Man's inhumanity to man

The phrase "Man's inhumanity to man" is first documented in the Robert Burns poem called Man was made to mourn: A Dirge in 1784. It is possible that Burns reworded a similar quote from Samuel von Pufendorf who in 1673 wrote, "More inhumanity has been done by man himself than any other of nature's causes."

Robert Burns

Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787

Man was made to mourn: A Dirge[1] Many and sharp the num'rous ills Inwoven with our frame! More pointed still we make ourselves Regret, remorse, and shame! And man, whose heav'n-erected face The smiles of love adorn, - Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!

Notable uses of the phrase

Samuel von Pufendorf

In reference to man

"More inhumanity (to man) has been done by man himself than any other of nature's causes." Samuel von Pufendorf, 1673.^[2]

"Man's inhumanity (towards man) comes from within, due to the lack of cardinal virtues." An unknown Catholic Priest, date unknown.^[3]

"There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man." Alan Paton.^[4]

"Man's inhumanity to man is equaled only by man's inhumanity to himself." Edmund Bergler, 1949.^[5]

"Man's inhumanity to his brother is Our greatest sorrow.” – Our Lady, October 2, 1970 ^[6]

"Man's inhumanity to man crosses continents and decades." Anthony Venutolo, 2009. ^[7]

"Why do we hunt and persecute each other? Why is our world so full of man's infamous inhumanity to man - and to woman?" Riane Eissler, 1987^[8]

Emma Goldman, circa 1911

"Man's inhumanity to man shows only the weakness of the soul." Unknown

In reference to women

"Woman's Inhumanity to Man," a lecture topic by Emma Goldman, April 1912.^[9]

""Man's inhumanity to man" -- the phrase is all too familiar ... a profound silence prevailed about woman's inhumanity to woman. Women's aggression may not take the same form as men's, but girls and women are indeed aggressive, often indirectly and mainly toward one another." Phyllis Chesler, May 2009.^[10]

"Man's inhumanity to woman - War has shattered many ... women's lives." Marty Logan, 2006^[11]

"Man's inhumanity to man begins with man’s inhumanity to woman." Marilyn Stasio, 2008^[12]

"Women's inhumanity to man, her heart is cruel, she exists only to cause heartbreak and suffering and to tear down men's self worth" - Unknown

In reference to religion

"More man's inhumanity to man has been done in the name of religion than any other cause." Author unknown, circa 1929.^[13]

Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1964.

In reference to African-Americans

"This is the most tragic picture of man’s inhumanity to man. I’ve been to Mississippi and Alabama and I can tell you that the hatred and hostility in Chicago are really deeper than in Alabama and Mississippi.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1966^[14]

"For most of this country’s history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays – on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system." Barack Obama, 2008^[15]

In reference to George Orwell's novel 1984

"Behind 1984, there is a sense of injustice, a tormented sense of the way political systems suppress individual thought. Man's inhumanity to man." Jean Eloi, 2002^[16]

Edward Bellamy, socialist circa 1889.

In reference to Human History

"Throughout all of human history, from the first murder to the present crises (the rise of socialism in America) and catastrophes, we have faced famine, depression, wars and rumors of wars, (and) countless examples of man’s inhumanity to man." Gail B. Leatherwood, May 2009^[17]

In reference to the cities of Europe

"It was in the great cities of Europe and among the hovels of the peasantry that my eyes were first fully opened to the extent and consequences of 'man's inhumanity to man." Edward Bellamy in support of socialism.^[18]

In reference to the trust and labor union

"When man's inhumanity to man shall cease from the earth, and justice and equity reign supreme, we may well be rid of both the trust and the labor union, each, in its way, a positive detriment to society." George Frazier Miller, 1910^[19]

Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (1814-1876) revolutionary & theorist of collectivist anarchism.

In reference to states

"The State, therefore, is the most flagrant, the most cynical, and the most complete negation of humanity. It shatters the universal solidarity of all men on the earth, and brings some of them into association only for the purpose of destroying, conquering, and enslaving all the rest. It protects its own citizens only; it recognizes human rights, humanity, civilization within its own confines alone. Since it recognizes no rights outside itself, it logically arrogates to itself the right to exercise the most ferocious inhumanity toward all foreign populations, which it can plunder, exterminate, or enslave at will." Mikhail Bakunin, September 1867^[20]

In reference to healthcare

"The real US healthcare issue: moral deficiency…man's inhumanity to man" Title of MSNBC article on healthcare, December 27, 2009 ^[21]

In reference to crises

"All over the world we read of economic crises, social crises, ethnic conflicts and crises, national conflicts and crises, crises in family life, crises of poverty, crises of exploitation, crises of homelessness, crises of governmental oppression, crises of man's inhumanity to man and so on. The fundamental crisis is the turning away of men and women from spiritual and moral values." L. J. Mark Cooray, 1993^[22]

Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008)

In reference to the ancient world

"All of them covered in the darkness of man’s inhumanity to man: Revolutions, expansionism ..." ESermons, 2009?^[23]

In reference to the 20th Century

"It has been the worst of all centuries, with more of war, more of man's inhumanity to man, more of conflict and trouble than any other century in the history of the world." Gordon B. Hinckley, 1999.^[24]

