“ The violence of internal feud crushed by authority reappears in authority itself, which falls into the hands of men who, like the rest, are frequently or always ready to sacrifice the public welfare to their personal interest, with the difference that their subjects cannot resist them, and thus they are exposed to all the demoralizing influence of authority. ”
Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894). copy citation
| Author | Leo Tolstoy |
|---|---|
| Source | The Kingdom of God Is Within You |
| Topic | violence sacrifice |
| Date | 1894 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Constance Garnett |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4602/pg4602-images.html |
Context
“After conquest the power of the emperor puts an end to internal dissensions, and so the state conception of life justifies itself. But this justification is never more than temporary. Internal dissensions disappear only in proportion to the degree of oppression exerted by the authority over the dissentient individuals. The violence of internal feud crushed by authority reappears in authority itself, which falls into the hands of men who, like the rest, are frequently or always ready to sacrifice the public welfare to their personal interest, with the difference that their subjects cannot resist them, and thus they are exposed to all the demoralizing influence of authority. And thus the evil of violence, when it passes into the hands of authority, is always growing and growing, and in time becomes greater than the evil it is supposed to suppress, while, at the same time, the tendency to violence in the members of the society becomes weaker and weaker, so that the violence of authority is less and less needed.”
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