best quotations about
Destruction |
and Disaster, Catastrophe
| 41 quotes | Visits: 3,592 |
Quotations
 | He who acts, destroys; he who grasps, loses. Therefore the Sage does not act, and so does not destroy; he does not grasp, and so he does not lose. — Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher 17 likes |
 | Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum. — Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007, American writer 11 likes |
 | For only in destroying I find ease To my relentless thoughts. — John Milton, 1608-1674, English poet 9 likes |
 | Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! — Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004, American President [1981-1989] 7 likes |
 | Forgive me... for my love –for ruining you with my love. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 7 likes |
 | Man is a creature that is constantly “under construction”, but also, in a parallel way, always in a state of perpetual destruction. — José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998] 7 likes |
 | To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 6 likes |
| Right or wrong, it's very pleasant to break something from time to time. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 6 likes |
 | Now are fields of corn where Troy once stood. — Ovid, 43 BC-17 AD, Roman poet 5 likes |
 | A man can be destroyed but not defeated. — Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961, American writer, Nobel 1954 4 likes |
 | Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. — Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter 3 likes |
 | War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory. — Georges Clemenceau, 1841-1929, French Prime Minister 3 likes |
 | You just can't have this kind of war. There aren't enough bulldozers to scrape the bodies off the streets. — Dwight Eisenhower, 1890-1969, American general & President (speaking about nuclear war) 3 likes |
 | After us, the deluge. Après nous, le déluge. — Madame de Pompadour, 1721-1764, mistress of the French King Louis XV 3 likes |
 | It was the mark of a barbarian to destroy something one could not understand. — Arthur Clarke, 1917-2008, British Sci-Fi writer 3 likes |
 | A management decision is irresponsible if it risks disaster this year for the sake of a grandiose future. — Peter Drucker, 1909–2005, Austrian management guru 2 likes |
 | You thought I was a tide and I was a deluge! — Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer 2 likes |
 | He who can destroy a thing, can control a thing. — Frank Herbert, 1920-1986, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
 | I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction. |
 | The great city of Carthage started three wars. After the first, it was still strong. After the second, it was still habitable. After the third, it was impossible to locate it. |
 | Destruction after all is a form of creation. |
 | Criticism and Bolshevism have one thing in common. They both seek to pull down that which they could never build. |
 | Africa's a wreck and it's not because it was hit by an asteroid. It's a wreck largely because it was hit by Europe. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
 | As we all know, too much of any divine thing is destruction |
 | The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must first destroy a world. |
 | All about us we see a world in revolt; but revolt is negative, a mere finishing-off process. In the midst of destruction we carry with us also our creation, our hopes, our strength, our urge to be fulfilled. |
 | Because of an apple Eden fell and Troy was destroyed. — Marty Rubin, 1930-1994, Canadian gay activist, author & journalist |
 | Detroit’s industrial ruins are picturesque, like crumbling Rome in an 18th-century etching. |
 | Sometimes things fall apart, so that better things can fall together. |
| Technology is both a tool for helping humans and for destroying them. This is the paradox of our times which we're compelled to face. |
 | He who can create disdains to destroy. |
 | Anything in history or nature that can be described as changing steadily can be seen as heading toward catastrophe. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist |
| Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist |
 | Fire destroys that which feeds it. |
 | Man knows what he destroys only after destroying it. |
Latin Quotes
 | Carthage must be destroyed! Carthago delenda est! — Cato the Elder, 234-149 BC, Roman statesman & writer (Cato used the phrase as the conclusion to all his speeches) 18 likes |
Stupid Quotes
| We may be the generation that sees Armageddon. — Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004, American President [1981-1989] 4 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | Sea, fire and, the third evil, woman. Θάλασσα και πυρ, και γυνή τρίτον κακόν. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 11 likes |
 | The state is destroyed by its great men. Ανδρών δ᾿ εκ μεγάλων πόλις όλλυται. — Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher 4 likes |
 | For trust and mistrust, alike ruin men. Πίστεις αρ τοι ομώς και απιστίαι ώλεσαν άνδρας. — Hesiod, 7th cent. BC, Ancient Greek poet ‐ Works and Days -372 4 likes |
 | Helen? Ship destroyer, men destroyer, city destroyer. Θ’ Ελέναν; επεί πρεπόντως ελέναυς έλανδρος ελέπτολις. — Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Agamemnon (a play on her name and έλω [=kill]) 2 likes |