References

1. ^ Robert Burns (2005). "Burns Country". 'Man was made to mourn: A Dirge'. robertburns.org. http://www.robertburns.org/works/55.shtml. Retrieved November 13, 2009. 
2. ^ von Pufendorf, Samuel (2003). "The Whole Duty of Man According to the Law of Nature". The Whole Duty of Man. Liberty Fund, Inc. http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=888&chapter=66067&layout=html&Itemid=27. Retrieved November 13, 2009.  NOTE: Translated by Andrew Tooke, editor, Ian Hunter and David Saunders, with Two Discourses and a Commentary by Jean Barbeyrac, translated by David Saunders (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003).
3. ^ Rickaby, John (1908). "Cardinal Virtues". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03343a.htm. Retrieved November 13, 2009.  NOTE: A possible conjoined phrase from an unknown priest referencing Plato's scheme of man's inhumanity and St. Thomas Aquinas four Cardinal virtues.
4. ^ Paton, Alan (2009). "The Alan Paton Centre & Struggle Archives". University of Kwazulu-Natal. http://paton.ukzn.ac.za/findus779.aspx. Retrieved November 13, 2009. 
5. ^ Edmund Bergler, Principles of Self-Damage, International Universities Press, Inc., Madison, CT. 1992. p. xxxv.(First published by Philosophical Library, Inc. 1959.)
6. ^ tldm.org (1996). "#240 - MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN". Our Lady, October 2, 1970. These Last Days Ministries, Inc.. http://www.tldm.org/directives/d240.htm. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
7. ^ Venutolo, Anthony (2009). "Man's inhumanity to man crosses continents and decades in 'The Investigation'". The Star Ledger and Nj.com (Arts, N.J. Stage), February 6, 2009. New Jersey On-Line LLC. The Star Ledger. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2009/02/mans_inhumanity_to_man_crosses.html. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
8. ^ Eissler, Riane (1987 & 1994). The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future. New York: Harper Collins & Peter Smith Publisher. ISBN 084466734X & 978-0844667348. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/084466734X/cassiopaea. Retrieved January 30, 2009. 
9. ^ Falk, Candace (1995). "EMMA GOLDMAN". EMMA GOLDMAN: A GUIDE TO HER LIFE AND DOCUMENTARY SOURCES. University of Berkeley, Sunsite. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Guide/chronology0119.html. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
10. ^ Chesler, Phyllis (2009). "Woman's Inhumanity to Woman". Woman's Inhumanity to Woman - reviews. Lawrence Hill Books,The Phyllis Chesler Organization. http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/books/womans-inhumanity-to-woman. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
11. ^ Logan, Marty (2006). "Man's inhumanity to woman". Nepali Times, January 2006. Himalmedia Private Limited. http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/2006/01/13/Review/10135. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
12. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (October 9, 2008). "Blasted". Variety, October 9, 2008 (RBI, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.). http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938661.html?categoryid=33&cs=1. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 
13. ^ Bratten, Frances C. (1955). "A letter from Germany". Dickinson Newspaper. Dickinson News. http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
    • NOTE: From a newspaper clipping quoting Sgt. Richard L. Carpenter's letter home from Germany to his mother. Carpenter is citing a quote from 1929. Date is not on clipping but letter written home "... in January 1955."
    NOTE: The Dickinson Press took over Dickinson News.
14. ^ Ralph, James (1993). Northern Protest: Martin Luther King, Jr., Chicago, and the Civil Rights Movement. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674626877. 
15. ^ Obama, Barack Hussein (January 10, 2008). "Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: The Great Need of the Hour". Obama’s Socialism – In His Own Words. Sweetness & Light. http://sweetness-light.com/archive/repost-obamas-radical-socialist-worldview. Retrieved January 9, 2010. 
16. ^ Eloi, Jean (2002). "Message of 1984". 1984, George Orwell. marxists.org. http://www.lombardf.com/~jean-eloi/pri/2nd1/ang/1984.html. Retrieved January 9, 2010. 
17. ^ Leatherwood, Gail B.. (May 9, 2009). ""Myth of Socialism"–A Democrat Responds". Hernando Today Edition. Tampa Tribune. http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2009/may/09/ha-the-myth-of-socialism/. Retrieved January 9, 2010. 
18. ^ Edward Bellamy Abroad, by Sylvia E. Bowman.
19. ^ Miller, George Frazier (1910). "Socialism and its Ethical Basis". Hannibal Forum. online archive: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/gdc/scd0001/2007/20070525002so/20070525002so.pdf. Retrieved February 1, 2010. 
20. ^ Bakunin, Mikhail (September 1867). "Rousseau's Theory of the State". Federalism, Socialism, Anti-Theologism. marxists.org. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/various/reasons-of-state.htm. Retrieved January 9, 2010.  Note:Mikhail Bakunin Reference Archive cites: The Memory Hole
21. ^ MSNBC rapwrites (December 27, 2009). "The real US healthcare issue: moral deficiency…man's inhumanity to man". Newsvine, Inc., property of MSNBC. MSNBC.com. http://rapwrites.newsvine.com/_news/2009/12/27/3683842-the-real-us-healthcare-issue-moral-deficiencymans-inhumanity-to-man-. Retrieved January 9, 2010. 
22. ^ Cooray, L.J.M. (1993). "The Crisis of our times". The Life And Character Of Sir James Peiris (1856 - 1930). OurCivilization.com. http://www.ourcivilisation.com/cooray/peiris/crisis.htm. Retrieved February 1, 2010. 
23. ^ ChristianGlobe Network (2009?). "Sermon for John 3:14-21 - Something Good Can Happen in Nazareth". ESermons. eSermons.com part of CGN.org. http://www.sermons.org/sermons/new_testament/john/john3_14-21.htm. Retrieved January 9, 2010. 
24. ^ Hinckley, Gordon B. (1999). "Thanks to the Lord for His Blessings". April 1999 General Conference. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/conferences/99_apr/hinckley_thanks.htm. Retrieved November 13, 2009. 

External links

• The Terrible Truth Man's Inhumanity to Mankind.
• The Phrase Finder - The meanings and origins of phrases, sayings, and idioms
• Phrases.net - A large collection of common phrases that can be heard and translated to several languages.