--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No cause, no God, no abstract idea can…" description: "\"No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.\" — Edward Said" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/edward-said-6412_abstract_no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-jus_195764.jpg" --- # No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass… ![“No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/edward-said-6412_abstract_no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-jus_195764.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/edward-said-6412_abstract_no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-jus_195764.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/edward-said-6412_abstract_no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-jus_195764.jpg) > “No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.” [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Violence against innocents cannot be morally justified by any abstract reasoning or deity. **In simple terms:** No abstract idea justifies killing innocents. Key Takeaway Reject any justification for mass murder. Themes ethics violence morality Mood somber critical Type ethical political When to use this quote - human rights advocacy - policy debate - education - peacebuilding Key Concepts justification dehumanization war crimes Questions to Reflect On - What concrete actions can prevent such atrocities? - How do we hold abstract ideas accountable? A Different Perspective Moral arguments often ignore concrete suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Innocents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocents/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaughter/) ## Related quotes > [Let's not pretend that abortion isn't about the mass slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-aston/let-s-not-pretend-that-abortion-isn-t-about-the-mass-slaughter-of/) Michael Aston > [When humans behave murderously, such as inflicting senseless slaughter of innocents in warfare, we like to blame it on some dark, 'animalistic' instinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/when-humans-behave-murderously-such-as-inflicting-senseless-slaughter/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [The Rwandan policy of putting the genocide behind them is incredibly effective in many ways. But it's also incredibly frightening to think that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/the-rwandan-policy-of-putting-the-genocide-behind-them-is-incredibly/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering-an-individual-and-then-pin-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [One has to kill a few of one’s natural selves to let the rest grow — a very painful slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-sidgwick/one-has-to-kill-a-few-of-one-s-natural-selves-to-let-the-rest-grow-a/) [Henry Sidgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-sidgwick/) > [“Remember the point of Christinianity isn't to learn a lot of truths so you don't need God anymore. We don't learn God in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-e-miller/remember-the-point-of-christinianity-isn-t-to-learn-a-lot-of-truths/) [Paul E. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-e-miller/) > [“But, when the cult of the male god was established, there must have been difficulty in explaining how he could be the giver of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-sj/but-when-the-cult-of-the-male-god-was-established-there-must-have/) [Monica Sjöö](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-sj/) > [“According to Japanese scholar Yuki Tanaka, the United States firebombed over a hundred Japanese cities. Destruction reached 99.5 percent in the city of Toyama,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/according-to-japanese-scholar-yuki-tanaka-the-united-states/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [Anybody looking at the history even of the 20th century would not single out Islam as the bloodthirsty religion; it was Christian/Nazi/Communist Europe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-kristof/anybody-looking-at-the-history-even-of-the-20th-century-would-not/) [Nicholas Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-kristof/) > [“His moral courage led him to question a great wrong and refuse, backed by his men, to take part in a horrific slaughter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bensing/his-moral-courage-led-him-to-question-a-great-wrong-and-refuse-backed/) Tom Bensing > [“Heaven is beyond the reach of men who slaughter innocents. Eden is earthly, and very, very mortal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-rocha/heaven-is-beyond-the-reach-of-men-who-slaughter-innocents-eden-is/) [Kit Rocha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-rocha/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation-2/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [There are no innocents in Gaza, don't let any diplomats who want to look good in the world endanger your lives - mow them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ben-ari/there-are-no-innocents-in-gaza-don-t-let-any-diplomats-who-want-to/) Michael Ben-Ari > [I was once so Innocent once so young once so stupid once so gullible once so care free It Truly Only Take's Once !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/destinysmith/i-was-once-so-innocent-once-so-young-once-so-stupid-once-so-gullible/) Destinysmith ## More by Edward Said > [Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/beginning-is-not-only-a-kind-of-action-it-is-also-a-frame-of-mind-a/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Look at situations as contingent, not as inevitable, look at them as the result of a series of historical choices made by men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/look-at-situations-as-contingent-not-as-inevitable-look-at-them-as/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I was one of the first people in the Palestinian world, in the late 1970s, to say that there is no military option, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-was-one-of-the-first-people-in-the-palestinian-world-in-the-late/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Take a young man from Gaza living in the most horrendous conditions - most of it imposed by Israel - who straps dynamite around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/take-a-young-man-from-gaza-living-in-the-most-horrendous-conditions/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[One task of intellectuals is\] to break down the stereotypes and reductive categories that are . . . limiting to human thought and communication. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/one-task-of-intellectuals-is-to-break-down-the-stereotypes-and/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. 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The rule of international… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/the-just-response-to-this-terrible-event-9-11-should-be-to-go/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Since when does a militarily occupied people have the responsibility for a peace movement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/since-when-does-a-militarily-occupied-people-have-the-responsibility/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/refuse-to-allow-yourself-to-become-a-vegetable-that-simply-absorbs/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-representation-that-carry-with/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Part of the main plan of imperialism... is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/part-of-the-main-plan-of-imperialism-is-that-we-will-give-you-your/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [And what terrifies me is that we're entering a phase where if you start to speak about this as something that can be understood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/and-what-terrifies-me-is-that-we-re-entering-a-phase-where-if-you/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) [Explore all 97 Edward Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. 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It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. 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