“It is generally characteristic of arms races, including human ones, that although all would be better off if none of them escalated, so long as one of them escalates none can afford not to.”

— Richard Dawkins, book The Blind Watchmaker

Source: The Blind Watchmaker (1986), Chapter 7 “Constructive Evolution” (p. 184)

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Richard Dawkins322

English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author 1941

Mitch Hedberg (1968–2005) American stand-up comedian

Mitch All Together (2003)

“Germ warfare against the United States would escalate to war against all humanity.”

Yoshijirō Umezu (1882–1949) Japanese general

Quoted in "The Second Attack on Pearl Harbor" - Page 201 - by Steve Horn - History - 2005.

“Intertribal aggression, escalating in some cultures to limited warfare, is common enough to be regarded as a general characteristic of hunter-gatherer social behavior.”

Edward O. Wilson book On Human Nature

On Human Nature (1978), Ch.4 Emergence

“Of all forms of slavery there is none that is so harmful and degrading as that form of slavery which tempts one human being to hate another by reason of his race or color.”

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor

An Address on Abraham Lincoln before the Republican Club of New York City (12 February 1909) http://web.archive.org/20050322051431/www.historycooperative.org/btw/Vol.10/html/35.html <br class="br">Context: Of all forms of slavery there is none that is so harmful and degrading as that form of slavery which tempts one human being to hate another by reason of his race or color. One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.

“Like a dance, conflict escalation generally requires the participation of both parties.”

Brian Mistler American Gestalt therapist

George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden Are Dancing Together (2003)

“Nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biases to draw too much, so as to incapacitate them for other occupations and entertainments.”

David Hume book An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Section 1 : Of The Different Species of Philosophy
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)
Context: Nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biases to draw too much, so as to incapacitate them for other occupations and entertainments. Indulge your passion for science, says she, but let your science be human, and such as may have a direct reference to action and society. Abstruse thought and profound researches I prohibit, and will severely punish, by the pensive melancholy which they introduce, by the endless uncertainty in which they involve you, and by the cold reception which your pretended discoveries shall meet with, when communicated. Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.