--- title: "1 Self Sacrificing Quotes By Arthur Koestler" description: "1 Self Sacrificing quotes by Arthur Koestler. Plus more from Arthur Koestler and more Self Sacrificing sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/arthur-koestler-1903_civil-war_i-think-most-historians-would-agree-that_304444.jpg" --- > [“I think most historians would agree that the part played by impulses of selfish, individual aggression in the holocausts of history was small; first and foremost, the slaughter was meant as an offering to the gods, to king and country,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/i-think-most-historians-would-agree-that-the-part-played-by-impulses/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/arthur-koestler-1903_civil-war_i-think-most-historians-would-agree-that_304444.jpg) ## More by Arthur Koestler > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-temptations-of-god-were-always-more-dangerous-for-mankind-than/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The revolutions of thought which shape the basic outlook of an age are not disseminated through text-books- they spread like epidemics, through contamination by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-revolutions-of-thought-which-shape-the-basic-outlook-of-an-age/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The moment of truth, the sudden emergence of a new insight, is an act of intuition. Such intuitions give the appearance of miraculous flushes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-moment-of-truth-the-sudden-emergence-of-a-new-insight-is-an-act/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which - miraculously, it seems - merge into a significant event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-original-a-discovery-the-more-obvious-it-seems-afterwards/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“Revolutionary theory had frozen to a dogmatic cult, with a simplified, easily graspable catechism, and with No. 1 as the high priest celebrating the Mass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/revolutionary-theory-had-frozen-to-a-dogmatic-cult-with-a-simplified/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated-2/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more backwoodish a social group, juvenile or adult, the stricter its conception of the normal, and the readier it will ridicule any departure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-backwoodish-a-social-group-juvenile-or-adult-the-stricter/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [As modern physics started with the Newtonian revolution, so modern philosophy starts with what one might call the Cartesian Catastrophe. The catastrophe consisted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/as-modern-physics-started-with-the-newtonian-revolution-so-modern/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/if-one-looks-with-a-cold-eye-at-the-mess-man-has-made-of-history-it/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The ultimate truth is penultimately always a falsehood. He who will be proved right in the end appears to be wrong and harmful before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-ultimate-truth-is-penultimately-always-a-falsehood-he-who-will-be/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-real-achievement-in-discoveries-is-seeing-an-analogy-where-no-one/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The jester is brother to the sage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-jester-is-brother-to-the-sage/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-sacrificing/arthur-koestler/#itemlist", "name": "1 Self Sacrificing Quotes By Arthur Koestler", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I think most historians would agree that the part played by impulses of selfish, individual aggression in the holocausts of history was small; first and foremost, the slaughter was meant as an offering to the gods, to king and country, or the future happiness of mankind. The crimes of a Caligula shrink to insignificance compared to the havoc wrought by Torquemada. The number of victims of robbers, highwaymen, rapists, gangsters and other criminals at any period of history is negligible compared to the massive numbers of those cheerfully slain in the name of the true religion, just policy or correct ideology. Heretics were tortured and burnt not in anger but in sorrow, for the good of their immortal souls. Tribal warfare was waged in the purported interest of the tribe, not of the individual. Wars of religion were fought to decide some fine point in theology or semantics. Wars of succession dynastic wars, national wars, civil wars, were fought to decide issues equally remote from the personal self-interest of the combatants. Let me repeat: the crimes of violence committed for selfish, personal motives are historically insignificant compared to those committed ad majorem gloriam Dei, out of a self-sacrificing devotion to a flag, a leader, a religious faith or a political conviction. Man has always been prepared not only to kill but also to die for good, bad or completely futile causes. 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