books [ed. Fyvel and Orwell]

Dave — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:15:07 +0000

As I write, highly civilised human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.
They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are “only doing their duty”, as the saying goes. Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind-hearted law-abiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life. On the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well-placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it. He is serving his country, which has the power to absolve him from evil.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1941-02-19), “The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius,” Part 1 “England Your England,” sec. 1, The Searchlight Books [ed. Fyvel and Orwell]
(Source)

Part of Part 1, "England Your England" with the title "The Ruling Class" was previously published in Horizon (1940-12).

Shakespeare, William -- Richard II, Act 5, sc. 6, l. 39ff (5.6.39-40) (1595)

Dave — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 17:12:57 +0000

KING HENRY: Though I did wish him dead,
I hate the murderer, love him murderèd.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard II, Act 5, sc. 6, l. 39ff (5.6.39-40) (1595)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Richard II, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 110 (5.1.110) (1595)

Dave — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:55:08 +0000

Go thou and fill another room in hell.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard II, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 110 (5.1.110) (1595)
(Source)

Killing one of his would-be assassins with the killer's own weapon.

Moliere -- Don Juan [Dom Juan], Act 1, sc. 2 (1665) [tr. Wilbur (2001)]

Dave — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:09:54 +0000

SGANARELLE: Have you no fears about returning here? It was here, Sir, that you killed that Commander, six months ago.

DON JUAN: Why should I be afraid? Didn’t I kill him properly?

[SGANARELLE: Et n’y craignez-vous rien, monsieur, de la mort de ce commandeur que vous tuâtes il y a six mois?

DON JUAN: Et pourquoi craindre? ne l’ai-je pas bien tué?]

Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Don Juan [Dom Juan], Act 1, sc. 2 (1665) [tr. Wilbur (2001)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

SGANAREL: And are you under no Apprehensions, Sir, about the Death of the Governor you kill'd six Months ago?
D. JOHN: And why Apprehensions? did'nt I kill him fairly?
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]

SGAN.: And you have no fear, sir, for the consequences of the death of that Commander whom you killed six months ago?
D. JU.: Why should I be afraid? Did I not kill him honourably?
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]

SGAN.: And have you no fear, sir, abouit the death of that commandant you killed six months ago?
JU.: What fear can I have? Did I not kill him properly?
[tr. Wall (1879)]

SGAN.: And have you no apprehensions, Monsieur, from the death of the Commander you killed six months ago?
D. JUAN: Why should I be afraid? Did I not kill him honourably?
[tr. Waller (1904)]

SGANARELLE: And have you nothing to fear, sir, from the death of the Commandant whom you killed here six months ago?
DON JUAN: And what should I fear? Was n't he fairly killed?
[tr. Page (1908)]

SGANARELLE: And have you nothing to fear, sir, here, from the death of that Commander you killed six months ago?
DON JUAN: And why fear? Didn I kill him properly?
[tr. Frame (1967)]

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1934), “Conscientious Objector,” l. 8, Wine from These Grapes, sec. 4

Dave — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:41:01 +0000

I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death; I am not on his pay-roll.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1934), “Conscientious Objector,” l. 8, Wine from These Grapes, sec. 4
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:37:16 +0000

If I solve my dispute with my neighbor by killing him, I have certainly solved the immediate dispute. If my neighbor was a scoundrel, then the world is no doubt better for his absence. But in killing my neighbor, though he may have been a terrible man who did not deserve to live, I have made myself a killer — and the life of my next neighbor is in greater peril than the life of the last.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky
(Source)

Collected in The Long-Legged House, Part 2 (1969).

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 4, Citizenship Papers (2003)

Dave — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 17:26:56 +0000

In nuclear or biological warfare, in which we know we cannot limit effects, how do we distinguish our enemies from our friends — or our enemies from ourselves? Does this not bring us exactly to the madness of terrorists who kill themselves in order to kill others?

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 4, Citizenship Papers (2003)
(Source)

This passage did not appear in the original (abridged) full-page ad in the New York Times (2003-02-06) or the Orion Magazine (2003-03/04) publication of the essay.

