David Mitchell Quotes


Why does any martyr cooperate with his judases?...We see a game beyond the endgame...As Seneca warned Nero: No matter how many of us you kill, you will never kill your successor.


Citations

Mitchell, David. Cloud Atlas. Random House, 2004.

Related Quotes

Two months earlier, Jinnah and the Muslim League had, behind the scenes, orchestrated and abetted vicious, murderous, terrorist attacks on Sikhs by Muslim tribesman brought into the Punjab for the purpose." Master Tara Singh


Goldman and other American radicals who had been born in Russia were deported to America after the Palmer Raids. When she arrived, she was shocked that the Russian Revolution had betrayed all the principles of freedom that had been advocated by most of the communist leaders. She left Russia and for the rest of her life condemned the Russian Bolsheviks and the result of the Revolution. She was one of the first radicals who realized that Russia itself had betrayed the principles of the revolution.


This quotation is used by the moderate Egyptians and other moderate Arab leaders as well as Israelis and other experts in combating Islamic Fundamentalism to illustrate the thinking process of the Muslim fundamentalist terrorist leader. They are more than willing to sacrifice those they lead (though rarely themselves) if they think that something is to be gained. But if there is nothing to be gained, their “moral” responsibility requires not “wasting” their followers’ lives. Therefore, the way these experts believe they should deal with the radicals is to face them with overwhelming force (a variant of the Powell Doctrine) and never concede anything or let them gain anything from violence. A single concession makes the terrorism, sacrifice and violence worthwhile, but if there is no gain, the leader has wasted the lives of his followers and is less likely to initiate another attack.


He was also the primary planner of the assassination. He was executed for his crime which not only killed Sedat but also a diplomat and a Christian Cleric. Iran named a street in Tehran for Islambouli in 1981 in honor of his “martyrdom.”


David Mitchell
David Mitchell
  • Born: January 12, 1969
  • Nationality: English
  • Profession: Novelist

David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist and screenwriter.