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Quotes

Some of us would be greatly astonished to learn the reasons why others respect us.

—Marquis de Vauvenargues, 1746

By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.

—Confucius, c. 500 BC

To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.

—Fernando Pessoa, c. 1935

When the missionaries first came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.

—Desmond Tutu, 1984

I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.

—Martin Luther King Jr., 1962

Such then is the human state, that to wish greatness for one’s country is to wish harm to one’s neighbors.

—Voltaire, 1764

There is no foreign land; it is the traveler only that is foreign.

—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883

Intolerance is evidence of impotence.

—Aleister Crowley, c. 1925

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.

—Joseph Conrad, 1899

Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

—George Bernard Shaw, 1903

The almost insoluble task is to let neither the power of others, nor our own powerlessness, stupefy us.

—Theodor Adorno, 1951

Many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves excelled.

—Samuel Johnson, 1751
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