Adams, Douglas -- Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 7 (1987)

Dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 20:52:19 +0000

Gordon Way’s astonishment at being suddenly shot dead was nothing to his astonishment at what happened next.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 7 (1987)
(Source)

Bolt, Robert -- Lawrence of Arabia, Part 1, sc. 621-623 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]

Dave — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 19:49:13 +0000

LAWRENCE: I — killed — two people, I mean two Arabs. One was a boy — this was yesterday. … I led him into a quicksand. The other was a man — that was, oh let me see — before Akaba anyway — I had to execute him with my pistol. … There was something about it I didn’t like.

ALLENBY: Well, naturally.

LAWRENCE: No. Something else.

ALLENBY: I see. Well that’s all right. Let it be a warning.

LAWRENCE: No. Something else.

ALLENBY: What then?

LAWRENCE: I enjoyed it.

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, Part 1, sc. 621-623 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)

The above is from the Bolt shooting script. The actual movie sequence has slightly different language and intonation in Lawrence's first line:

I killed two people, I mean, two Arabs. One was a boy. That was -- yesterday. I led him into a quicksand. The other was a man. That was -- before Aqaba, anyway. I had to execute him with my pistol. There was something about it I didn't like.

Barrie, James -- Peter and Wendy, ch. 4 “The Flight” (1911)

Dave — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 17:11:15 +0000

“There’s a pirate asleep in the pampas just beneath us,” Peter told him. “If you like, we’ll go down and kill him.”
“I don’t see him,” John said after a long pause.
“I do.”
“Suppose,” John said, a little huskily, “he were to wake up.”’
Peter spoke indignantly. “You don’t think I would kill him while he was sleeping! I would wake him first, and then kill him. That’s the way I always do.”

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter and Wendy, ch. 4 “The Flight” (1911)
(Source)

Not included in the 1928 published play.

Swift, Jonathan -- Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:26:33 +0000

A soldier is a yahoo hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)
(Source)

Following a long litany of the causes of wars in Europe, the number of such causes leading to the "trade of a soldier" being held "the most honourable of all others," for the above reason.

Euripides -- Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 966ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2020)]

Dave — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 17:28:07 +0000

ORESTES: What should we do? Should we kill our mother?

[ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί δῆτα δρῶμεν; μητέρ᾿ ἦ φονεύσομεν.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 966ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
(Source)

The answer from Electra, of course, is yes -- Clytemnestra is to be killed for her role in the murder of her late husband (and Electra and Oresthes' father), Agamemnon. They have already killed the other responsible party, her next husband, Aegisthus.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

What now remains
For us to do, shall we with ruthless steel
Pierce the maternal breast?
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

What are we going to do? Shall we kill our mother?
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

What then shall we do? shall we murder our mother?
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

What shall we do? -- our mother shall we slay?
[tr. Way (1896)]

What would we with our mother? Didst thou say
Kill her?
[tr. Murray (1905)]

What must we do to our mother? Slay her?
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

What shall we do then? Slaughter our mother?
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]

What are we going to do?
Kill our mother?
[tr. Johnston (2009)]

What shall we do? Can we really kill our mother?
[tr. Wilson (2016)]

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-04), “Politics and the English Language,” Horizon Magazine

Dave — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:07:25 +0000

Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-04), “Politics and the English Language,” Horizon Magazine
(Source)

Camus, Albert -- Algerian Chronicles [Chroniques Algérienne], Preface (1948) [tr. Goldhammer (2013)]

Dave — Thu, 16 May 2024 15:51:52 +0000

No matter what cause one defends, it will suffer permanent disgrace if one resorts to blind attacks on crowds of innocent people in which the killer knows in advance that he will kill women and children.

Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
Algerian Chronicles [Chroniques Algérienne], Preface (1948) [tr. Goldhammer (2013)]
(Source)

Criticizing the Front de Libération Nationalale (FLN), the movement for Algerian independence (after similarly criticizing the French government for its violent activity).

Montesquieu -- Persian Letters [Lettres Persanes], Letter 91, Usbek to Ibben (1721) [tr. Davidson (1891)]

Dave — Mon, 13 May 2024 16:56:27 +0000

On this account violence prevails amongst the French; for these laws of honour require a gentleman to avenge himself when he has been insulted; but, on the other hand, justice punishes him unmercifully when he does so. If one follows the laws of honour, one dies upon the scaffold; if one follows those of justice, one is banished for ever from the society of men: this, then, is the barbarous alternative, either to die, or to be unworthy to live.

