Respect for the fragility and importance of an individual life is still the mark of an educated man.
Where is the indignation about the fact that the US and USSR have thirty thousand pounds of destructive force for every human being in the world?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses outrage over the overwhelming destructive power held by superpowers, highlighting the moral implications for humanity.
Norman Cousins' quote emphasizes the disproportionate accumulation of nuclear arsenals by the United States and the Soviet Union, questioning the ethical and humanitarian consequences of possessing such catastrophic power. It calls for greater public indignation and awareness regarding the relationship between military might and the safety of humanity, urging individuals to reflect on the values that underpin peace and existence in a world threatened by such overwhelming destructive potential.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about global security, one might reference this quote to emphasize the need for disarmament.
More from Norman Cousins
All quotes βNever deny a diagnosis, but do deny the negative verdict that may go with it.
Although a man may have no jurisdiction over the fact of his existence, he can hold supreme command over the meaning of existence for him.
People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.
Reverence for life is more than solicitude or sensitivity for life. It is a sense of the whole, a capacity for inspired response, a respect for the intricate universe of individual life. It is the supreme awareness of awareness itself.
Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.
Similar quotes
Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die?
Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles.
Without doubt, machinery has greatly increased the number of well-to-do idlers.
That's how I do this life sometimes by making the ordinary just like magic and just like a card trick and just like a mirror and just like disappearing. Every Indian learns how to be a magician and learns how to misdirect attention and the dark hand is always quicker than the white eye and no matter how close you get to my heart you will never find out my secrets and I'll never tell you and I'll never show you the same trick twice. I'm traveling heavy with illusions.
I believe in mysticism, with an interior goal, and you are your own temple and your own priest. I dont believe anymore in religions, because you see today there are religious wars, prejudice, false morals, and the woman is despised. Religion is too old now; its from another century, its not for today.
The three Divine are in this hierarchy, First the Dominions, and the Virtues next;_x000D_ _x000D_ And the third order is that of the Powers. The in the dances twain penultimate_x000D_ _x000D_ The Principalities and Archangels wheel; The last is wholly of angelic sports._x000D_ _x000D_ These orders upward all of them are gazing,_x000D_ _x000D_ And downward so prevail, that unto God_x000D_ _x000D_ They all attracted are and all attract.