If the world does not change course, we risk self-destruction. ~ Mohamed ElBaradei

Destruction, or to destroy, refers to acts or states of damage, injury, or the complete eradication or obliteration of objects, systems, beings or ideas.

Quotes

You cannot seek Destruction and return unscathed. ~ Neil Gaiman in The San∂man
  • Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly? … Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, who am but dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five? … Oh, let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure ten shall be found there?
    • Abraham to the LORD regarding the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis 18:22 - 32 (KJV), after which, it is recorded that the LORD responds: I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
  • Zorg: Life, which you so nobly serve, comes from destruction. Look at this empty glass. (Zorg pushes the glass with his finger.)
    Here it is... peaceful... serene...but if it is... (Zorg pushes the glass off the table. It shatters on the floor.)
    Destroyed... (Small individual robots, both free-wheeling and integrated, come zipping out to clean up the mess.)
    Look at all these little things...so busy all of a sudden. Notice how each one is useful. What a lovely ballet, so full of form and color. So full of..life!
Cornelius: They are robots! (A servant comes in pours water in another glass. Zorg tosses a cherry into it.)
Zorg: Yes but... by that simple gesture of destruction. I gave work to at least fifty people today. The engineers, the technicians, the mechanics. Fifty people who will be able to feed their children so they can grow up big and strong. Children who will have children of their own, adding to the great cycle of life!
Father, by creating a little destruction, I am, in fact, encouraging life! So, in reality, you and I are in the same business!
Cornelius: Destroying a glass is one thing..killing people with the weapons you produce is quite another.
Zorg: Let me reassure you Father..I will never kill more people in my entire life than religion has killed in the last 2000 years.
  • Countries remain interested in the illicit acquisition of weapons of mass destruction.
    If we sit idly by, this trend will continue.     Countries that perceive themselves to be vulnerable can be expected to try to redress that vulnerability — and in some cases they will pursue clandestine weapons programs. The supply network will grow, making it easier to acquire nuclear weapon expertise and materials. Eventually, inevitably, terrorists will gain access to such materials and technology, if not actual weapons.
    If the world does not change course, we risk self-destruction.
  • English is a language of mass destruction. Lady Macbeth is a queen of mass destruction. Lear is a king of mass destruction. Hamlet is a prince of mass destruction. Shakespeare is a bard of mass destruction. And Moby Dick is a whale of mass destruction. Why are you a culture of death and destruction? Why do you obliterate villages, cities, and civilizations with your language of mass destruction? Is the destruction worth the destruction? For what purpose did you destroy my language? To impose the sovereignty of your rule of law with weapons of mass destruction — to then say: — I offer you my lifesaver. Now, we can communicate in the same language. English only, please.
  • Men will seem to see new destructions in the sky. The flames that fall from it will seem to rise in it and to fly from it with terror. They will hear every kind of animals speak in human language. They will instantaneously run in person in various parts of the world, without motion. They will see the greatest splendour in the midst of darkness. O! marvel of the human race! What madness has led you thus! You will speak with animals of every species and they with you in human speech. You will see yourself fall from great heights without any harm and torrents will accompany you, and will mingle with their rapid course.
    • Leonardo da Vinci, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (1938), XX Humorous Writings, as translated by Edward MacCurdy.
  • Destruction did not cease with my abandonment of my realm, no more than people would cease to dream should you abandon yours. Perhaps it's more uncontrolled, wilder. Perhaps not. But it's no longer anyone's responsibility.
  • You cannot seek Destruction and return unscathed.
    • Neil Gaiman, in lines for Desire, in Sandman #49; later in the collection "Brief Lives
  • Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority
  • The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. The God's name is Abraxas.
    • Hermann Hesse, in Demian (1919), p. 166
    • Variant translation: The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must first destroy a world. The bird is flying to God. The name of the God is called Abraxas.
      • As translated by W. J. Strachan
  • Sikander burnt all books the same wise as fire burns hay. All the scintillating works faced destruction in the same manner that lotus flowers face with the onset of frosty winter.
    • About Sikandar Butshikan. Srivara, Zaina Rajtarangini.
  • Ganesha the god-maker regarded the jungle about him. Though he walked through the realm of the phantom cats, he feared no evil. For the Lord of Chaos walked by his side, and the Trident of Destruction comforted him.
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