[Ainsi les François sont dans un état bien violent : car les mêmes lois de l’honneur obligent un honnête homme de se venger quand il a été offensé ; mais, d’un autre côté, la justice le punit des plus cruelles peines lorsqu’il se venge. Si l’on suit les lois de l’honneur, on périt sur un échafaud ; si l’on suit celles de la justice, on est banni pour jamais de la société des hommes. Il n’y a donc que cette cruelle alternative, ou de mourir, ou d’être indigne de vivre.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Persian Letters [Lettres Persanes], Letter 91, Usbek to Ibben (1721) [tr. Davidson (1891)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

So that the French are in a state of great violence: for, on one hand, the laws of honour oblige a man to revenge himself if he is affronted; and, on the other, justice inflicts the most cruel punishments upon him for doing so. If you follow the laws of honour, you lose your head upon a scaffold; if those of justice, you are driven out for ever from the society of men; so that you have only the unhappy choice either of dying, or being unworthy to live.
[tr. Ozell (1760 ed.)]

So that the French are in a great state of violence: for these laws of honour oblige a well bred man to revenge himself when he hath been affronted; but, on the other hand, justice punishes him with the severest penalties when he hath done so. If men follow the laws of honour, they die upon a scaffold \; if those of justice, they are banished for ever from the society of men: there is then only this cruel alternative, either to die, or to be unworthy to live.
[tr. Floyd (1762), # 90]

Accordingly, the French are in a very perturbed condition; for the laws of honor compel a gentleman to avenge himself when he has been insulted; and, on the other hand, justice punishes him with the severest penalties when he has avenged himself. If a man obey the laws of honor, he dies on the scaffold; if he obey the laws of justice, he is forever shunned by his fellow-men; this, then, is the cruel alternative, either to die, or to be unworthy to live.
[tr. Betts (1897)]

And so the French remain in a state of violence, for the laws of honor require a gentleman to avenge himself if insulted; but justice, on the other hand, punishes him cruelly for his vengeance. If you follow the laws of honor, you perish on the scaffold; but to follow the laws of justice means perpetual banishment from the society of men. There is, then, only this harsh alternative: to die or to be unworthy of life.
[tr. Healy (1964)]

So the French find themselves in a most dire situation: for those same laws of honour oblige a gentleman to avenge himself if he has been offended, but, on the other hand, the offices of justice punish him in the harshest manner when he does take his revenge. If he obeys the laws of honour, he dies upon the scaffold; if he obeys the laws of the land, he is banished for ever from the society of men. All he can do, then, is choose between these cruel alternatives: to die, or to be unworthy of living.
[tr. Mauldon (2008), # 88]

Hardy, Thomas -- “The Man He Killed” (1902)

Dave — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 16:59:00 +0000

Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You’d treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) English novelist, poet
“The Man He Killed” (1902)
(Source)

Shaw, George Bernard -- The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet, “The Rejected Statement, Part 1,” “The Limits to Toleration” (1909)

Dave — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:41:10 +0000

Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet, “The Rejected Statement, Part 1,” “The Limits to Toleration” (1909)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 17:00:34 +0000

So when, in future times, men ask you to prove patriotism and loyalty and affection for your native land — remember that these things are not always equated with a willingness to die or to kill.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)
(Source)

Krutch, Joseph Wood -- The Great Chain of Life, ch. 9 “Reverence for Life” (1956)

Dave — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 15:34:48 +0000

When a man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him Vandal. When he wantonly destroys one of the works of God we call him Sportsman.

Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970) American educator, writer, critic, naturalist
The Great Chain of Life, ch. 9 “Reverence for Life” (1956)
(Source)

Often misquoted as "a vandal ... a sportsman."

Foglio, Phil -- Girl Genius, 22.039 (4 Aug 2021)

Dave — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 18:51:40 +0000

As Master Bludtharst once put it: “Kill a man today, and all you get are spare parts — but conquer his village, and you get spare parts plus people who can cook your breakfast tomorrow!”

