This essay is intended to serve as a reminder that immense and threatening divisions in mankind can spring from differences between virtues as well as from envies and greeds. When the virtues on each part are largely inapprehensible by the other, the danger is heightened by Man's natural fear of what he does not understand, and his inclination to suppose it not worth understanding. To attack it easier than to study. There are also, in this case of China and the West, intense and complex cultural vanities on both sides to be taken into account: vanities largely inexplicable the one to the other.. .Ivor A. Richards
About This Quote
The greatest danger of wars is not the violence on the battlefield but the violence that occurs on both sides of the conflict, as well as in neutral countries that are forced to operate in times of war. The human mind is naturally full of hatred, pride and jealousy. These emotions can lead to wars. But even if these emotions are no longer present on the battlefield, they still exist within each individual's heart.
Even if they are not held inside by force, they are still there. These are equally dangerous.
Source: Richards On Rhetoric: I.a. Richards: Selected Essays (19291974)
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