“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
Il est défendu de tuer; tout meurtrier est puni, à moins qu’il n’ait tué en grande compagnie, et au son des trompettes.
"Rights" (1771)
Citas, Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (1770–1774)
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Voltaire167
French writer, historian, and philosopher 1694–1778Related quotes
Michael Thomas Ford (1968) American writer
Source: Suicide Notes
Jean Rostand (1894–1977) French writer
See also "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." (misattributed to Joseph Stalin)
Beilby Porteus (1731–1809) Bishop of Chester; Bishop of London
Source: Death: A Poetical Essay (1759), Line 154. Compare: "One to destroy is murder by the law, And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe; To murder thousands takes a specious name, War’s glorious art, and gives immortal fame", Edward Young, "Love of Fame", Satire vii, line 55.
“All men kill the thing they hate, too, unless, of course, it kills them first.”
James Thurber (1894–1961) American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright
"The Crow and the Scarecrow", The New Yorker (date unknown); Further Fables for Our Time (1956). This is derived from Oscar Wilde's statement "All men kill the thing they love..."
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time
Rudolph Rummel (1932–2014) American academic
Source: The Blue Book of Freedom: Ending Famine, Poverty, Democide, and War (2007), p. 99
Rudolf Höss (1901–1947) German war criminal, commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp
To Leon Goldensohn, April 8, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004
“Being told that love is forbidden does not kill love. It strengthens it.”
Cassandra Clare book Lady Midnight
Source: Lady Midnight