Phil Foglio (b. 1956) American writer, cartoonist
Girl Genius, 22.039 (4 Aug 2021)
(Source)

Hastings, Max -- Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy (2018)

Dave — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 00:19:18 +0000

Most air crew take for granted the spurious moral absolution conferred upon those who escape eye contact with the people whom they kill.

Max Hastings (b. 1945) British journalist and military historian
Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy (2018)

Fussell, Paul -- “The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)

Dave — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:05:28 +0000

“Those who fought know a secret about themselves, and it is not very nice.” They have experienced secretly and privately their natural human impulse toward sadism and brutality. […] Not merely did I learn to kill with a noose of piano wire put around somebody’s neck from behind, but I learned to enjoy the prospect of killing that way. It’s those things that you learn about yourself that you never forget. You learn that you have much wider dimensions than you had imagined before you had to fight a war. That’s salutary. It’s well to know exactly who you are so you can conduct the rest of your life properly.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
“The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)
(Source)

Homer -- The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 427ff (11.427) [Agamemnon] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Rieu (1946)]

Dave — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 16:03:30 +0000

And so I say that for brutality and infamy there is no one to equal a woman who can contemplate such deeds. Who else could conceive so hideous a crime as her deliberate butchery of her husband and her lord?

[ὣς οὐκ αἰνότερον καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο γυναικός,
ἥ τις δὴ τοιαῦτα μετὰ φρεσὶν ἔργα βάληται:
οἷον δὴ καὶ κείνη ἐμήσατο ἔργον ἀεικές,
κουριδίῳ τεύξασα πόσει φόνον.]

Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 427ff (11.427) [Agamemnon] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Rieu (1946)]
(Source)

Agamemnon, in the Underworld, telling Odysseus of his betrayal by Clytemnestra. Original Greek. Alternate translations:

Nothing so heap’d is with impieties,
As such a woman that would kill her spouse
That married her a maid.
[tr. Chapman (1616)]

Nothing so cruel as a woman yet
Did nature e’er produce; a thought so ill
In any other breast did never sit,
As her own loving husband’s blood to spill.
[tr. Hobbes (1675), l. 409ff]

O woman, woman, when to ill thy mind
Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend:
And such was mine! who basely plunged her sword
Through the fond bosom where she reign'd adored!
[tr. Pope (1725)]

So that the thing breathes not, ruthless and fell
As woman once resolv’d on such a deed
Detestable, as my base wife contrived,
The murther of the husband of her youth.
[tr. Cowper (1792), l. 519ff]

Since nought exists more horrible and bold
Than evil in the breast of womankind,
When she to her own lust herself hath sold,
Even as this fell monster in her mind
Against the husband of her youth designed
Black murder.
[tr. Worsley (1861), st. 60]

Thus there is nought more horrible and shameless,
Than woman, who such deeds as these could think on!
Like as she compassed this unseemly deed --
Blood -- murder 'gainst the husband of her youth!
[tr. Bigge-Wither (1869)]

Nought can more fearful be --
Nought more revolting in all shamelessness
Than Woman of this stamp, who to her heart
Such schemes could lay: For what a loathsome act
Was that which she design'd by bloody death
The husband to destroy, whom in her youth
She had in lawful wedlock made her vow!
[tr. Musgrave (1869), l. 659ff]

So surely is there nought more terrible and shameless than a woman who imagines such evil in her heart, even as she too planned a foul deed, fashioning death for her wedded lord.
[tr. Butcher/Lang (1879)]

Nought more shameless or more fearful than a woman may ye find
When she at last conceiveth such deeds within her mind.
E'en such a deed so unseemly as she imagined for me,
To murder her wedded husband!
[tr. Morris (1887), l. 427ff]

Ah, what can be more horrible and brutish than a woman when she admits into her thoughts such deeds as these! And what a shameless deed she plotted to bring about the murder of the husband of her youth!
[tr. Palmer (1891)]

For there is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as a woman when she has fallen into such guilt as hers was. Fancy murdering her own husband!
[tr. Butler (1898)]

So true is it that there is nothing more dread or more shameless than a woman who puts into her heart such deeds, even as she too devised a monstrous thing, contriving death for her wedded husband.
[tr. Murray (1919)]

