“.. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the 'Momentary' masters of a 'Fraction' of a 'Dot”

—  Carl Sagan , book Pale Blue Dot

Source: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Carl Sagan photo
Carl Sagan 365
American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science ed… 1934–1996

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Carl Sagan photo

“Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

Carl Sagan book Pale Blue Dot

Source: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994), p. 8, Supplemental image at randi.org http://www.randi.org/images/122801-BlueDot.jpg

Yongzheng Emperor photo

“I am an emperor of Manchu, become the master of all China.”

Yongzheng Emperor (1678–1735) Qing Dynasty emperor

...谓本朝以满洲之君，入为中国之主...
Quote taken out of context by cutting off the first and last parts of the sentence to deliberately alter the meaning. In actuality, the complete quote is Yongzheng's rejection of this point of view and says 在逆贼等之意，徒谓本朝以满洲之君入为中国之主，妄生此疆彼界之私 (The seditious rebels claim that we are the rulers of Manchuria and only later penetrated central China to become its rulers. Their prejudices concerning the division of their and our country have caused many vitriolic falsehoods.) The quote was manipulated by anti-Qing Han nationalists posted on internet forums.
Manipulated

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“A woman's love is quick to turn into a passion for revenge--an obsession that becomes an endless river of blood, flowing on from generation to generation.”

Fumiko Enchi book Masks

Source: Masks

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“All I could do was to ask the prime minister of the country not to allow the blood of innocents be spilled for the crime committed by two misguided security men.”

Zail Singh (1916–1994) Indian politician and former President of India

When Indira Gandhi was assassinated and riots broke out in Delhi and other parts of the country, his pleas to control the situation did not result in positive response from Rajiv Gandhi.
Source: K.R. Sundar Rajan "Presidential Years:Zail Singh's posthumous defence of his controversial tenure."

John Updike photo

“An affair wants to spill, to share its glory with the world. No act is so private it does not seek applause.”

John Updike book Couples

Source: Couples (1968), Ch. 2

“So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!”

Joseph Masclet

Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Verses of La Marseillaise written by Masclet https://books.google.fr/books?id=tAtItyiK9ywC&pg=PA17&dq=%22Que+tes+ennemis+expirants%22%2B%22Voient+ton+triomphe+et+notre+gloire+!%22&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi6sKvNu_vOAhWCthoKHY12BFQQ6AEIHDAC#v=onepage&q=%22Que%20tes%20ennemis%20expirants%22%2B%22Voient%20ton%20triomphe%20et%20notre%20gloire%20!%22&f=false (in French). English translation by Iain Patterson ( marseillaise.org http://www.marseillaise.org/english/english.html).

“Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.”

Erin Hunter

Source: Sunset

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“Blood doubly unites us, for we share the same blood and we have spilled blood.”

Jean Paul Sartre The Flies

Orestes to Electra, Act 2
The Flies (1943)

Leopoldo Galtieri photo

“The blood that is spilling is not my responsibility. It is the responsibility of Mrs. 'No.”

Leopoldo Galtieri (1926–2003) Argentine military dictator

"Quotation of the day" http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/23/nyregion/quotation-of-the-day-157473.html, The New York Times (May 23, 1982)

Romain Rolland photo

“His struggles were a part of the great fight of the worlds. His overthrow was a momentary episode, immediately repaired. Just as he fought for all, so all fought for him. They shared his trials, he shared their glory.”

Romain Rolland (1866–1944) French author

Jean-Christophe (1904 - 1912), Journey's End: The Burning Bush (1911)
Context: Christophe returned to the Divine conflict.... How his own fight, how all the conflicts of men were lost in that gigantic battle, wherein the suns rain down like flakes of snow tossing on the wind!... He had laid bare his soul. And, just as in those dreams in which one hovers in space, he felt that he was soaring above himself, he saw himself from above, in the general plan of the world; and the meaning of his efforts — the price of his suffering, were revealed to him at a glance. His struggles were a part of the great fight of the worlds. His overthrow was a momentary episode, immediately repaired. Just as he fought for all, so all fought for him. They shared his trials, he shared their glory.
"Companions, enemies, walk over me, crush me, let me feel the cannons which shall win victory pass over my body! I do not think of the iron which cuts deep into my flesh, I do not think of the foot that tramples down my head, I think of my Avenger, the Master, the Leader of the countless army. My blood shall cement the victory of the future...."

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