Moral Myopia/Quotes

'The definition of the true savage does not concern itself even with how much more he hurts strangers or captives than do the other tribes of men. The definition of the true savage is that he laughs when he hurts you; and howls when you hurt him.'

—G. K. Chesterton

"Those guys've turned nasty! They used to play fair, no matter what dirty tricks we pulled!"

—Kasanegafuchi Delinquent, Yu Yu Hakusho Manga

Sam (holding a bomb): Max, where should I put this so it doesn't hurt anyone we know or care about?
Max: Out the window, Sam. There's nothing but strangers out there.
Sam: (looks at the bomb in his hand and throws it out the window behind him)
(Bomb explodes outside the windows)
Sam: I sure hope there was no one on that bus.

Max: No one we know, at least...

—Sam and Max Hit The Road

Arthur: A misanthrope is one who hates humanity.
Sam: Is that what we are? Misanthropes?

Arthur: Good lord, no! We're a family.

—The Proposition

'Why are you killing me for your own benefit? I am unarmed.' 'Why, do you not live on the other side of the water? My friend, if you lived on this side, I should be a murderer, but since you live on the other side, I am a brave man and it is right.'

—Blaise Pascal

And we are the first to admit that anyone who knew these "good" ones [nobility] only as enemies would find them evil enemies indeed. For these same men who, amongst themselves, are so strictly constrained by custom, worship, ritual, gratitude, and by mutual surveillance and jealousy, who are so resourceful in consideration, tenderness, loyality, pride and friendship, when once they step outside their circle become little better than uncaged beasts of prey. Once abroad in the wilderness, they revel in the freedom from social constraint and compensate for their long confinement in the quietude of their own community. They revert to the innocence of wild animals: we can imagine them returning from an orgy of murder, arson, rape, and torture, jubilant and at peace with themselves

—Nietzsche

And one more thing, All those rich fat bastards living under palm trees, all those bitches who think life's only about putting on makeup? I don't want to hear you speaking your mind from the same perspective.

Nothing's worse than being treated like a whore by your own companions. I'll say this once: The next time you decide to tell me what's proper, you'll no longer be one of us. When that happens... I'm going to kill you.

—Revy, Black Lagoon

"Duncan, you did seem less into integrity the day I convinced twelve of your peers that when you made that u-turn on the freeway and tried to order chalupas from the emergency call box, that your only real crime was loving America."

—Jeff, Community

"If only the humans appreciated life as we do, I would not have to kill so many of them."

—A Jovian, Martian Successor Nadesico

"...and exploded harmlessly (To me, which is what counts) on the street."

—Bartimaeus, The Bartimaeus Trilogy

Every Highlander naturally knows something of the history of his own clan, but usually a good deal less about other clans, except that they were, in contrast to his own, of course, treacherous and bloodthirsty.

—Fitzroy Maclean, Highlanders

"[Lex] claims that to say the game is "just a game" is a big lie; it's life, with the line between game and life being less than clear. Isn't this the same character who turned on several of his friends, claiming they were still friends, but this was business? Oh, wait, I get it: If you do it, it's business, but if someone else does it to YOU, it's life. Okay, gotcha Lex. I see this kind of hypocrisy all the time in online versions of Survivor: Someone will lie, manipulate, and backstab with the best of them, but when it happens to them, all of a sudden they find their morals and get on a soapbox. He goes on to claim there's no bitterness, but turns around and says they sold out their values, character, and friends for a stack of greenbacks. Uh, right. Explain that to Colby, Ethan, and Jerri. Frankly, in my view, if this is really life, Lex is showing HIS true character here, which is that of a poor sport."

—Survivor columnist Ken Kellam, on Lex's jury speech

V: I'm the good kind of terrorist, the kind that tortures people and blows things up...wait...

Alan Moore: I'm a bloody genius!

—Lewis "Linkara" Lovhaug, summarizing V for Vendetta

"What do you call assassins who accuse assassins?"

—Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now

"It's only funny when it happens to someone else!"

—Richard Wattwerson, The Amazing World of Gumball

Marge: Homie, are you really going to ignore Grampa for the rest of your life?
Homer: Of course not, Marge, just for the rest of HIS life. He said I was an accident... he didn't want to have me.
Marge: You didn't want to have Bart.
Homer: I know, but you're never supposed to TELL the child!
Marge: You tell Bart all the time! You told him this morning!

Homer: But when I do it it's cute!

—The Simpsons

Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining “It’s not fair” before you can say Jack Robinson. A nation may say treaties don’t matter; but then, next minute, they spoil their case by saying that the particular treaty that they want to break was an unfair one.

—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity