“The Fascists got what they deserved,” Floyd said.
“My husband lived long enough to see those monsters come to come to power. He saw through their lies and promises, but he also knew that they spoke to something nasty and squalid in the human spirit. Something in all of us. We want to hate those who are not like us. All we need is an excuse, a whisper in the ear.”

—  Alastair Reynolds , book Century Rain

Source: Century Rain (2004), Chapter 9 (p. 135)

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Alastair Reynolds 198
British novelist and astronomer 1966

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