As long as they are carnivorous and/or humanoid, the monster's form matters little. Whether it is Tyrannosaurus rex, saber toothed tiger, grizzly bear, werewolf, bogeyman, vampire, Wendigo, Rangda, Grendel, Moby-Dick, Joseph Stalin, the Devil, or any other manifestation of the Beast, all are objects of dark fascination, in large part because of their capacity to consciously, willfully destroy us. What unites these creatures--ancient or modern, real or imagined, beautiful or repulsive, animal, human, or god--is their superhuman strength, malevolent cunning, and, above all, their capricious, often vengeful appetite--for us. This, in fact, is our expectation of them; it's a kind of contract we have. In this capacity, the seemingly inexhaustible power of predators to fascinate us--to "capture attention"--fulfills a need far beyond morbid titillation. It has a practical application. Over time, these creatures or, more specifically, the dangers they represent, have found their way into our consciousness and taken up permanent residence there. In return, we have shown extraordinary loyalty to them--to the point that we re-create them over and over in every medium, through every era and culture, tuning and adapting them to suit changing times and needs. It seems they are a key ingredient in the glue that binds us to ourselves and to each other. John Vaillant
About This Quote

The book The Beast can trace its history back to medieval times when it originated in bronze. The original was cast in the late 18th century. Ever since, the people have been fascinated by this creature, not just its physical appearance but also its powers. It has appeared in literature, films, art, music and more. A recent example of this fascination is when one of the greatest American authors Stephen King said that a creature which bears a resemblance to a monster from his book The Mist should be kept as a pet to help fight crime.

Source: The Tiger: A True Story Of Vengeance And Survival

Some Similar Quotes
  1. One love, one heart, one destiny. - Bob Marley
  2. We have to allow ourselves to be loved by the people who really love us, the people who really matter. Too much of the time, we are blinded by our own pursuits of people to love us, people that don't even matter, while all that... - C. Joybell C.
  3. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa
  4. Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people. - Roy T. Bennett
  5. Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. - Dalai Lama Xiv
More Quotes By John Vaillant
  1. Fear is not a sin in the taiga, but cow­ardice is [..].
  2. As long as they are carnivorous and/or humanoid, the monster's form matters little. Whether it is Tyrannosaurus rex, saber toothed tiger, grizzly bear, werewolf, bogeyman, vampire, Wendigo, Rangda, Grendel, Moby-Dick, Joseph Stalin, the Devil, or any other manifestation of the Beast, all are objects of...
  3. Since well before the Kung's engine noise first penetrated the forest, a conversation of sorts has been unfolding in this lonesome hollow. It is not a language like Russian or Chinese but it is a language nonetheless, and it is older than the forest. The...
  4. (..)Fate has al­ways been a po­tent force in Rus­sia, where, for gen­er­ations, cit­izens have had lit­tle con­trol over their own des­tinies. Fate can be a bitch, but, as Za­it­sev, Dvornik, and Onofre­cuk had dis­cov­ered, it can al­so be a tiger.
  5. Successful hunting, it could be said, is an act of terminal empathy: the kill depends on how successfully a hunter inserts himself into the umwelt of his prey--even to the point of disguising himself as that animal and mimicking its behavior.
Related Topics