--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... on the historical scale, the damages…" description: "\"“... on the historical scale, the damages wrought by individual violence for selfish motives are insignificant compared to the holocausts resulting fro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/arthur-koestler-1903_belief-systems_on-the-historical-scale-the-damages-wrou_1401683.jpg" --- # ... on the historical scale, the damages wrought by… ![“... on the historical scale, the damages wrought by individual violence for selfish motives are insignificant compared to the holocausts resulting from self-transcending devotion to collectively shared belief-systems. It is derived from primitive identification instead of mature social…” quote by Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/arthur-koestler-1903_belief-systems_on-the-historical-scale-the-damages-wrou_1401683.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/arthur-koestler-1903_belief-systems_on-the-historical-scale-the-damages-wrou_1401683.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/arthur-koestler-1903_belief-systems_on-the-historical-scale-the-damages-wrou_1401683.jpg) > ““... on the historical scale, the damages wrought by individual violence for selfish motives are insignificant compared to the holocausts resulting from self-transcending devotion to collectively shared belief-systems. It is derived from primitive identification instead of mature social integration; it entails the partial surrender of personal responsibility and produces the quasi-hypnotic phenomena of group-psychology.”” [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Violence driven by personal selfishness is minor compared to mass atrocities caused by extreme devotion to shared ideologies, which stems from primitive identity and dilutes personal responsibility. **In simple terms:** Group belief can cause far greater harm than individual selfishness. Key Takeaway Beware blind allegiance to ideologies. Themes violence ideology group psychology responsibility Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political movements - religious extremism - corporate cultures - online communities Key Concepts collective identity psychology of crowds social integration Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance personal responsibility with group belonging? - When does shared belief become dangerous? A Different Perspective Group cohesion can also foster positive cooperation, not just harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-systems/) [Depersonalization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depersonalization/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Personal responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-responsibility/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Selfish motives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-motives/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [Political violence is organized violence on the top which creates individual violence at the bottom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/political-violence-is-organized-violence-on-the-top-which-creates/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [I get in trouble when I say things like, 'I'm attracted to violence.' I was a pretty angry kid, and I got into military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/i-get-in-trouble-when-i-say-things-like-i-m-attracted-to-violence-i/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [It is organized violence on top which creates individual violence at the bottom. It is the accumulated indignation against organized wrong, organized crime, organized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/it-is-organized-violence-on-top-which-creates-individual-violence-at/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [It is organized violence on the top which creates individual violence at the bottom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/it-is-organized-violence-on-the-top-which-creates-individual-violence/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [I was a pretty angry kid, and I got into military history largely as a way to vent my own anger. As I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-carr/i-was-a-pretty-angry-kid-and-i-got-into-military-history-largely-as-a/) [Caleb Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-carr/) > [For a machine to run smoothly and predictably, its parts must be standard and hence replaceable, features which contribute, respectively, to modern depersonalization and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/for-a-machine-to-run-smoothly-and-predictably-its-parts-must-be/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [In achieving the depersonalization of childbirth and at the same time solving the problem of pain, our society may have lost more than it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kitzinger/in-achieving-the-depersonalization-of-childbirth-and-at-the-same-time/) [Sheila Kitzinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-kitzinger/) > [“This was the geography around which my reality revolved: it did not occur to me, ever, that people were good or that a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/this-was-the-geography-around-which-my-reality-revolved-it-did-not/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [“Being stress and anxiety free is a human preset, I just show you how to 'flick the switch' to off. 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I felt truly like I was just a pair of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sutton/as-a-teenager-and-young-adult-i-found-being-mute-intensely-isolating/) Carl Sutton > [“Everything failed to subdue me. Soon everything seemed dull: another sunrise, the lives of heroes, falling in love, war, the discoveries people made about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/everything-failed-to-subdue-me-soon-everything-seemed-dull-another/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [“I had all the characteristics of a human being-- flesh, blood, skin, hair-- but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/i-had-all-the-characteristics-of-a-human-being-flesh-blood-skin-hair/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [“Shakespeare acquired more essential history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole British Museum. What is to be insisted upon is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/shakespeare-acquired-more-essential-history-from-plutarch-than-most/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) ## 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. 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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/) [Explore all 199 Arthur Koestler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## More Belief systems quotes > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [Everyone thinks they've won the Magical Belief Lottery. 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