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Quotes

Nothing is more narrow-minded than chauvinism or racial hatred. To me all men are equal; there are flatheads everywhere and I despise them all equally.

—Karl Kraus, 1909

Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.

—Denis Diderot, 1774

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

The less intelligent the white man is, the more stupid he thinks the black.

—André Gide, 1927

If you wish to avoid foreign collision, you had better abandon the ocean.

—Henry Clay, 1812

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

—Theodor Adorno, 1951

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

One of the most time-consuming things is to have an enemy.

—E.B. White, 1958

This is not a clash between civilizations. It is a clash about civilization.

—Tony Blair, 2006

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded.

—The Dhammapada, c. 400 BC

Of troubles none is greater than to be robbed of one’s native land.

—Euripides, 431 BC
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