Arthur Koestler

...the crimes of violence committed for selfish, personal motives are historically insignificant compared to those committed ad majorem gloriam Dei, read more

...the crimes of violence committed for selfish, personal motives are historically insignificant compared to those committed ad majorem gloriam Dei, out of a self-sacrificing devotion to the flag, a leader, a religious faith or political conviction.

Modern man lives isolated in his artificial environment, not because the artificial is evil as such, but because of his read more

Modern man lives isolated in his artificial environment, not because the artificial is evil as such, but because of his lack of comprehension of the forces which make it work- of the principles which relate his gadgets to the forces of nature, to the universal order. It is not central heating which makes his existence 'unnatural,' but his refusal to take an interest in the principles behind it. By being entirely dependent on science, yet closing his mind to it, he leads the life of an urban barbarian.

The individual is not a killer, but the group is, and by identifying with it the individual is transformed into read more

The individual is not a killer, but the group is, and by identifying with it the individual is transformed into a killer.

The evolution of the brain not only overshot the needs of prehistoric man, it is the only example of evolution read more

The evolution of the brain not only overshot the needs of prehistoric man, it is the only example of evolution providing a species with an organ which it does not know how to use

Conscious and unconscious experiences do not belong to different compartments of the mind; they form a continuous scale of gradations, read more

Conscious and unconscious experiences do not belong to different compartments of the mind; they form a continuous scale of gradations, of degrees of awareness.