I tell you, there is nought more awful and inhuman than a woman who can fondle in her heart crimes so foul as this conception of my wife's to murder the husband of her youth.
[tr. Lawrence (1932)]

So there is nothing more deadly or more vile than a woman
who stores her mind with acts that are of such sort, as this one
did when she thought of this act of dishonor, and plotted
the murder of her lawful husband.
[tr. Lattimore (1965)]

So,
there’s nothing more deadly, bestial than a woman
set on works like these -- what a monstrous thing
she plotted, slaughtered her own lawful husband!
[tr. Fagles (1996)]

Nothing
Is more grim or more shameless than a woman
Who sets her mind on such an unspeakable act
As killing her own husband.
[tr. Lombardo (2000), l. 443ff]

So there is nothing at all more dreadful or vile than a woman who in the thought of her heart meditates this kind of misdoing like that woman who craftily plotted a deed so indecent causing the death of the husband she wedded.
[tr. Merrill (2002)]

There is nothing more terrible, nor anything more shameless, than a woman who can plan deeds like this in her heart, deeds like this ugly crime that Clytemnestra plotted: the murder of her lawfully wedded husband.
[tr. Verity (2016)]

There's nothing more frightful or shameless than a woman who conceives the idea of such misdeeds in her heart, like the horrifying act that this woman planned, contriving her own wedded husband's murder.
[tr. Green (2018)]

The truth is, there’s nothing more disgusting,
more disgraceful, than a woman whose heart
is set on deeds like this -- the way she planned
the shameless act, to arrange the murder
of the man she married.
[tr. Johnston (2019), l. 539ff]

Jillette, Penn -- Interview by Kahterine Mangu-Ward, Reason (Jan 2017)

Dave — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 19:02:58 +0000

When I talk about the death penalty to people, there are a zillion pragmatic arguments to make that the death penalty is more expensive, that you could make mistakes with the death penalty. I try to never use them, because I believe that as soon as I use them, I have dropped what matters to me. Because those arguments are disingenuous. To say, “What if we put an innocent person to death?” I am then telling you that if you can promise me we won’t put any innocent people to death that I’m somehow OK with that, and I’m fucking not. Killing people is wrong. Government shouldn’t fucking do it. End of story.

Penn Jillette (b. 1955) American stage magician, actor, musician, author
Interview by Kahterine Mangu-Ward, Reason (Jan 2017)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 15, Men at Arms (1993)

Dave — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:21:18 +0000

Something Vimes had learned as a young guard drifted up from memory. If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you’re going to die. So they’ll talk. They’ll gloat.
They’ll watch you squirm. They’ll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar.
So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 15, Men at Arms (1993)
(Source)

Teller, Edward -- “Fallout and Disarmament: A Debate Between Linus Pauling and Edward Teller,” KQED-TV, San Francisco (20 Feb 1958)

Dave — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 14:09:21 +0000

I don’t want to kill anybody. I am passionately opposed to killing, but I’m even more passionately fond of freedom.

Edward Teller (1908-2003) Hungarian-American theoretical physicist
“Fallout and Disarmament: A Debate Between Linus Pauling and Edward Teller,” KQED-TV, San Francisco (20 Feb 1958)
(Source)

Viereck, Peter -- “Clio is No Cleo: The Messiness of History,” lecture, Mt. Holyoke College (1997)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:00:31 +0000

The greatest bloodshed? The most murders? I would say two things: sincere love and a sincere devotion to liberty. … If you kill out of love or for the perfect utopia, you never stop killing because human nature is always imperfect.

Peter Viereck (1916-2006) American poet, historian, academic
“Clio is No Cleo: The Messiness of History,” lecture, Mt. Holyoke College (1997)
(Source)

Reprinted in Society (Mar 2004) and collected in Strict Wildness (2008).

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Pro Milone, ch. 4, sec. 11 [tr. Yonge (1891)]

Dave — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 14:34:46 +0000

For laws are silent when arms are raised.

[Silent enim leges inter arma.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Milone, ch. 4, sec. 11 [tr. Yonge (1891)]
(Source)

In context, Cicero is asserting that self-defense is a valid defense for killing, even though that principle was not written into Roman law. It has been extended in legal terms to times of war being exempt from normal laws regarding killing.

