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Thu 23 Feb, 2023 05:04 am
The following is used by a karate teacher to justify his approach to delivering extremely violent solutions to even the simplest of attacks.
Though I have heard this one before, and have Googled it, I cannot find the context in which this was said or written by Huxley. Was this part of a speech, or uttered by an antagonist in some book of his? Is Huxley trying to justify some past religious war?
The teacher only says "It's by Huxley, it must be right..." I wondered if this teacher is taking the quote out of context to justify extremely violent teaching methods. I know some self-defense teachers enjoy inflicting pain...
“The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior ‘righteous indignation’ – this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats.” – Aldous Huxley
@Seizan,
It's from his novel,
Crome Yellow, so it must be spoken by one of his characters. But whether it is meant to be ironic or aphoristic I don't know for certain, not having read the book in fifty-odd years. I
suspect it is meant as veiled criticism of modern society.
@hightor,
Crome Yellow? I thought I had read everything he ever wrote - except essays, which sent me to the dictionary once too often.
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