Destruction Quotes

Browse through our collection of quotes tagged with Destruction.

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.

Creation Destruction Act First Every

That which we love will be all to destroy us.

That which we love will be all to destroy us.

Love Destruction

The destruction of this universe would have no significance

The destruction of this universe would have no significance on a cosmic scale.

Stanley Kubrick

Science Destruction Universe Stanley Kubrick

Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and de

Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.

William Shakespeare

Death Destruction Decay Ruin

Whatever is destroyed, the act of destruction does not vary

Whatever is destroyed, the act of destruction does not vary much. Beauty if vapour from the pit of death.

Death Beauty Destruction

I am the spirit that negates.And rightly so, for all that co

I am the spirit that negates.And rightly so, for all that comes to beDeserves to perish wretchedly;'Twere better nothing would begin.Thus everything that that your terms, sin,Destruction, evil represent That is my proper element.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Evil Destruction Mephistopheles Entropy Everything Must Perish Negation

The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of

The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.

War Peace Pacifism Destruction Labour

With its grace and carelessness, it seemed to annihilate a w

With its grace and carelessness, it seemed to annihilate a whole culture, a whole system of thought, as though [all] could be swept into a nothingness by a single splendid movement of the arm.

Grace Revolution Destruction

Do they see the lethal insanity of a race to the brink of ob

Do they see the lethal insanity of a race to the brink of oblivion, and then over the edge? Apparently not. If they did, surely they wouldn't be racing to begin with. Or is it a simple failure of imagination? One doesn't like to think such a rudimentary failing could bring about the end, yet...

Imagination War Destruction Folly

If I had known they were going to do this, I would have beco

If I had known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker.

Albert Einstein

War History Destruction Guilt

The passion for destruction is also a creative passion.

The passion for destruction is also a creative passion.

Mikhail Bakunin

The planet was being destroyed by manufacturing processes, a

The planet was being destroyed by manufacturing processes, and what was being manufactured was lousy, by and large.

Truth World Earth Destruction Kurt Vonnegut Breakfast Of Champions Lousy Manufactured Planet

It may be that we shall, by a process of sublime irony, have

It may be that we shall, by a process of sublime irony, have reached a stage in this story where safety will be the sturdy child of terror, and survival the twin brother of annihilation.

Sir Winston Churchill, Address t

The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that l

The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble.

Walter Benjamin

To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years

To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

Sir Winston Churchill

It was only natural to want to destroy something you could n

It was only natural to want to destroy something you could never have.

That man can destroy life is just as miraculous a feat as th

That man can destroy life is just as miraculous a feat as that he can create it, for life is the miracle, the inexplicable. In the act of destruction, man sets himself above life; he transcends himself as a creature. Thus, the ultimate choice for a man, inasmuch as he is driven to transcend himself, is to create or to destroy, to love or to hate.

Erich Fromm, The Sane Society

What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?A dream, a breath, a

What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week?Or sells eternity to get a toy?For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy?Or what fond beggar, but to touch the crown,Would with the sceptre straight be strucken down?

William Shakespeare

Greed Destruction Fleeting Possession Gain

We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless

We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless we demolish the ruins as well. But the only way I can see of doing that is to use them to put up a lot of fine, well-designed buildings.

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders a

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.