Alt. trans.:

"For laws are silent among arms."
"In a time of war, the law falls silent."
"Laws are silent in time of war."
"The laws are silent in warfare."
"For among arms, the laws fall mute."
"The power of law is suspended during war."

Original Latin.

Arendt, Hannah -- Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 8 (1963)

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:33:57 +0000

And just as the law in civilized countries assumes that the voice of conscience tells everybody, “Thou shalt not kill,” even though man’s natural desires and inclinations may at times be murderous, so the law of Hitler’s land demanded that the voice of conscience tell everybody: “Thou shalt kill,” although the organizers of the massacres knew full well that murder is against the normal desires and inclinations of most people. Evil in the Third Reich had lost the quality by which most people recognize it — the quality of temptation.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 8 (1963)
(Source)

McCarthy, Cormac -- Outer Dark (1968)

Dave — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 17:00:40 +0000

Don’t flang him off the bluff, boys. Tain’t christian.

Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023) American novelist, playwright, screenwriter
Outer Dark (1968)
(Source)

Cowper, William -- “Winter Walk at Noon,” l. 560ff, The Task, Book 6 (1785)

Dave — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 15:25:34 +0000

I would not enter on my list of friends,
(Though graced with polish’d manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
“Winter Walk at Noon,” l. 560ff, The Task, Book 6 (1785)
(Source)

O'Rourke, P. J. -- Parliament of Whores, “The President” (1991)

Dave — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:48:14 +0000

In our brief national history, we have shot four of our presidents, worried five of them to death, impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails, we hold an election and assassinate their characters.

P. J. O'Rourke (b. 1947) American humorist, editor
Parliament of Whores, “The President” (1991)

Maher, Bill -- Real Time with Bill Maher, “New Rules” (13 May 2011)

Dave — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 17:17:15 +0000

You’re supposed to look at that figure of Christ on the cross and think, “How could a man suffer like that and forgive?” Not, “Romans are pussies — he still has his eyes.”

William "Bill" Maher (b. 1956) American comedian, political commentator, critic, television host.
Real Time with Bill Maher, “New Rules” (13 May 2011)

Discussing Christians who support torturing terrorists.

Santayana, George -- Persons and Places, entry, c. 1880 (1944)

Dave — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:58:26 +0000

It would repel me less to be a hangman than a soldier, because the one is obliged to put to death only criminals sentenced by the law, but the other kills honest men who like himself bathe in innocent blood at the bidding of some superior.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
Persons and Places, entry, c. 1880 (1944)

Peoples, David -- Unforgiven (1992)

Dave — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 15:23:47 +0000

MUNNY: It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he’s got, and all he’s ever gonna have.

SCHOFIELD KID: Yeah. Well, I guess they had it coming.

MUNNY: We all have it coming, kid.

!–more–>

(Source (Video); dialog verified)

Will Munny was played by Clint Eastwood. The script was originally written in 1976.

David Peoples (b. 1940) American screenwriter
Unforgiven (1992)
(Source)

(Source (Video); dialog verified)

Will Munny was played by Clint Eastwood. The script was originally written in 1976.

Talmud -- Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:9; Yerushalmi Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 37a

Dave — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 12:39:15 +0000

Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.

The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:9; Yerushalmi Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 37a
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world."

Cain, Cheryl -- Firefly, 1×10 “War Stories” (6 Dec 2002)

Dave — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 14:15:37 +0000

ZOE: Preacher, don’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killin’?

BOOK: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.

Cheryl Cain (contemp.) American television screenwriter
Firefly, 1×10 “War Stories” (6 Dec 2002)

Bramah, Ernest -- “The Story of Hien and the Chief Examiner,” Kai Lung’s Golden Hours (1922)

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 12:28:43 +0000

There are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a dark night.

Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) English author [Ernest Brammah Smith]
“The Story of Hien and the Chief Examiner,” Kai Lung’s Golden Hours (1922)

~Other -- Harry “Breaker” Morant, to the firing squad (27 Feb 1902)

Dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:08:29 +0000

Shoot straight you bastards. Don’t make a mess of it.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Harry “Breaker” Morant, to the firing squad (27 Feb 1902)

Butcher, Jim -- Grave Peril (2001)

Dave — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 12:37:36 +0000

“So?” Bob said. “Hat up, go kill her. Problem solved.”
“Bob,” I said. “You can’t just go around killing people.”
“I know. That’s why you should do it.”
“No, no. I can’t go around killing people, either.”

