“One of the greatest myths of all time is that so-called civilized man is no longer an animal, and for that reason can strive to disarm himself and grow fat with false concepts.”

Source: The Anarchist Cookbook (1971), Chapter Three: "Natural, Nonlethal, and Lethal Weapons", p. 93.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "One of the greatest myths of all time is that so-called civilized man is no longer an animal, and for that reason can s…" by William Powell (author)?
William Powell (author) photo
William Powell (author) 31
author of The Anarchist Cookbook 1949

Related quotes

Immanuel Kant photo

“In the natural state no concept of God can arise, and the false one which one makes for himself is harmful. Hence the theory of natural religion can be true only where there is no science; therefore it cannot bind all men together.”

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) German philosopher

Part III : Selection on Education from Kant's other Writings, Ch. I Pedagogical Fragments, # 60
The Educational Theory of Immanuel Kant (1904)

Jacques-Yves Cousteau photo

“Man, of all the animals, is probably the only one to regard himself as a great delicacy.”

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997) French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and …

Octopus and Squid: The Soft Intelligence (1973)

Jean Cocteau photo

“Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal… unnable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself.”

Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker

Diary of an Unknown (1988), On Invisibility
Context: Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal... unnable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort, the trifling feeling of escape experienced at a masked ball. He distances himself from that which he feels and sees. He invents. He transfigures. He mythifies. He creates. He fancies himself an artist. He imitates, in his small way, the painters he claims are mad.

Victor Hugo photo
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg photo

“Man can acquire accomplishments or he can become an animal, whichever he wants. God makes the animals, man makes himself.”

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) German scientist, satirist

F 49
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook F (1776-1779)

Lysander Spooner photo
Walter Dill Scott photo

“Man has been called the reasoning animal but he could with greater truthfulness be called the creature of suggestion. He is reasonable, but he is to a greater extent suggestible.”

Walter Dill Scott (1869–1955) President of Northwestern university and psychologist

Source: The Theory of Advertising, 1903, p. 59

U.G. Krishnamurti photo

Related topics