Quotes About Humanity

Society now hovers over mankind like a crushing weight, sometimes it seems with a willful malevolence.

The world, or at least a few decent portions of it, could still be moved by the sight of thousands of victims, perhaps because it had not yet become hardened to the sight of millions.

Since I no longer expect anything from mankind except madness, meanness, and mendacity; egotism, cowardice, and self-delusion, I have stopped being a misanthrope.

O mundo pode identificar-se com um mártir desamparado. Mas seis milhões de judeus foram perseguidos e assassinados na Alemanha e o mundo fica perturbado intelectualmente, mas emocionalmente calmo, tratando de sua própria vida, porque, ora, quem pode identificar-se com seis milhões de mortos?

The romantic idea is that everybody around a writer must suffer for his talent. I think a writer is a citizen of humanity, part of his nation, part of his family. He may have to make some compromises.

Our imperfections are the bonds that hold us together. We might as well recognize them.

A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

I wish that I could say I was optimistic about the human race. I love us all, but we are so stupid and shortsighted that I wonder if we can lift our eyes to the world about us long enough not to commit suicide.

I discovered, to my amazement, that all through history there had been resistance ... and bitter, exaggerated, last-stitch resistance ... to every significant technological change that had taken place on earth. Usually the resistance came from those groups who stood to lose influence, status, money...as a result of the change. Although they never advanced this as their reason for resisting it. It was always the good of humanity that rested upon their hearts.

I never considered myself a patriot. I like to think I recognize only humanity as my nation.

Let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics.... We have: one, a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. And three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

All the suffering that humanity ever knew can be traced to the one fact that no man in the history of the Galaxy ... could really understand one another. Every human being lived behind an impenetrable wall of choking mist within which no other but he existed.

You wait for the war to happen like vultures. If you want to help, prevent the war. Don't save the remnants. Save them all.

Considering what human beings do and have done to human beings (and to other living things as well) ... I can never imagine what the devil people think computers can add to the horrors.

All humanity could share a common insanity and be immersed in a common illusion while living in a common chaos. That can't be disproved, but we have no choice but to follow our senses.

You just can't differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.

Society is much more easily soothed than one's own conscience.

The three fundamental Rules of Robotics...One: a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm...Two:..a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law...Three: a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First and Second Laws.

There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for every day of life, every crumb of success, each encounter of love…. In a figurative way, Yiddish is the wise and humble language of us all, the idiom of a frightened and hopeful humanity.

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.

In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought.

What do they know-all these scholars, all these philosophers, all the leaders of the world - about such as you? They have convinced themselves that man, the worst transgressor of all the species, is the crown of creation. All other creatures were created merely to provide him with food, pelts, to be tormented, exterminated. In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.

Every human character appears only once in the history of human beings. And so does every event of love.

I can calculate the motion of heavily bodies , but not the madness of people.