What sparks wars? The will to power, the backbone of human nature. The threat of violence, the fear of violence, or actual violence, is the instrument of this dreadful will. You can see the will to power in bedrooms, kitchens, factories, unions and the borders of states. Listen to this and remember it. The nation state is merely human nature inflated to monstrous proportions. QED, nations are entities whose laws are written by violence. Thus it ever was, so ever shall it be.
More Author Quotes
- Time is the speed at which the past decays. β¨ David Mitchell (2008). Cloud Atlas: A Novel, p.235, Random House
- But you have read Madame Bovary?' (I'd never heard of her books.) 'No. β¨ David Mitchell (2008). Black Swan Green, p.152, Hachette UK
- War may be an auction for countries. For soldiers it's a lottery.
- It's true, reading too many novels makes you go blind. β¨ David Mitchell (2012). Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel, p.365, Random House Group
- Little girls are like old cats. If they don't like you nothing on Earth will make them pretend to. β¨ David Mitchell (2007). Ghostwritten, p.229, Vintage
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