Measured in time of transport and communication, the whole round globe is now smaller than a small European country was a hundred years ago.
John Boyd OrrRead
It is said that those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. It may well be that a war neurosis stirred up by propaganda of fear and hatred is the prelude to destruction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Destruction often follows madness stirred by fear and propaganda.
John Boyd Orr's quote suggests that when individuals or societies are driven to madness—often through fear and manipulative propaganda—they may be set on a path toward self-destruction. It highlights the dangers of being consumed by emotional turmoil, especially in the context of war and conflict, indicating that this loss of rational thought can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Themes
MadnessDestructionPropagandaFearWarNeurosis
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the psychological effects of war on soldiers.
More from John Boyd Orr
All quotes →There can be no peace in the world so long as a large proportion of the population lack the necessities of life and believe that a change of the political and economic system will make them available. World peace must be based on world plenty.
John Boyd OrrRead
As we have seen, the wireless and the airplane have made the world so small and nations so dependent on each other that the only alternative to war is the United States of the World.
John Boyd OrrRead
When the fabric of society is so rigid that it cannot change quickly enough, adjustments are achieved by social unrest and revolutions.
John Boyd OrrRead
Similar quotes
It's crazy; in the States, people think the black power movement drew inspiration from Africa. All these Americans come over here looking for awareness. They don't realize they're the ones who've got it over there.
Fela KutiRead
Usually, when you are an ethnic person or a trans person, in your average, everyday, unsophisticated television show, you are there for that reason. And they clearly justify and overexplain why. You very rarely see a transgender actor playing the part of a grocery-store clerk without having to say, 'Oh, look at that trans person.'
B. D. WongRead
The way to recover the meaning of life and the worthwhileness of life is to recover the power of experience, to have impulse voices from within, and to be able to hear these impulse voices from within — and make the point: This can be done.
Abraham MaslowRead
There are three ways of securing a society that shall be stable as regards population. The first is that of birth control, the second that of infanticide or really destructive wars, and the third that of general misery except for a powerful minority.
Bertrand RussellRead
Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.
Stan LeeRead
Remember Jesus of Nazareth, staggering on broken feet out of the tomb toward the Resurrection, bearing on his body the proud insignia of the defeat which is victory, the magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of God.
Frederick BuechnerRead