El mal que no he hecho, ¡cuánto mal ha hecho!
Voces (1943)
“What harm have the trees done them?”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer
he said. “Must they punish the grass for their own faults? Men are savages, who would set a land afire because they have a quarrel with other men.”
Source: Earthsea Books, The Farthest Shore (1972), Chapter 9, "Orm Embar" (Arren)
“Fashions have done more harm than revolutions.”
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist
Carmine Crocco (1830–1905) Italian revolutionary
Senza dubbio, ho fatto del male alla società, ma io facevo per difendere la mia vita; per essa avrei dato fuoco a tutto il mondo.
As quoted in Voci dall'ergastolo
“The plow has probably done more harm — in the long run — than the sword.”
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist
Source: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990), Ch. 11 : Money Et Cetera, p. 100
“When I think of all the harm [the Bible] has done, I despair of ever writing anything to equal it.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“This very inadequate notion of virtue is an outcome of taboo morality, and has done untold harm.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Source: 1950s, Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954), p. 32
Context: If throughout your life you abstain from murder, theft, fornication, perjury, blasphemy, and disrespect toward your parents, your church, and your king, you are conventionally held to deserve moral admiration even if you have never done a single kind or generous or useful action. This very inadequate notion of virtue is an outcome of taboo morality, and has done untold harm.
“Most harm is done by people who are awake.”
Jeremy Hardy (1961–2019) British comedian
The News Quiz, BBC Radio 4, May 16, 2008
“It does not undo harm to acknowledge that we have done it; but it undoes us not to acknowledge it.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist
The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified
George S. Patton (1885–1945) United States Army general
Letter to Frederick Ayers (5 May 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson, p. 242
Context: The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good. The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible. So far I have been able to accomplish that, and I believe I have gotten quite a reputation from not kicking at peculiar assignments.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
The Future of Science (1959), p. 79; also in BBC The Listener, Vol. 61 (1959), p. 505
1950s