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Grave Peril (2001)

Chateaubriand, Francois-Rene -- Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 8, ch. 4 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:35:13 +0000

One does not learn how to die by killing others.

François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French writer, politican, diplomat
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 8, ch. 4 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]

James, William -- Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)

Dave — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:46:01 +0000

History is a bath of blood.

William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1874-05-03), “Heretics and Heresies,” Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago

Dave — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:48:37 +0000

According to the theologians, God, the Father of us all, wrote a letter to his children. The children have always differed somewhat as to the meaning of this letter. In consequence of these honest differences, these brothers began to cut out each other’s hearts.
In every land, where this letter from God has been read, the children to whom and for whom it was written have been filled with hatred and malice. They have imprisoned and murdered each other, and the wives and children of each other. In the name of God every possible crime has been committed, every conceivable outrage has been perpetrated. Brave men, tender and loving women, beautiful girls, and prattling babes have been exterminated in the name of Jesus Christ.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1874-05-03), “Heretics and Heresies,” Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago
(Source)

Collected in Ingersoll, The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 2: The Two Towers, Book 4, ch. 1 “The Taming of Sméagol” (1954)

Dave — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:26:38 +0000

Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 2: The Two Towers, Book 4, ch. 1 “The Taming of Sméagol” (1954)
(Source)

Frodo recalling the words of Gandalf (approximately) in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Tacitus -- Histories, Book I, ch. 39 (AD 100-110)

Dave — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:18:38 +0000

Once killing starts, it is difficult to draw the line.

Tacitus (c.56-c.120) Roman historian, orator, politician [Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus]
Histories, Book I, ch. 39 (AD 100-110)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Usenet, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5, “JMS on Compuserve: Gesthemane Questions” (1995-12-04)

Dave — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:29:44 +0000

As an atheist, I believe that all life is unspeakably precious, because it’s only here for a brief moment, a flare against the dark, and then it’s gone forever. No afterlives, no second chances, no backsies. So there can be nothing crueler than the abuse, destruction or wanton taking of a life. It is a crime no less than burning the Mona Lisa, for there is always just one of each.

So I cannot forgive. Which makes the notion of writing a character who CAN forgive momentarily attractive … because it allows me to explore in great detail something of which I am utterly incapable.

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Usenet, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5, “JMS on Compuserve: Gesthemane Questions” (1995-12-04)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Speech, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:03:59 +0000

But if survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them, you must. As we all have. Keep in mind only this, that province of combat is not the end, it is simply the means. And the most essential part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow-man.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Speech, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)
(Source)

Sometimes paraphrased:

If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man.

Twain, Mark -- Story (1905), “The War Prayer”

Dave — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:59:17 +0000

“You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory — must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!
“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it — for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.
(After a pause.) “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!”

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Story (1905), “The War Prayer”
(Source)

A mysterious man speaking to a church congregation gathered to pray for the victory of their local men going off to war.

The story was originally written after the Spanish-American War and during the Philippine-American War. It was rejected at the time by Harper's Bazaar on 1905-03-22 as "too radical" and "not quite suited to a woman's magazine." He was further discouraged by his family, friends, and publishers from publishing something so "sacrilegious."

It's frequently claimed that the story was eventually published in Harper's Magazine, Vol 80, No. 798 (1916-11), during World War I. In reality, that issue only contains Part 7 (the last installment) of his The Mysterious Stranger (a different story).

It was not published until collected in Europe and Elsewhere (1923) [ed. Paine].

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” [Gandalf] (1954)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” [Gandalf] (1954)
(Source)

Frodo later recounts these words (approximately) to Sam in The Two Towers.

Twain, Mark -- The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1, 1864 (2010)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I thoroughly disapprove of duels. I consider them unwise, and I know they are dangerous. Also, sinful. If a man should challenge me now, I would got to that man and take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet, retired spot, and kill him.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1, 1864 (2010)
(Source)

Seen paraphrased: "I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."